Community programs providing benefits. (Alameda corridor).

Three programs associated with the Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority are meeting aggressive goals designed to directly benefit local residents and communities.

"The Governing Board was quite clear in its desire that the Alameda Corridor leave a legacy beyond actual construction of the project," ACTA Chief Executive Officer James C. Hankla said. "I'm pleased to report that our three community programs are on track and providing direct benefits to local residents and communities."

Here's a status report on the three programs.

Alameda Corridor Business Outreach Program

Known as ACBOP, this program is designed to improve the ability of disadvantaged business enterprises (DBEs) to compete for contracts with prime contractors working on the design and construction of the Alameda Corridor. DBEs are generally small or women- or minority-owned firms.

Through technical assistance and networking workshops, extensive outreach, and other methods, ACBOP helps to provide DBEs with the tools they need to compete for work.

The program's goal was to help DBEs earn 22 percent of work awarded on the Alameda Corridor project - a very aggressive goal, considering the federal goal is only 10 percent. With almost all ACTA contracts awarded, disadvantaged firms have earned 22 percent of ACTA work, or contracts worth almost $284 million.

Disadvantaged firms are contributing to the project on a wide variety of levels - from engineering and design work to actual construction, from on-call right-of-way services to materials procurement.

"These are contracts that have been competitively fought and won," said Tim Buresh, ACTA's director of construction and engineering.

ACBOP was established through an interagency agreement between the U.S. Economic Development Administration, the Los Angeles Mayor's Office of Economic Development and ACTA. The Los Angeles Minority Business Opportunity Committee administers the program.

Alameda Corridor Job Training and Development Program

Established as part of the Mid-Corridor Trench contract, this program requires that the contractor provide job training and placement services to 1,000 residents of communities along the project route.

Of the 1,000, 650 were to receive training in a construction trade in preparation for a union apprenticeship, and 350 were to receive non-trade training. Participants in the construction trade-training program receive 400 hours of classroom instruction and are paid for on-the-job training over eight weeks. Non-trade training consists of 20 hours of classroom instruction emphasizing construction industry-specific skills in areas such as computers, clerical and drafting.

The most recent figures show that 804 residents have graduated from the trade-training program. Of those, 626 have been placed in union apprenticeships or in non-union construction jobs on the Alameda Corridor project or elsewhere. In the non-trade category, 322 local residents have received training.

In the construction trade portion of the program, all training has been completed and attention is now focussed on placement services. Non-trade training continues and is on pace to achieve its goal.

"We are proud of the graduates, and we are proud of the fact that ACTA is playing a role in enhancing the future for local residents through transferable job skills that will last a lifetime," Hankla said. "We will continue our efforts to ensure that all job training and placement goals are met."

Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority Conservation Corps

Launched in June 2000, this program carried an original goal of recruiting, training and employing 200 young adults by May 31, 2001. But the program proved so successful that the Governing Board extended the contract through May 2002 and provided additional funding.

So far, 342 young adults (ages 18-23) have completed the program.

The program is managed by the Conservation Corps of Long Beach in conjunction with the Los Angeles Conservation Corps, with funding and oversight provided by ACTA.

Recruits are paid minimum wage while working 32-36 hours per week on various beautification projects in Alameda Corridor communities. For 6-10 hours per week, they also receive training and education -- for example, credits toward a high school diploma. After three months, recruits have the option to join the Conservation Corps full time, phase into a Long Beach or Los Angeles city college program, or enroll in a business, vocational or trade school or apprenticeship program.

Among the many beautification projects completed, crews have planted more than 1,800 trees, removed almost 50 tons of trash and eradicated graffiti from 4,600 locations in Corridor communities, including Carson, Compton, Lynwood, Huntington Park, South Gate and Vernon.

"This program is a real success story because the recruits are learning job skills and school credits while gaining on-the-job experience, many of them for the first time, while performing jobs that cleanup local communities," said Mike Bassett, executive director of the Conservation Corps of Long Beach.