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DOT 54-03
Contact: Ben Langer, 202-366-5580
Wednesday, June 25, 2003
U.S. Department of
Transportation to Reach Out
To California Small
Business Community
The U.S. Department of Transportation on Thursday, June 26, will be joined by the Partnership for Diversity in hosting the Ontario Transportation Marketplace in the Ontario Convention Center in Ontario, CA. The Transportation Marketplace is an opportunity for federal, state and local governments and prime contractors to showcase transportation contracting and sub-contracting opportunities that are available to the small business community.
"We're excited to help
bring this outstanding conference to the Inland Empire Region," said Sean
Moss, Director of the U.S. Department of
Transportation’s Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization
(OSDBU) in Washington DC. "The importance of this conference can't be
overstated, especially given the large number of small businesses in the region
and the significant amount of transportation projects that are in process."
More than 450 small businesses have registered to attend the Transportation
Marketplace. Workshops will provide
training and information to small businesses to help them take advantage of
procurement opportunities originating from the USDOT. In addition, the Department’s OSDBU will facilitate
contracting opportunities for small, women-owned and disadvantaged businesses by
pre-arranging one-on-one procurement sessions with contractors representing an
array of transportation-related procurement opportunities.
Speakers at the Transportation Marketplace will include Moss; Albert Karnig, President of California State University, San Bernardino; Suzanna Tashiro Choi, President of Tashiro, Choi and Associates; and Ontario Mayor Gary C. Ovitt.
A panel of speakers with special expert knowledge of the rail industry will address “New Challenges Facing the Rail Industry in the 21st Century.” They will include Dr. John Husing from Economics and Politics, Inc.; Jim Hankla, CEO, Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority; Jeffrey Moreland, Senior Vice President of the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway Company; Jane Bachner, Deputy Associate Administrator for Policy and Program Development in the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Railroad Administration (FRA); and John Scheib, Chief of Staff at the Surface Transportation Board.
Workshops will address Disadvantaged Business Enterprise certification, doing business with the rail industry, the Department’s lending and bonding programs, and marketing to the U.S. Department of Transportation.
The Partnership for Diversity is composed of Amtrak, the Surface Transportation Board, Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway Company, the Office of the Secretary of Transportation and the FRA.
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