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Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2012 | 9:01 a.m.
A coalition of minority business organizations, including the Black Business Council of Nevada, will meet in Victorville, Calif., next week, hoping to get a jump on construction jobs for the planned XpressWest high-speed rail project that would link Las Vegas with Victorville.
The High Speed Train Diversity Summit has been organized by Veterans Southwest Industries, the California Black Chamber of Commerce and Black Business Council of Nevada.
“We’re working to organize people and businesses to be prepared to actively participate in high-speed rail,” said Robert Gaines, president and CEO of Veterans Southwest Industries and chairman of the California Black Chamber of Commerce.
Gaines said he expects up to 400 people to attend the event Monday at the Hilton Garden Inn in Victorville.
Representatives of black chambers of commerce in the Antelope Valley, San Fernando Valley, Victor Valley and Los Angeles have been invited to attend, as has the National Association of Minority Contractors of Southern California.
Gaines said several state lawmakers from California and the governors of California and Nevada have been invited to attend.
Among the planned speakers are Robert Lang, director of Brookings Mountain West at UNLV, California Public Utilities Commissioner Timothy Simon and Roger Campos, president and CEO of the Minority Business Round Table.
The XpressWest project is a $7 billion dual-track high-speed train line between Victorville and Las Vegas with trains capable of traveling 150 mph. The company has completed its environmental reviews and is awaiting approval of a federal loan request through the Federal Railroad Administration.
The project got a boost earlier this year when the company announced it is collaborating with the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority to link Victorville with the planned California High-Speed Rail Authority line at Palmdale, Calif., and engineer a high-speed operation to downtown Los Angeles.
XpressWest officials say it is premature to consider job contracts on the project until the FRA acts on the loan.
Who cares if you're a minority business? Can you get the job done? Bantam fathered the legendary innovation that was the Jeep that helped to win WW2, but couldn't meet production so Willys and Ford took over. Capability is everything.
If these "Minority" businesses wish to gain favorable contracts they could work together... Two words:
"Six Companies"
Your point's are well taken, DMCVegas. These "minorities" have a lot of nerve. They should understand that, historically, jobs in the construction industry are reserved for middle-class white men, preferably those whose fathers, uncles, cousins, brothers and nephews work or have worked in the construction industries. If you think I'm wrong, go to any major building construction site or road/highway construction site in Las Vegas at shift-start-time or shift-end-time and count the minorities going to and coming from the job. There is an exception to this rule in that "subcontractors" hired by the prime contractor can bring undocumented workers to the job because they will work for lesser wages which contributes to the prime contractor's profit and the prime contractor cannot be held responsible for violating hiring practices related to persons eligible to work in this country.
There's no free lunch, sorry. Here are the rules:
The best companies. The best workers. They get hired.
Period.
Affirmative Action rewards underachievement.
The battle for equal rights is over, it was won many years ago. What we have now is a scramble for preferential treatment.
I think any company that has the expertise should have a shot.. Being a minority owned business means nothing.
First of all I think we need to redefine the classification of a 'Minority'.... seems to me that being Caucasian is becoming the new 'Minority'. I guess once a race (Black) or nationality (Hispanic) is classified 'Minority' that classification is permanent, huh? As the demographics change so should the classification of who/what is a true 'Minority'. Secondly - ALL businesses should be considered on EQUAL footing - there should be NO consideration whether the business is considered 'Minority' or not.