Amidst
the latest news,
a look
back at Governor
Blagojevich's
appointee
State Journal-Register
June 16,
2004, News,
Page 9
Consulting firm
awarded
$150,000 contract by IDOT
Burris gains
$150,000 state contract with IL
Dept. of Transportation
Note: This
article is from the print edition of our
local newspaper, here in the
state capital; links
on this
page have been added for reference only... We do not necessarily
endorse the content of external web pages.
By DOUG FINKE
STATE CAPITOL BUREAU
A company headed by former state comptroller and
attorney general Roland Burris has been awarded a $150,000 state
contract to advise disadvantaged businesses on how to improve their
operations and ultimately win state contracts.
Burris ran against Gov.
Rod Blagojevich in the 2002 primary race for governor, finishing third
in a close, three-way race. He later served on Blagojevich's transition
team, but Burris said politics played no role in his firm obtaining the
contract.
"There's definitely no connection," Burris said Tuesday. "It's all
straight up. We bid on it."
IDOT spokesman Matt
Vanover also dismissed the idea
that politics
played any role in the contract being awarded.
"It was competitively bid," he said. "His participation in the
transition team had nothing to do with this contract."
Burris' company was one of 14 that bid to provide consulting services
for the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise program, according to
Vanover. Seven were selected.
Burris & Lebed and three other firms will provide the services
in IDOT's District
1, which includes the Chicago
area. Three other
contractors will provide services in the rest of the state.
"The bulk of the companies certified as disadvantaged businesses are in
District 1," Vanover said, adding that most companies that qualify as
disadvantaged business enterprises are small and owned by women or
minorities.
"We have hired several consultants to provide professional supportive
services. It's to help them establish themselves professionally. If
they are not currently certified (to do business for the state), it
helps take them through the process."
Burris said his previous experience as a bank vice president in the
1960s qualifies him for the job. During that time, he worked with
minority-owned businesses and government guaranteed lending programs.
"I have an extensive background in working with minority business,"
Burris said.
Burris' contract calls for helping companies become certified and
prequalfied by the state, which will enable them to win state contracts.
It also requires his firm to recruit potential disadvantaged businesses
to the program, to assess management and accounting systems used by the
businesses and recommend ways to improve them, and to help the
businesses obtain bonding and other financial assistance.
"They (disadvantaged
business owners) can't believe I'm working with them," said Burris, who
estimated he's worked with eight to 10 companies so far. "They are all
excited. We just started interviewing. They get a 90-minute session
with me. I ask them, 'Are you incorporated? Do you have your tax
returns in order?'"
The program to aid disadvantaged business has been in place since 1980,
Vanover said, and the state must operate it as a condition for
receiving federal highway dollars. In all, the state will spend $2.8
million on consultants for the program this year. Five years ago, the
state spent $2.6 million on the program, Vanover said.
Burris & Lebed Consulting LLC is also registered to
lobby in
Illinois. The firm's clients include Deloitte Consulting, the Ho-Chunk
Nation and the Illinois Harness Horseman's Association.
Burris said the company plans to continue lobbying while fulfilling the
IDOT contract.
Doug
Finke can be reached at (217) 788-1527 or doug.finke@sj-r.com.
FAIR
USE NOTICE: This magazine letter to the editor, written in 1993 by
Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris and published in Illinois
Issues magazine (here at our
very own university), is provided for non-profit and educational
purposes, in accordance with Section 107 of
the U.S. Copyright Act.
