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Bobby Rush Hosts Fair to Connect Business Owners With Minority Contractors

By Wendell Hutson | July 16, 2014 7:28am
 A July 18, 2014 Minority Contractor Opportunity Fair is sponsored by U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush (D-1st).
A July 18, 2014 Minority Contractor Opportunity Fair is sponsored by U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush (D-1st).
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DNAinfo/Wendell Hutson

BRONZEVILLE — Business owners seeking to work with minority contractors are encouraged to attend an upcoming fair aimed at fostering relationships between the two groups.

U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush (D-1st) is sponsoring a Minority Contracting Opportunity Fair from 8:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Friday in the Herman Hall at the Illinois Institute of Technology, 3241 S. Federal St.

Participants will have an opportunity to meet with representatives from public agencies, according to Rush.

Rush said that for too long minority business owners have been short-changed when it comes to receiving government contracts.

“I am hosting the fair to ensure minority business owners receive their share of contract opportunities. The goal is to inform minority business owners of each agency's set-asides or minority-initiative programs whether public or private," Rush said. "This is an opportunity to bring information and resources to them instead of them trying to find it on their own."

While Rush said no one would be excluded from attending the event, its focus is helping minority businesses in the 1st Congressional District.

The congressman's latest efforts to level the "playing field" for business owners follow a two-year campaign by entrepreneur Edward Gardner to get more black construction workers on city projects in minority neighborhoods.

Over the past two years Gardner has led a series of protests at South Side construction sites that lacked any black construction workers. In 2012, Gardner met with Mayor Rahm Emanuel about his crusade for more diversity and the mayor later agreed to ease bidding requirements for city water department projects.

“We are making a commitment to not only increase opportunities for minority-owned firms, but also to diversify hiring by contractors who receive work from the city of Chicago,” Emanuel said in a statement. “Improving our infrastructure is a long-term investment in our city and improving opportunities for minority-owned firms is an investment in our communities.”

Gardner praised the mayor for making the changes but said more needs to be done.

"This has got to stop — building businesses in black areas but not using black contractors. If I have one last crusade in life this will be it," said the 89-year-old founder of the former Soft Sheen Products Co. "I want to see more black faces at the beginning of a project, not at the end."

To RSVP for Rush's event, contact Younus Suleman by calling 708-385-9550 or by email at younus.suleman@mail.house.gov.

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