FOR RELEASE: Immediate, November 21, 2003

18th Annual MWSBE Conference Draws 500+

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Networking: Making Connections to Grow Your Business

ALBANY The Dormitory Authority held its 18th Annual Minority, Women and Small Business Enterprise Conference on November 21-23. More than 500 registrants attended the conference at the Albany Marriott Hotel.

The purpose of the conference is to promote business development opportunities to minority- and women-owned businesses and small businesses (M/W/SBEs). The conference sessions provided an excellent opportunity for attendees to meet with our staff and others within the construction industry to learn more about potential opportunities with the Authority.

On Saturday, attendees heard from Jeffrey J. Zogg, Executive Director of General Building Contractors of New York State (GBC); Michael Misenhimer, Executive Director of Northeastern Subcontractors Association Inc.; and Barbara Rodriguez, Executive Vice President/CEO of the American Institute of Architects New York Chapter.

Teresa A. Santiago, Chairperson and Executive Director of the New York State Consumer Protection Board, was the dinner speaker. Ms. Santiago gave a poignant speech about her grandmother, of Puerto Rican descent, who dreamed of opening a small restaurant, but funding problems interfered. Ms. Santiago said her grandmother always emphasized the need for education and financial opportunities within the minority community. Ms. Santiago concluded that watching her grandmothers efforts provided her with the determination to succeed in life.

The theme was Networking: Making Connections to Grow Your Business. The conference planning committee placed a greater emphasis on promoting networking opportunities among the vendors.

The conference schedule included:

Bid Forecast: Participants discussed DASNYs current and future contracting opportunities on projects for the Office of Court Administration (OCA), City University of New York (CUNY), New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC), State University of New York (SUNY), and other statewide facilities and independent clients.
Help Lane: DASNY representatives from the Project Management, Procurement, Technical Services, Quality Assurance and Real Property units, as well as from Risk Management, Legal, and Communications and Marketing were available to discuss strategies to increase M/W/SBE participation in professional service and contracting opportunities. Listed are the key DASNYs staff members who participated in the Help Lane session: Douglas VanVleck, Managing Director of Construction; Steve Curro - Director, Technical Services; Karen Graber Director, Procurement; Jack Kemp - Chief, Construction Contracts; Paul Koopman - Chief, Professional Services Contracts; Tom Mannix - Chief, Purchasing and Interior Design; Marc Ganz - Director, Real Property; Ann Dodson Acting Director, Risk Management; Michelle Bryant - Senior Risk Management Asst., Risk Management; George Weissman - Associate General Counsel; Heidi Lenge, Manager - Accounts Payable, Contract Payments; Leigh Favitta - Director, Information Services; Paul Burgdorf - Director, Communications & Marketing; Michael Clay - Upstate Regional Manager, Opportunity Programs and Charles Croskey - M/WBE Registration/Certification, Opportunity Programs.
Networking Sessions: This year DASNY added more opportunities for networking at the conference. More than 20 prominent firms which provide construction management, prime contracting, and architectural/engineering services were represented. Networking sessions were held on Friday and Saturday. The following firms participated in the Networking Session: Barry, Bette & LedDuke, Bradford Construction, Bovis Lend Lease, Cauldwell Wingate, DMJM Harris, Don Todd Associates, Gilbane Construction, Helpern Architects, HJ Russell & Company, Le Chase Construction, The LiRo Group, The McKissack Group, Perkins Eastman, Pike Company, RMBDC, Inc, Skanska USA, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, Sound Build, TDX Construction, Turner Construction, Velez Construction
Concurrent Sessions on Professional Services, Construction Contracting and Procurement: A panel of leading construction managers and prime contractors, architects and engineers, procurement professionals, as well as key DASNY staff, discussed the procurement process and strategies to increase M/W/SBE participation in DASNY construction projects. The panel speakers were: Elizabeth Velez, Executive VP - Velez Organization; James H. Jones, President TDX Construction Corporation; Phil Zezulinski, Project Executive - Gilbane Building Company; Barbara Kalish, Assoc. Project Manager - Skidmore Owings & Merrill; Michael Bergen, Principal - Architecture+; Gregg Gambino, Asst. VP - Skanska USA Building; Ronald Krukowski, Mgr. of Ops/Project Exec. - Turner Construction; Lyle Corey, Sr. VP & Partner - Le Chase Construction; Richard Caster, VP of Corp. Comm. Resources Dev. - Bovis Lend Lease; Joe Corchado, President - JFD Sales; Jan Bishop, Principal - Hillier Group; Ronnette Riley, Principal & Owner - Ronnette Riley Architects and William Singer, Senior Associate - Gruzen Samton Architects, LLP.
Successful M/W/SBEs Panel - Representatives from prominent minority- and women-owned firms led a candid discussion of their experiences working with the Authority and other public sector clients. Panel participants included; John Dierks, Exec. Vice President - Dierks Heating; Anthony C. Baker, President - Anthony Baker; Beverly Foit-Albert, President - Foit-Albert Associates and Danny Shaw, President - Stonewall Construction.
Idea Room - Opportunity for attendees to share their ideas on methods to maximize M/W/SBE participation on DASNY-funded projects with our Executive Director Maryanne Gridley. DASNYs senior construction staff and other key decision makers within the Authority were also available to answer questions, and hear your suggestions.

For more information, contact Press Officer Claudia Hutton at (518) 257 3382, or CHutton@dasny.org.

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