“font-family: Verdana; line-height: 13px;”>The minority contractor advocacy association MOKAN will honor Dr. Henry Givens Jr., Vince Bennett, Cheryl Lovell, E.M. Harris and two contractors to be named later at its 36th Anniversary Awards Dinner on Friday, July 29 at the Hilton St. Louis Airport.
“font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Verdana;”>Givens, the retiring president of Harris-Stowe State University, will receive MOKAN’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
“font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Verdana;”>“Our Board of Directors knows Dr. Givens is retiring, but he has committed over 32 years to Harris-Stowe, helping to ensure African Americans are educated,” said Yaphett El-Amin, executive director of MOKAN.
“font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Verdana;”>“As we work to ensure our businesses have the strongest level of business development and acumen, we find much of that coming from higher learning. So we wanted to recognize Dr. Givens for the more than three decades of work he put in.”
“font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Verdana;”>Bennett, chief operating officer of McCormack Baron Salazar, will be recognized with the MOKAN Private Sector of the Year Award.
“font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Verdana;”>“McCormack Baron Salazar has led two particular projects in the St. Louis area where they stepped up and far surpassed the city’s goals for minority and female participation,” El-Amin said.
“font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Verdana;”>“The Mayor’s Executive Order 28 calls for 25 percent minority participation and 5 percent female participation. On the Arlington Groves and North Sarah projects, they set 50 percent combined goals for minority and female participation, plus paid aggressive attention to federal Section 3 hiring goals for low-income area residents.”
“font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Verdana;”>El-Amin said MOKAN considers these project exemplary for other local developers.
“font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Verdana;”>“To see a private entity step up and commit to inclusion in such a way as McCormack Baron has done under Vince’s leadership, we wanted to highlight this exemplary action,” she said. “We’d like to see other private-sector projects model themselves after what they have done.”
“font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Verdana;”>Lovell, executive director of the St. Louis Housing Authority, will receive the MOKAN Public Sector of the Year Award.
“font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Verdana;”>El-Amin also credited the the St. Louis Housing Authority under Lovell’s leadership with pushing for compliance with federal Section 3 hiring goals. The authority receives federal funds from HUD.
“font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Verdana;”>“Our community’s unemployment rate is off the charts,” El-Amin. “The St. Louis Housing Authority understands it’s really important for us to see local residents at work.”
“font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Verdana;”>E.M. Harris will be recognized as General Contractor of the Year, though awardees for MBE Contractor of the Year and WBE Contractor of the Year will be announced the night of the event.
“font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Verdana;”>El-Amin said the issues of inclusion at stake in this awards event are crucial to the embattled African-American community in St. Louis. MOKAN’s awardees, she said, “get it.”
“font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Verdana;”>“They understand we need to include the people living in these communities in work opportunities to stabilize the community. To rid the community of crime, the best way is to employ the community,” she said.
“font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Verdana;”>“We want to hold them high, so other construction stakeholders can buy in and look at what they are doing and follow their example. It’s the best step in the right direction for this city and region.
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“font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Verdana;”>For more information, call MOKAN at 314-454-9675
