There will be pizza and games as well as a brief presentation about the group and time for the youth to talk with each other to plan what they want this year to be like.
This is the perfect time for youth to bring friends from your school or congregation to join our group! Please invite any high school youth, share this information with your youth group, and plan to join us on September 14th!

Please RSVP by emailing MARCC@fuse.net or calling Lisa at the MARCC office 721-4843.

Hope to see you there!

http://www.ahacincy.org/

Feel free to share this information!

MARCC Letter to HUD

Janet Harrah, Senior Director of Economic Development Center at NKU, will present on the economic forecast for SW Ohio region for Employment and Housing.

Ballot and voting information is available online at www.LegacyforOhio.org.  Individuals can vote for any one of the ten finalists listed on the ballot and mail it in by June 12, 2010.

Please support Harriet Beecher Stowe.  If selected, she would be the first female statue representing Ohio in the Statuary.

View the Flyer

Michael Burson, Director of Facilities, Cincinnati Public Schools
“The Community Benefits Agreement”

Last month MARCC Delegates listened to the progress and challenges of Minority Contracting in the Southwest Ohio region particularly in Cincinnati and Hamilton County.  This month our focus will be Cincinnati Public Schools Community Benefits Agreement, its purpose to increase diversity in the CPS construction workforce.  Delegates have the opportunity to learn more about the Agreement from Michael Burson, CPS Director of Facilities and a CPS representative on the Cincy Building Task Force of which MARCC and other organizations served.  The task force crafted an agreement that includes a strategy and process to increase a more diverse pool of skilled persons who may be hired by construction contractors with new checks and balances in the bidding process for CPS contracts.  The agreement also enlists career pathways to construction, pre-apprenticeship programs and apprenticeship programs as one of several means to achieve the goals of the agreement.  Many of you have attended or watched CPS Board meetings throughout the last nine months.  These meetings have been challenging and portray parents, residents, administration, School Board members and community organizations grappling with the best ways to increase minority contracting and a local diverse workforce.  Mr. Burson will outline the community process and highlights of the agreement.  Delegates will have an opportunity to listen and raise questions following the presentation.

Please remember to:
Bring your lunch, coffee is provided
Park on the street or in the Parking Garage across Plum Street from the Cathedral. (Some meters are 60 min limit)
Enter through the bronze gates at 325 W. 8th Street (across from City Hall)

Minority Contracting by local building initiatives in Southwestern Ohio is far less than what it needs to be for our community to thrive.  The City of Cincinnati, Cincinnati Public Schools, Hamilton County Commissioners and the Cincinnati Regional Chamber U.S.A. have taken steps toward addressing this problem through “Inclusion”.  What does this mean for minority contracting in our region?  How do small minority businesses grow?  How much capital is needed and who do those small contractors and businesses go to when they need more training and capital to grow?  Our speaker Sean Rugless continues to play a central role in steps taken to increase minority contracting in our region.  Some of his involvement includes recommendations on how minority contracting can be increased through the bidding and contracting process of the City of Cincinnati..  Mr. Rugless’s presentation will draw upon his work as President of the African American Chamber and as a member of the Minority Business Accelerator, sharing with us its progress and remaining challenges.  Recently, City Manager Dohoney outlined for Delegates his administration areas of emphasis for 2010, one of which is Inclusion.  At our May meeting we will raise, how does inclusion impact policy issues of employment-job creation and training?  How do we as a religious community respond to reducing the barriers to full employment and capital gains sorely needed by minority businesses in order to progress.  Delegates will have an opportunity to listen and raise questions following the presentation.  We look forward to your participation.

Please remember to:

• Bring your lunch, coffee is provided
• Park on the street or in the Parking Garage across Plum Street from the Cathedral. (Meters are 60 min limit)
• Enter through the bronze gates at 325 W. 8th Street (across from City Hall)

MARCC Response to NAACP-BMC Arrests over CPS Minority Contracting