Summary: Oregon Governor Kulongoski asks state agency directors to increase efforts in recruiting minority- and women-owned businesses for state contracts.
Topic: Should the new administration offer incentives for investing in women-owned businesses?
Category: Journalistic
What is it? The Oregonian Newspaper Article from the business section.
Title: Affirmative Action Gets State Push.
Publication Information: The Oregonian. August 20, 2008 Wednesday. Section: Business, p. B01
Author: Esteve, Harry
Location: LexisNexis Academic General Search. Search Entry: Women-owned businesses
Accessed: January 29, 2009. 19:45 PST
Support:
Ted Kulongoski- Oregon Governor
Gale Castillo- President of the Hispanic Metropolitan Chamber in Portland
Anna Richter Taylor- Kulongoski spokeswoman
Harlan Levy-state director for the National Federation of Independent Businesses
Gov. Ted Kulongoski is serving his second term as Oregon governor. In August 2008 he issued an executive order to improve the state equal-opportunity programs. The order asks state agency directors to increase efforts to recruit minority- and women-owned business for state contracts.
Anna Taylor speaks on behalf of Gov. Kulongoski and explains that the state is responding to comments from small businesses owned by women and minorities that it is difficult to get work from the state. Taylor maintains that they are doing what they can to make affirmative action a top priority for agency directors.
Gale Castillo claims that the government is just providing lip-service to minority communities and alternate approaches must be adapted in order to change the current tendencies.
Harlan Levy confirms the validity of Kulongoski’s orders. He believes that the orders will result in more Oregon small businesses getting state contracts.
Audience and Agenda: The Oregonian was founded in 1850. It is the largest newspaper in the Pacific Northwest by circulation. It is owned by Advance Publications. It has won many awards, including the Pulizer prize in 2001.
Usefulness: This article is an example of the conflict between being proactive in hiring women-owned business for state contracts and offering contracts based solely on merit. Kulongoski’s intent is to” open the door and create a level playing field,” says Kulongoski’s spokesperson, Anna Taylor. Gale Castillo says that the governer should do more than give “lip service” to working with minority-owned businesses. The state contracting laws remain the same, as well as the state hiring system. This article raises the question as to whether or not laws and policies should be installed in order to prompt the state to provide minority-and women-owned businesses with state contracts.
Works Cited:
LexisNexis Academic Database Search entry: Women-owned Business
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Kulongoski
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Oregonian
Filed under: Journalistic Sources, Source Notes Tagged: | Kulongoski, state contracts, women-owned businesses
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