Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Equity And Contracting topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Carroll says PennDOT expanding outreach to minority‑ and women‑owned firms; lawmakers press for data and pipelines into jobs
Summary
Secretary Carroll described mentor‑protege outreach, reporting tied to federal requirements and internal efforts to diversify PennDOT's leadership and vendor pool; legislators asked for granular participation data and for steps to build career pipelines into highway construction jobs and CDL positions.
Pennsylvania Transportation Secretary Mike Carroll told the House Appropriations Committee on Feb. 20 that PennDOT has stepped up outreach to increase participation by small, women‑owned, veteran‑owned and minority‑owned firms and is operating mentor‑protégé programs to help firms qualify for bidding.
Carroll described federal reporting requirements for minority participation and said PennDOT is “aggressively” working to expand the pool of qualified vendors. He asked members to help identify firms in their districts and to assist with outreach to ensure smaller firms understand steps necessary to qualify.
Lawmakers across the political spectrum also asked PennDOT to provide data on progress: Representative Fleming requested granular statistics on the number of contracts and dollar amounts awarded to Black‑ and women‑owned firms over the past two years; Carroll said PennDOT would provide that data to the committee.
On workforce pipelines, Carroll and members discussed training and career ladders. Carroll highlighted efforts with community colleges, career and technical schools and internal leadership academies to expand recruitment and advancement — including for CDL drivers and heavy‑equipment operators. Representative Abney and others asked whether PennDOT could do more to help building trades diversify their ranks; Carroll said PennDOT will continue to partner with unions and contractors on training and apprenticeships.
Ending: Carroll promised to provide committee staff with requested participation data and to continue coordination with members to expand vendor outreach and workforce development programs.
