The deadline for minority and women-owned businesses to apply for a program to help them compete in the construction business has been extended to December 9, 2011. The classes will begin January 10, 2012.
The Lexington Minority and Women Contractor Training Program is in its second year. It is a 10-week program that covers topics ranging from estimating and bidding to subcontracting. It will again be held at the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government Center, 200 East Main Street.
The program teaches skills that will help minority and women-owned businesses and is sponsored by the Kentucky Small Business Development Center, Bluegrass Airport, Messer Construction Co., BEX Construction, the Fayette County Public Schools and the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government. A new sponsor, the University of Kentucky Facilities Management, has been added.
“These partnerships have reignited this program and we are definitely seeing results. We have seen a number of last year’s participants get contracts as a direct result of them attending the workshops,” said Dee Dee Harbut, director for special programs with the Kentucky Small Business Development Center.
The program is coordinated by Marilyn Clark, the LFUCG’s minority business enterprise liaison. Classes will be held from 5:30-8:30 p.m. Tuesdays. To qualify, you must be a minority or woman-owned business with a 51 percent ownership in the construction or construction-related industry. The cost is $100 for companies accepted into the program. A boxed dinner is provided each night.
The benefits from the classes continue after the program concludes, Clark said. “At the end of the program, we met with participants to assess their needs. Based on their responses, we decided as a group to extend our relationship with each business over the course of this year. We meet quarterly to assist them with more education and work diligently to connect them with opportunities. It is rewarding to hear about business they have landed as a result,” Clark said.
For more information, contact Marilyn Clark at 859-258-3323 or Dee Dee Harbut at at 859-257-7668.
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