For the seventh time in a row, County Executive Rich Fitzgerald gave the first PowerBreakfast presentation of the year to the African American Chamber of Commerce, touting his administration’s achievements in creating a better environment for starting, building and attracting business to the region.
As always, he enjoyed a packed house as more than 80 people attended the Jan. 20 breakfast at the Rivers Club in Oxford Center.
Many of them represented organizations Fitzgerald said the county is successfully partnering with to make the region more successful, including the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust and Vibrant Pittsburgh. He also highlighted existing and future contracting opportunities being created by various county departments including ALCOSAN, which will be awarding more than $2 billion in contracts to comply with federal rain water and sewage management regulations.
As for existing county contracts, Fitzgerald said 24 percent of county contracts have been awarded to minority-owned firms, and that minorities had received 16 percent of all public works contracts.
Fitzgerald also said his commitment to increasing diversity is reflected in the county’s employment, appointments, and promotions. Since taking office, 41 percent of his appointments to authorities have been women and 26 percent are African-American; 57 percent of hires are female and 18 percent are African American.
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