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<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt"><FONT face="Times New Roman">Press Release<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></B></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt"><FONT face="Times New Roman">For Immediate Distribution<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman"><?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:date Month="6" Day="13" Year="2011"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt">June 13, 2011</SPAN></B></st1:date><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></B></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt"><FONT face="Times New Roman">CONTACT: Bob Estabrook, 503-709-0730<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
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<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal align=center><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 16pt"><FONT face="Times New Roman">BOLI Report Draws Path to Diverse Construction Workforce<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></B></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal align=center><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt"><FONT face="Times New Roman">Recommendations include policies, programs to support women, minorities<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></I></P>
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<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman"><st1:City><st1:place><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt">SALEM</SPAN></B></st1:place></st1:City><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt"> </SPAN></B><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt">- </SPAN><st1:State><st1:place><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt">Oregon</SPAN></st1:place></st1:State><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt">’s Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) has delivered its biennial report <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Diversifying the Construction Workforce</I> to the legislature.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The new report identifies continuing barriers to employment in construction for women and people of color, exacerbated by the economic downturn, as well as model success stories and specific recommendations to increase construction workforce diversity.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
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<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt">“Many Oregonians are facing barriers to fulfilling, living-wage employment in the construction trades,” said State Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian, head of BOLI and Oregon’s Apprenticeship and Training Division, which helped to compile the report.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>“The impact is not only on the workers whose opportunities are being limited, but on the </SPAN><st1:State><st1:place><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt">Oregon</SPAN></st1:place></st1:State><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt"> communities that lose out on the contribution of potential role models for the next generation of workers.”<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
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<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt"><FONT face="Times New Roman">The 2007 Oregon Legislature established a state goal of increasing diversity among workers employed on public improvement projects subject to state prevailing wage rate laws.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>As the state’s top civil rights enforcement agency and the agency responsible for the administration of prevailing wage law, BOLI was charged with developing a plan and reporting regularly on recommended steps to increase diversity among workers on public improvement projects.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
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<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt"><FONT face="Times New Roman">“To break this cycle of persistent underrepresentation for women and people of color in the construction workforce we have to think creatively,” said Marcus Mundy, President and CEO of the Urban League of Portland.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>“Some efforts with promising results are already underway, but to build on those successes and achieve greater results, concrete steps have to be taken on each of the report's recommendations. Good policy must be accompanied by systematic, deliberate and consistent steps, with transparent timeframes, for achieving the aspirations set forth here.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The Urban League is anxious to be part of those steps.”<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
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<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt"><FONT face="Times New Roman">The new report offers a series of recommendations to more fully address the existing barriers to recruitment and retention of female and minority construction workers, including:<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
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<P style="TEXT-INDENT: -0.25in; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 54.15pt; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Wingdings; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings"><SPAN style="mso-list: Ignore">§<SPAN style="FONT: 7pt 'Times New Roman'"> </SPAN></SPAN></SPAN><FONT face="Times New Roman"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold">Increase funding for pre-apprenticeship programs,</SPAN><SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: -0.25in; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 54.15pt; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Wingdings; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings"><SPAN style="mso-list: Ignore">§<SPAN style="FONT: 7pt 'Times New Roman'"> </SPAN></SPAN></SPAN><FONT face="Times New Roman"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold">Reinvest in education and hands-on training in middle and high schools,</SPAN><SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: -0.25in; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 54.15pt; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Wingdings; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings"><SPAN style="mso-list: Ignore">§<SPAN style="FONT: 7pt 'Times New Roman'"> </SPAN></SPAN></SPAN><FONT face="Times New Roman"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold">Implement workforce training and hiring goals statewide,</SPAN><SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: -0.25in; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 54.15pt; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Wingdings; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings"><SPAN style="mso-list: Ignore">§<SPAN style="FONT: 7pt 'Times New Roman'"> </SPAN></SPAN></SPAN><FONT face="Times New Roman"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold">Consider alternatives to low-bid procurement, and</SPAN><SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: -0.25in; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 54.15pt; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Wingdings; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings"><SPAN style="mso-list: Ignore">§<SPAN style="FONT: 7pt 'Times New Roman'"> </SPAN></SPAN></SPAN><FONT face="Times New Roman"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold">Appropriate adequate funding for comprehensive data collection, analysis and workforce research</SPAN><SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
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<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt"><FONT face="Times New Roman">The new report <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><A href="http://www.oregon.gov/BOLI/docs/Diversifying_the_Construction_Workforce_2010.pdf"><FONT color=#800080>Diversifying the Construction Workforce</FONT></A></I> is available on BOLI’s website.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 6pt 0in; tab-stops: .5in" class=MsoHeader align=center><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt"><FONT face="Times New Roman">######<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: .5in" class=MsoFooter align=center><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt"><FONT face="Times New Roman">The mission of the Bureau of Labor and Industries is to protect employment rights, advance employment opportunities, and protect access to housing and public accommodations free from discrimination. <o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></I></P></BODY></HTML>