National Association of Construction Contractors Cooperation Announces National Registry for Section 3 Certified Businesses

    KANSAS CITY, MO, October 06, 2010 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Today the National Association of Construction Contractors Cooperation (NACCC), a nonprofit 501-C-3 Corporation headquartered in Kansas City, Mo., launches the nation's first National Registry of HUD Section 3 Certified Business Concerns. The National Registry, accessible online at www.NACCCUSA.org, will enable governmental agencies, housing developers and general contractors constructing HUD Section 3 covered housing projects the ability to easily locate and authenticate business concerns claiming Section 3 Certification.

For the first time in the 42-year history of the HUD Section 3 law, Section 3 certified business concerns responsible for providing job training and employment for Americans in both urban and rural areas on HUD Funded Projects will begin seeing intensified efforts to implement bidding preference on their behalf. Additional efforts will ensure that those businesses can provide employment and training opportunities to individuals who meet low and very low income levels required by the federal law in [12 USC 1701u].

HUD directly funds billions of dollars each and every year to recipient agencies for construction of Section 3 covered housing projects nationwide. Business concerns that meet the eligibility qualifications are required to establish Section 3 Business Concern Certification as stated in the "Code of Federal Regulations" (24 CFR 135) in order to receive preference when bidding HUD Section 3 covered projects. Those businesses are also required to provide good paying jobs (generally Davis-Bacon hourly rates) to the individuals from within the target area of the funded projects. The law and regulations surrounding those employment requirements have for the most part been ignored for the past 42 years, yet billions of dollars have consistently been allocated by HUD each year without fail on HUD Section 3 covered projects.

Without funding from HUD or any other governmental entity, NACCC facilitated all development cost and operates and maintains the National Registry of Section 3 Certified Business Concerns free to the public. The NACCC National Registry uses robust, state of the art, business intelligence technologies and enables NACCC with tremendous capacity to process tens of thousands of business concern certifications virtually, while it redundantly populates and maintains the status of millions of Section 3 Certified business concerns without cost to governmental agencies and general contractors who need access to that vital information.

NACCC was founded in 2000 and stands as a national advocacy organization for Section 3 law implementation, compliance and enforcement. The organization is the leading source for HUD Section 3 education to construction related business concerns nationwide. NACCC has a memorandum of understanding with the State of Missouri and with the State of Kansas to provide HUD Section 3 Business Concern Certifications. NACCC recently became an affiliate member of the National Council of State Housing Finance Agencies (NCSHA) and is listed in their 2010 membership directory. NACCC is working to expand memorandums of understanding with all 50 state housing agencies.

The state housing agencies are direct recipients of Section 3 covered funding for low-income housing projects developed in their jurisdictions. For example, Missouri and Kansas currently have approximately $600 million in construction projects both approved and under development using Section 3 covered funds.

Under Section 3 law, ten percent (10%) of those dollars should be spent with Section 3 Certified Business Concerns. In turn, those businesses must hire and train low-income individuals from within the neighborhoods and communities where those projects are being built.

Section 3 law is color-blind. It is not race-based. It represents the best and most equitable method for implementing economic opportunities on behalf of all Americans located at or below the bottom of America's economic ladder. NACCC is leading the advocacy effort to ensure that Section 3 economic opportunities, job training and employment for low-income Americans actually take place.

The fees charged by NACCC to business concerns for Section 3 certification fund all expenses associated with sustaining the National Registry and will enable NACCC to place HUD Section 3 Employment Centers in select urban and rural areas, which will be free of charge to qualified individuals to receive job training and placement.

For more information visit the official NACCC site at www.nacccusa.org.

Or contact Aamir M. Muhammad, NACCC Executive National Administrator at 816-923-5399.

# # #