In West Philly, Buttigieg calls for minority business owners to bid for ‘historic’ federal infrastructure contracts

U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg joined regional leaders in West Philadelphia Thursday to discuss ways to include minority business owners in potential transportation contracting opportunities.

It’s part of the Biden administration’s priority to consider equity when distributing federal funding.

President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will invest more than $100 billion in surface transportation. It aims to generate 1.5 million jobs annually across America.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime, historic, generational moment of investment in America's transportation infrastructure. We’ve never had that kind of money flow out of Washington before that. There's a lot of money for a lot of different projects.” - Pete Buttigieg

Della Clark, president of the Enterprise Center in West Philadelphia, said her organization is committed to helping minority business owners be included in those contracts.

“Oftentimes they will bid on contracts, but they're relegated to be the sub versus the prime (contractor),” said Clark. “We want more minorities to be the prime, not the sub.”