Seattle Regional Leaders Pledge to Improve Equity in Infrastructure

Executives from King County Metro, Sound Transit, Community Transit, and the mayor of Seattle and Seattle-area partners Hill International and the Port of Seattle signed the Equity in Infrastructure Pledge to improve contracting opportunities for Historically Underutilized Businesses (HUBs) during a recent ceremony at Seattle’s historic Union Station. This signing brings the Coalition of the Committed, of which APTA is a member, to 74.

The Equity in Infrastructure Pledge (EIP) aims to build generational wealth and reduce the racial wealth gap by improving public infrastructure contracting practices to create more prime, joint venture, and equity contracting opportunities for HUBs. Pledge signers are heads of transit authorities, airports, ports, water districts, and engineering, financial, and construction firms from across the U.S.

“We are advancing a national movement whose power can be measured in the hundreds of billions of dollars. Encouraging CEOs at both public and private entities to provide opportunities for historically underutilized businesses to operate as prime contractors will result in increasing generational wealth in underserved communities,” said EIP Co-Chair Phillip A. Washington, CEO, Denver International Airport. “There is a value proposition to awarding more contracts to small and minority firms. EIP is not a social program—EIP is an economic development program.”

“Our whole mission at EIP is about advancing ways to increase value for project owners, communities, and taxpayers. If there are more companies that can compete as primes, joint venture partners, or equity partners, that means more competition,” said EIP Co-Chair John D. Porcari, former deputy secretary, USDOT. “That means that those generational investments pay off in the long run. That lowers the cost to taxpayers and frees up dollars for more investments.”

“When we think about equity and infrastructure, for us at the Federal Transit Administration, we see them as intricately intertwined,” said FTA Administrator Veronica Vanterpool at the ceremony. “The pledge that is being signed today has an impact across the country. “The road to truly economic opportunities is long, but with the action of these signers here today, we’re on our way.”