The U.S. Supreme Court abandoned plans to rule on a major affirmative action case, saying the lawsuit wasn’t a good vehicle for deciding whether federal rules amount to reverse discrimination.

The court’s unanimous, unsigned ruling was an anticlimactic end to what was billed as a blockbuster affirmative action case. Opponents of racial preferences had hoped the court would use the 11-year-old fight over government highway contracts to declare federal affirmative action programs unconstitutional.

The case, Adarand Constructors Inc. v. Mineta, had developed procedural problems that several justices suggested last month were too messy to fix. The case began as a new test of whether the government can offer incentives to minorities or others traditionally at a disadvantage in the business world without unconstitutionally harming white-owned business.

The Bush administration had asked the Supreme Court to uphold the federal minority set-aside program. Solicitor General Theodore Olson was legally bound to defend the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise program run by the Transportation Department, legal analysts say.

A 50-page brief submitted by the Justice Department argued that the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise program as revamped by the Clinton administration now passes constitutional muster and that the "…unhappy persistence of both the practice and the lingering effects of racial discrimination against minority groups in this country is an unfortunate reality, and the government is not disqualified from acting in response to it."

The court agreed to hear the latest Adarand case in March. But at oral arguments Oct. 31, it was apparent that the two sides could no longer agree what they were fighting about or whether there was even a case at all.

The court’s ruling essentially erases the Adarand appeal and leaves a federal appeals court ruling against the company in place.

"The New Mexico 8(a) and Minority Business Association has been diligently following this case, and urging President Bush to vigorously defend the current DOT practices," Dr. Tito Bonano said. "We are very pleased with the latest decision."

The head of SBA’s Office of Government Contracting & Business Development wants to have proposals for program reform on the desk of SBA Administrator Barreto soon.

Those proposals will include improvements in the 8(a) program and the SDB certification program, pledges Associate Deputy Administrator Fred Armendariz. The share of contracts and procurement dollars going to 8(a) companies has fallen sharply in recent years. In fiscal 2000, the number of contracts fell 21 percent and the dollar value dropped eight percent.

Darryl Hairston, Armendariz’s deputy, says Congress has lost faith in the SBA’s ability to provide effective technical assistance to the program and regularly slashes funds for it. Another ongoing issue is whether the main focus should be to help existing 8(a)s grow so they can operate successfully as graduates of the program or whether the goal should be to recruit new companies.

Armendariz says his goal is to streamline the SDB certification program and make it less onerous for applicants.

The New Mexico 8(a) & Minority Business Association is delighted that there are three President Bush appointments so far that impact directly on minority business program says Anna Muller, President NEDA Business Consultants, Inc.

Rep. Joe Skeen’s press secretary for the past six years, Selma Sierra has left the Republican congressman’s office to take a job with the Bush administration in the U. S. Department of Commerce.

Sierra is senior adviser to the Director of the Minority Business Development Agency at the Department of Commerce. She is overseeing public affairs and international trade functions at the agency.

A graduate of New Mexico Highlands University, Gallegos worked as chief of staff to Sen. Pete V. Domenici from 1980 to 1984. This is Gallegos’ second stint in Washington as a sub-Cabinet member. He served in the Interior Department as assistant secretary for policy under Secretary Manuel Lujan Jr. in 1989-90.

Terradigm provides project management and consulting services for numerous government agencies, including the Department of Defense and the Department of Energy. It was founded in 1993, had sales of about $4 million last year and grew by 902 percent over the past five years. Terradigm was ranked 332 on the list of the 500 fastest growing companies in the nation.

Congratulations Mike!

Congratulations!

Cynthia Schneeberger is the new Procurement Deputy Director at Sandia National Laboratories. Cynthia’s tenure as manager of the Supplier Relations Department was distinguished with several awards and recognitions for achievements with the small business community.

Cynthia was assigned to be the Sandia representative to the New Mexico 8(a) & Minority Business Association and was a great liaison to the Association.

Theresa Carson is the new Manager of Supplier Relations. She brings over thirteen years of experience in the procurement field and has been at the Labs for almost twenty years.

The NM 8(a) & Minority Business Association’s 
2001 Accomplishments

With 2001 behind us this is a good time to summarize the vigorous activities of the New Mexico 8(a) & Minority Business Association over this last year and develop plans for 2002. We successfully launched and executed the following aggressive initiatives:

hCo-sponsored the Sandia IT Information Exchange Forum providing an opportunity for minority businesses to meet with the technical staff from five information technology areas at Sandia National Laboratories.

hAggressively advocated for Sandia’s MESA construction  projects to be split up for competitive bid.

hCo-hosted a high level Kirtland Air Force Base procurement briefing for 8(a), SDB and HUBZone firms with contracting personnel.

hParticipated in the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce & Minority Business Summit Committee legislative forum in Washington D.C.

hAnna Muller, President of NEDA Business Consultants, was appointed co-chair of the Minority Business Summit Committee, a Washington, D.C. minority business advocacy organization.

hHosted a reception for George Herrera, President and CEO of the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

hHosted a reception for SBA Administrator Hector J. Barreto, Jr, Washington, D.C.

hParticipated in the Department of Energy Annual Small Business Conference.

hCo-sponsored Federal Dollars & Sense for Women-Owned Business Conference.

hNew Mexico 8(a) & Minority Business Association board President Dr. Evaristo "Tito" Bonano (Beta Corporation International), Dr. Miguel Rios (ORION International, Inc.),Tina Cordova (Queston Con struction, Inc.) and consultant Anna Muller (NEDA Business Consultants, Inc.) testified before Members of the House of Representatives’ Committee on Small Business in Albuquerque.

h8(a) Board members are active members of Sandia’s Supplier Community Advisory Council (SCAC), a forum to strengthen supplier relationships.

hConvened high level meetings with Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) officials on LANL’s changes in its construction procurement practices and policies.

hAttended and participated in LANL’s New Horizons Trade Fair 2001 Conference.

hCo-sponsored Small Business Week and Minority Enterprise Development (MED) Week activities.

hAnna Muller and Tito Bonano serve on the board of Latin American Management Association (LAMA), the oldest national Hispanic business organization.

hSuccessfully lobbied Congress in conjunction with the Minority Business Summit Organizations to amend regulations on contract bundling.

hOpposed bundling of the City of Albuquerque Sunport Retail Concessions.

hSponsored Sandia National Laboratories Construction Pre-qualification seminar.

hPromoted reciprocity on construction pre-qualification criteria between Sandia and Los Alamos National Laboratories.

NASA has designed a course focusing on areas of business management that are critical for success in competing for NASA contracts and subcontracts. The NASA course is known as Training and Development of Small Businesses in Advanced Technologies, and is offered free of charge to all small business owners who want to learn more about how to get a piece of the approximately $11 billion annual contracting budget for prime and subcontractors.

A basic course is offered January 16-18 in Honolulu, Hawaii and an advanced course is offered February 12-14 in Hampton, Virginia. For more information, contact Gloria Smith, Workshop coordinator at 1-800-933-8483 or e-mail at TADSBAT@mta-inc.com.

The DOE Third Annual Small Business Conference, May 19-22, 2002 at the Orlando World Center Mariott in Orlando Florida. We’ll provide you with more information as it becomes available.