FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT
Alexander Laska
202-879-4700
publicaffairs@enotrans.org
Washington, D.C. – The neutral, non-partisan Eno Center for Transportation has selected three winners for its technical assistance award program in Public-Private Partnerships (P3):
–Broward County, Florida (led by the Port Everglades Department and Office of Intergovernmental Affairs and Professional Standards)
–Metropolitan Transportation Commission in San Francisco Bay Area, California
–Executive Office of the Mayor, District of Columbia
Eno has designed this program to assist public agencies in better understanding the P3 development process, to spur action among states that have an established framework for P3s, and to build technical capacity among agencies’ professional staff. The winners will receive a specialized, one-day P3 summit with customized briefings within their local jurisdictions and a separate onsite implementation training session with follow-up online support.
In September 2014, the Surdna Foundation provided Eno with a two-year $150,000 grant in support of its Public-Private Partnership (P3) Working Group led by former U.S. Transportation Secretaries Norman Y. Mineta and Mary E. Peters. The grant is being used in two primary capacities: to disseminate the findings of the P3 Working Group’s report entitled Partnership Financing: Improving Transportation Infrastructure Through Public Private Partnerships and to help train public and private sector employees aiming to work together on P3 projects in a way that improves infrastructure and protects the public interest.
“The San Francisco Bay Area thrives on innovation, and in that spirit we are pleased and excited to be chosen for this opportunity to work with the Eno Center to learn and promote the benefits of innovative public-private partnerships so that our region may pursue P3 opportunities to deliver major transportation projects,” said Steve Heminger, Executive Director of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission.
DC’s Mayor Muriel Bowser added, “Washington, DC is delighted to be chosen for an Eno P3 Technical Assistance Award. We believe public-private partnerships present the District with great opportunities to meet the infrastructure needs of all DC residents and create pathways to the middle class. We look forward to working with Eno to leverage proven practices for this innovative procurement method.”
“Broward County and Port Everglades are very excited to accept the Eno Center for Transportation P3 technical assistance grant award,” said Steve Cernak, Chief Executive and Port Director. “The Port is a proven advocate of P3’s. The importance of public-private partnerships’ potential to build public facilities where government resources are limited is significant. If we are unable to invest in infrastructure, then we’re not going to continue to grow our cities, our counties, and our state. People tend to think that P3s are solely limited to transportation infrastructure, but libraries, community centers and convention centers facilities are among the projects that the P3 model would suit. Port Everglades, with business and governmental support, applied for this grant to allow Eno to communicate and teach our government project managers, local contractors and lenders, those methodologies that can be applied to approach larger development firms about joining forces in the planning stages for potential P3 projects.”
Eno looks forward to helping these public agencies build their capacity for successfully implementing P3s.
###
The Eno Center for Transportation is a neutral, non-partisan think-tank that promotes policy innovation and provides professional development opportunities across the career span of transportation professionals. For more information, please visit www.enotrans.org.
