Minority Contracts to have Expanded Opportunities

County Executive Dan Onorato says he met with minority- and women- owned businesses in order to provide better networking. It gives these owners an opportunity to form relationships with each other as well as those who are making the contracting decisions in order to expand programs and resources. Yvonne Campos, CEO of Campos Market Research Inc., says she is pleased with the meeting. She says owners needed to voice their concerns to the panel, which included directors of human resources, public works, administrative services and economic development. However, Campos says the more important part of the meeting is that these leaders followup with keeping good communication. Onorato says he intends on taking down names and business information to develop a database to better serve them. He says they will benefit from the stimulus package, a short-term deal, but this programming is all part of a long-term process that looks at millions of dollars in contracts every year. He says Allegheny County has $700 million for the annual operating budget alone, including payroll.