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Leadership Profile: Anthony Coleman Anthony Coleman hopes to set challenging but realistic goals for the NTTA as the Authority’s new Business Diversity Department Director.
Mr. Coleman began working for the NTTA Dec. 15, 2008, and is spearheading a study to help the NTTA set goals for working with various enterprises, including minority and women-owned businesses. The study will determine the availability of various businesses and will identify any disparities that may exist in contracting with them.
Before coming to the NTTA, Mr. Coleman worked 26 years for the City of Dallas as its manager of business development services. He then left Dallas to help Irving develop a new business diversity program and advisory committee. During his tenure in Irving, minority-owned business participation in the design and construction of the city’s convention center reached 33 percent.
Mr. Coleman says achieving similar results are only part of his plans for the NTTA.
“I hope to clear up the misconceptions of working with minority and women-owned businesses,” he said.
People often mistakenly believe that costs run high and quality suffers when contracting with historically under-utilized businesses, he said.
“One reason that small businesses don’t participate in the government procurement process is that they simply don’t have time to prepare,” Mr. Coleman said.
He hopes to address that challenge through educational outreach programs and assistance to small businesses. A member of his staff maintains membership in the North Central Texas Regional Certification Agency. Through its membership, the NTTA’s Business Diversity staff will help small businesses obtain certification to bid as providers for goods, construction work, architecture and engineering services and other professional services for the NTTA.
“I want to put a mechanism in place so that people understand the procurement process, and I want the process to be transparent,” Mr. Coleman said. “People need to be made aware of opportunities to work with us in a timely manner. And if our goals are not met, it is incumbent on us to change.”
Mr. Coleman’s efforts will stretch across the region. In April, he will be talking with a group of minority business leaders in Tarrant County.
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