Norton to Hold Field Hearing on DHS Construction Jobs and Small Business Contracts, Tuesday

Press Release

Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Chair of the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management, will hold a field hearing on jobs and small business opportunities at the new U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) headquarters construction site in Ward 8 on Tuesday, June 15, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. The hearing will be at Matthews Memorial Baptist Church, Russell Hall Exhibition Area, 2616 Martin Luther King, Jr. Ave, SE. Later this week, the Congresswoman's subcommittee will also address some of the macro issues related to the overall planning and construction of the St. Elizabeths project in an annual congressional hearing on GSA's Investment and Leasing Program. The DHS headquarters will bring 14,000 federal jobs to Ward 8, and is the first federal construction project east of the Anacostia River in U.S. history.

Two weeks ago, Norton, who chairs the subcommittee with jurisdiction over the construction, released the first of the bi-weekly hiring reports on work at the DHS site that she is requiring the General Services Administration (GSA) to submit during this pre-hiring season. Most of the major construction work and jobs will not begin until late summer. GSA is on track to award 40 percent of the contracts to small, local, or disadvantaged businesses, and 15 D.C. businesses, including seven based in Ward 8. The work now in progress at the DHS site consists mostly of excavation and truck hauling of soil and rocks with truck leaving the site every 37 seconds, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. At last count, approximately 70% of the truck drivers hauling dirt from St. Elizabeths were D.C. residents, and every available truck from Ward 8 trucking companies was being used on the site.
"The first reports on jobs and small business opportunities for D.C. residents show genuinely promising results," Norton said. "I will continue to closely monitor the progress, especially now when such a large and long-lasting construction project can help to revive the city's delicate economy."Norton worked with GSA to build the Opportunities Center at the St. Elizabeths West Campus, which opened for business in Ward 8 in February of 2010, to give residents direct access to the jobs and small business opportunities as they become available. She also secured $3 million for pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship programs in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The GSA project is the largest construction project east of the Mississippi River, and the largest federal project since the Pentagon. The DHS headquarters will provide 38,000 construction-related jobs and multiple small business contracts through 2016 as development progresses to the stages of building and general labor.

The witnesses at Tuesday's field hearing will include representatives from DHS, Clark Construction, and the Ward 8 Business Council, as well as D.C residents. Since this is an official hearing, rather than a community meeting, only a limited number of witnesses can testify. Congresswoman Norton will be available following the hearing if there are any unanswered questions. Residents may contact the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management at (202) 225-9961 to submit questions in advance to ask during the official hearing.

Source