Laserfiche WebLink
<br />001145 <br /> <br />Ute Mountain Ute Tribe <br />Weeminuche Construction Authority <br /> <br />How the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe is utilizing P.L. 93-638 Indian Self-Determination <br />Construction Contracts to successfully build the Animas La Plata Project <br /> <br />Weeminuche Construction Authority (WCA) is a tribal ente'1'rise, fonned in 1985 by the Tribal <br />Council of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, for the pU'1'ose of creating a profitable tribal owned <br />business ente'1'rise that would develop employment and income for the Tribe. The company is <br />wholly owned by the Tribe and has functioned as a successful construction company under the <br />same name since its inception. Since 1985 WCA has successfully completed heavy and highway <br />. construction, residential and commercial buildings, mu,:i(;ip~l)I)1pr9ve-'11~nts afld oil field <br />locations within the Four Corners Region. . . . <br /> <br />By Charter, WCA is overseen and managed by a Board of Directors comprised of three <br />Councilmen and their advisors. This provides a diversity of experience in all phases of business, <br />construction and related engineering disciplines. This team combined with the company's skilled <br />workforce will insure that the project needs are met in a timely and cost effective manner as past <br />perfonnancewill affinn. <br /> <br />The Ute Mountain Ute Tribe's Weeminuche Construction Authority (WCA) is performing the <br />construction functions for the Animas-La Plata project under the provisions of the Indian Self- <br />Determination and Education Assistance Act P.L. 93-638. To date, five (5) separate construction <br />contracts have been negotiated and awarded to the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe by the Bureau of <br />Reclamation (BaR) totaling $33,816,543. Since beginning the work in the summer of 2002, <br />two of these contracts have been successfully completed by WCA. <br /> <br />WCA has managed and self perfonned the majority of the work on all five awarded contracts <br />providing employment and training opportunities for Tribal Members, along with a fair and <br />reasonable profit for the Tribe. WCA is benefiting from the P.L. 93-638 contracts by gaining <br />experience in the management and coordination of the large ALP Dam construction while <br />continuing to promote our reputation as a quality construction finn that has been developed over <br />the last 19 years. WCA has completed the work on time with good grades from all the <br />participants and is devoted to continuing this effort with the three on-going Contracts it is <br />currently perfonning and for the completion of the ALP project. Other ALP construction <br />components are in the process of being bid and/or negotiated and will comprise the majority of <br />the project. Simultaneously, WCA continues to undertake construction projects which are wholly <br />unrelated to ALP. <br /> <br />WCA curremly employs approximaTely 170 people, nearly 100 are workil1g 011 The Animas-La <br />Plata project. Native Americans comprise approximately nvo Thirds of This 'workforce. As work <br />progresses imo this summer of2004, it is amicipaTed The number of people working on the <br />projeCT will increase subsTamially. RecruiTment effol1s provide preference to all Native <br />