Norton Releases D.C. Small Business and Hiring Figures and Commends Top Four Contractors for October Hiring

Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today announced that 60 D.C. small businesses have won subcontracts for work on federal construction projects around the city, including some that have contracts on multiple projects. She said D.C. small businesses are clearly benefitting from the significant federal construction underway in the District. However, Norton, who collects and reports monthly the number of D.C. residents and businesses on nine large federal construction projects here, said that there may be room for improvement from subcontractors working on the projects but, she does not have statistics from the subcontractors. She has requested information on subcontractor contracts and hiring.

"The overall D.C. federal construction picture shows that contractors are responding to our monitoring of D.C. hiring and small business contracting," Norton said. "We have particularly encouraged stepped-up hiring by contractors that we thought could do better, and are pleased that many contractors are showing improvement." Projects with the highest number of D.C. hires this month were Gilbane-Grunley at the Hoover Building, with 25 D.C. residents of the 232 hired, Whiting-Turner at the GSA Headquarters Building, with six D.C. residents of the 66 hired, Grunley Construction at the Lafayette Building, with five D.C. residents of the 49 hired, and Clark/Smoot/Russell at the National Museum of African-American History and Culture, with four D.C. residents out of the seven hired. Clark Construction, which hired no new D.C. residents in October at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) headquarters project, continues to have the highest consistent number and percentage of D.C. residents. The second highest percentage of D.C. residents is at Turtle Associates at the Reagan building, and the third highest percentage is at Clark/Smoot/Russell at the Smithsonian National Museum of African-American History and Culture. Norton said, "Although D.C. residents represent 10% of the region, more contractors working on federal projects in the city are showing that they understand the importance of local engagement in increasing the local hiring numbers."

Federal law prohibits requiring contractors to hire workers based on the location of the site, but aggressive local outreach is allowed and is considered when companies bid on future contracts. The Congresswoman closely monitors the hiring of D.C. residents and businesses at federally funded construction projects, requires contractors to file monthly reports, and makes frequent unannounced visits to construction sites.

Looking more closely at the federal project statistics here, the Congresswoman said work on the West Campus of St. Elizabeths for the DHS headquarters will continue, but will slow down because of the pace of federal appropriations. Current D.C. hiring at the DHS headquarters in Ward 8 is mixed for D.C. residents. Clark Construction's statistics remain at 22% D.C. workers to date. However, Norton said she was concerned that of 16 new hires by Clark, none were from D.C. She intends to call in Grunley Construction and its union for a meeting this month to try to find the reasons for the consistently low number of D.C. hires on Grunley's Adaptive Reuse contract at St. Elizabeths. Of the 69 new hires at Grunley, only one was a D.C. resident, and Grunley's total is only 7% D.C. workers. Balfour Beatty, with 4% D.C. workers, and General Dynamics, with 16% D.C. workers, reported no new hires.

Elsewhere in the city, Whiting-Turner, which is working on the GSA Headquarters building and had come under criticism from Norton, showed positive gains, hiring six D.C. residents of the 66 new hires, for a total of 7% D.C. workers. Gilbane-Grunley, working on the Hoover Building, hired 25 D.C. residents of the 232 new hires, and now has a total of 10% D.C. workers to date. Grunley Construction, working on the Lafayette Building, hired five D.C. residents out of the 49 new hires, for a total of 5% D.C. workers to date. Clark/Smoot/Russell, which is building the Smithsonian National Museum of African-American History and Culture, hired four D.C. residents out of the seven new hires, for a total of 18% D.C. workers to date. Not hiring in October were Turtle Associates, at the Roosevelt Building and the Reagan Building, Teng Construction, at the Cohen Building, and DS East, at the EPA building.

Below is the October D.C. hiring breakdown by company and total D.C. hiring at federal construction sites to date.

Ward 8 Department of Homeland Security headquarters project on the St. Elizabeths Campus

Other Large D.C. Federal Projects

Smithsonian National Museum of African-American History and Culture

www.norton.house.gov

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