BlueCross hits minority participation goal
BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee surpassed its goal for participation by minority and women-owned businesses on its $299 million headquarters, officials said.
The company also passed its goal for local businesses.
"BlueCross has always worked closely with minority-owned and small businesses to ensure that our suppliers reflect our company's overall diversity goals," said BlueCross vice president Dan Jacobson.
The insurer had a 26 percent minority and women-owned business participation rate, the company said. Its rate of local and regional contractors was 63 percent. The company's goals were 25 percent for minority participation and 50 percent for local contractors.
BlueCross said the levels are among the highest ever for a large-scale, private commerical construction project in the city.
Lynda Childress named president/CEO of Luken Holdings
Lynda Childress has been promoted to president/CEO of Luken Holdings Inc., a key owner and operator of commercial real estate in Chattanooga.
She succeeds Kim White, who has been named to serve as president/CEO of RiverCity Co., a private, nonprofit redevelopment group in downtown Chattanooga.
"Lynda has been an important part of this company since its purchase and I feel fortunate to have her leading our team" said owner Henry Luken.
Ms. Childress, who previously served as chief financial officer of Luken Holdings, began her career in 1990 with Osborne Building Corp., and then joined the Corker Group nine years later when Osborne was bought by now U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn. She then moved to Luken Holdings when Mr. Luken bought Sen. Corker's real estate holdings in 2005.
Luken Holdings owns and operates more than 2.5 million square feet of commercial real estate, including the Krystal, Tallan and James buildings downtown and Osborne Office Park in Brainerd.
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Uh... someone may want to correct the headline on this story and perhaps read it again so that the subheadings don't just look like un-punctuated sentences.
Why do race, ethnicity, and sex need to be considered at all in deciding who gets awarded a contract? It's fine to make sure contracting programs are open to all, that bidding opportunities are widely publicized beforehand, and that no one gets discriminated against because of skin color, national origin, or sex. But that means no preferences because of skin color, etc. either--whether it's labeled a "set-aside," a "quota," or a "goal," since they all end up amounting to the same thing. Such discrimination is unfair and divisive; it costs the shareholders money to award a contract to someone other than the lowest bidder; and it's generally illegal to boot (see 42 USC section 1981 and comments we submitted to the Colorado DOT here: http://www.ceousa.org/content/view/655/86/ ).
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