Jets Sign M/WBE Agreement on Stadium Construction

The New York Jets franchise, which is angling to build a $1.7 billion, 75,000-seat stadium on Manhattan's West Side, has signed an agreement with businesses owned by minorities and women that will guarantee their participation in the construction effort. Stadium proponents - including Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who wants the facility to anchor the city's bid for the 2012 Summer Olympics - say the project would generate thousands of construction jobs.

Prospects for the stadium proposal remain clouded, because of last month's decision by the Metropolitan Transit Authority to accept rival bids on the planned site, which is over its rail yards bounded by 11th and 12th avenues and by W. 30th and W. 33rd streets.

The agreement grew from a Jets-created task force charged with expanding participation by women and minorities. The agreement would establish a technical assistance and training program offering consulting to small contractors about the skills, level of performance, and other factors they would need in order to successfully participate on the stadium project. Other programs would help women and minority-owned businesses gain access to credit from financial institutions, obtain necessary industry certifications, secure bonding, and position themselves for future contracts related to the stadium.