SMALL BUSINESS : L.A. Affirmative Action Committee Comes to O.C., Plans Monthly Meetings

Fifteen years after it got off the ground in Los Angeles, the Century Freeway Affirmative Action Committee is coming to Orange County.

The committee is a nonprofit organization founded in 1979 to foster minority- and female-owned business participation in the construction of the Century Freeway. The freeway is almost completed, but the Century Freeway Affirmative Action Committee lives on. The organization helps make small businesses aware of contract opportunities with government agencies and large corporations.

Beginning March 9, the committee will hold monthly breakfast meetings in Orange County. Its first session here will be at the Red Lion Inn in Costa Mesa from 7:30 to 9 a.m. The networking sessions are co-sponsored by the U.S. Small Business Administration.

“There is a large constituency of small businesses in Orange County that could benefit from our services,” said Andrew Delgado, executive director of the Century Freeway Affirmative Action Committee. The county is home to about 26,000 minority- and female-owned firms, according to U.S. Census Bureau statistics.

The committee provides companies with a list of contract and procurement opportunities, from repair of earthquake-damaged freeways to construction projects overseen by Irvine-based Fluor Corp. It also helps educate small businesses about the often-complicated process of working with a government bureaucracy or a large company.

“If you don’t know what you’re getting into, you can get swallowed up,” Delgado said.

Breakfasts will be at various locations on the second Wednesday of each month. Cost is $15. For reservations and more information, call the committee at (310) 419-8003.