SPRINGFIELD -- A Springfield transportation project has been delayed because local contractors can't find enough minority-owned companies to fulfill a federal mandate.  The controversial federal requirement is holding up work on a new regional transportation center and frustrating local contractors.

According to federal law, women or ethnic minority contractors must make up 10 percent of any project that involves federal dollars.  The minority businesses are referred to as "Disadvantaged Business Enterprises," or DBEs -- and the provision creates some problems for a new $2.2 million City of Springfield/Missouri Department of Transportation Management Center slated to be built on West Chestnut Expressway. (Read more about DBEs HERE).  Some contractors view this mandate as an affirmative action program that just isn't practical in Springfield.

Right now, engineers use a cramped space in downtown Springfield to monitor roadways and coordinate signals to try to keep traffic flowing.  Officials want to build a bigger, upgraded facility but the initial round of bids to perform the work has been rejected.

"Of the ten bidders, none of them were able to meet that goal, so we're going to go out and solicit for another set of bids," said MoDOT District Engineer Kirk Juranas.

Wehr Construction won the initial bid that was thrown out.  The company declined comment on the matter because it plans to re-bid for the contract and did not want to offend the city or MoDOT.

Dewitt & Associates was one of the low bid contractors for the project, which includes paving, electrical work and supplying materials.  President Emeritus Jerry Hackleman said it's difficult to find minority subcontractors to make up even 5 percent of the work, let alone 10 percent.

"In order to get some of the firms that we would need to meet their 10-percent goal, we're going to have to go to St. Louis and Kansas City, which is taking away work from local contractors," said Hackleman.

"I think there are minority contractors available within our state and neighboring states that certainly would be happy to bid on this work if pursued," said Juranas.

Most aren't in the surrounding Springfield metro area.

"I can't just focus on Springfield," said Juranas.  "I have to focus on a whole contracting community."

Hackleman said, of the list of around 1,300 statewide approved minority contractors, just a little more than a dozen are within 100 miles of Springfield.

"There was one minority electrician that placed a bid but he was about $40,000 higher," said Hackleman, who noted that pursuing minority contractors could push up the overall cost of the project.

He said the provision makes it harder to compete in a hyper-competitive construction market that rewards the lowest bid with the work. Hackleman said there should be exceptions to the rule for areas with lower minority populations.

MoDOT said contractors just need to be better educated about how to find minority business owners. After all, if they don't , federal funds for new projects could be in jeopardy.

"I could see why some contractors would see that's unfair, but that's not the rules we live by," Juranas said.

MoDOT plans to re-bid the project on Nov. 4.  Juranas said that will only delay it a month.  He said he's confident the new bidding process will find a contractor that will hit the 10-percent requirement.

Both Juranas and Hackleman agree, in order to make that happen, the bid will likely need to involve more contractors from outside Springfield.  Juranas could not say if that would raise the overall price tag of the project.

MoDOT plans to meet with local contractors on Monday to explain this federal rule, which has been around for decades.  Juranas said the reason it's becoming an issue now is because MoDOT usually isn't  in the business of constructing buildings. He said there's a much longer list of minority contractors for road projects than building projects.

"We haven't had a lot of these projects that have federal dollars, so I think we've got minority contractors who haven't gone through that process to become Disadvantaged Business Enterprises," Juranas said.

There is some wiggle room.  If a company can demonstrate it has made a strong effort to meet the 10-percent requirement, a special MoDOT panel can grant a waiver.   MoDOT said, on this project, Wehr Construction appealed the bid rejection but the panel found that the company did not make a diligent effort at trying to meet the minority requirement.

Hackleman maintains the standard ends ups discriminating against local contractors.

"In areas where the resources aren't there, they're going to have to do something different or the cost is going to go up," he said.

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