Minority contractors' work in spotlight

From the Davis Cos.' new second-floor offices at 13th and Cuming Streets in Omaha, there's a great view of TD Ameritrade Park just across the street.

But the politicians and business leaders who gathered at the offices for a luncheon Wednesday said the building provides a glimpse of something else, too: the possibility of growth for small and minority-owned businesses in the city.

The event, which was attended by Mayor Jim Suttle, Rep. Lee Terry, R-Neb., and three Douglas County commissioners, among others, was a chance to highlight the efforts of the contractors who worked on the offices as well as ongoing efforts to encourage other businesspeople like them.

Davis Cos. owns the second floor of a four-story, 32,000-square-foot building that also houses 24 apartments and two retail tenants: Red Mango and the Dugout. Lisa Laday-Davis, the chief financial officer of Davis Cos. and managing director of Davis Business Ventures, said her group sought out minority contractors and small-business owners for the project. The location also was a calculated choice — a move to help raise the profile of north Omaha.

"This is a powerful statement to the rest of the community that minority contractors and businesses can do things of great significance," said Dell Gines, the community affairs adviser for the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City's Omaha branch.

Seven of the contractors who worked on the project participated in a Davis Cos. business training program and in the city's two-year-old effort to help small businesses — particularly those from the city's poorest areas — get a shot at city contracts.

So far, 172 businesses have been certified and the city has awarded them more than $14.5 million in contracts — about 10 percent of the city's overall contracts.

One of those businesses is Uplift Construction, which served as the main contractor on the Davis Cos. project.

Frank Allen, the company's owner, struck out on his own about five years ago after more than a decade and a half in the construction business. He said he learned quickly that making the right contacts was crucial to landing jobs — and the capital to make them work.

Davis Cos. owner Dick Davis said he hired Allen in part because of Uplift's previous work on projects with the Omaha Public Schools.

"It's all about relationships, for sure," Allen said. "Businesses need to have those relationships in place because without them, you have no idea what's coming down the road."

In turn, Allen said he tries to pass on his success to other small and minority-owned businesses like Mustang Electric, which did all the electrical work in the Davis offices. That company's owner, Darrell Coleman, was also at the luncheon, chatting with politicians and talking about his work with pride.

"We do the right thing, put out the right craftsmanship, and our work speaks for itself," he said.

Terry told the group that making companies and developers aware of contractors like Allen and Coleman — and vice versa — is crucial to helping their businesses grow and add employees.

"That's how we grow our economy in the city of Omaha, and that's how we get depressed areas back to work and get them to be the economic giants we want them to be," Terry said.

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