Using Black contractors for headquarters at heart of spat
CLEVELAND — An organization representing Black contractors is pressing Sherwin-williams to uphold its commitment to diversity while building its new downtown Cleveland headquarters, though the company said it’s in the process of awarding more contracts to minority-owned businesses.
The Black Contractors Group called on Sherwin-williams to keep its word and demanded to be included in the project to build a new 36-story tower at West Third Street and Superior Avenue. The group held a news conference at the intersection Tuesday, in conjunction with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
“We’ve been talking with Sherwin-williams for over a year now about diversity and inclusion on this project,” said Norman Edwards, president of the Black Contractors Group. “We were promised something. We have been working diligently with them, and they have not lived up to their promises.”
Sherwin-williams spokeswoman Julie Young said in a statement Tuesday that the company is in the process of awarding contracts to minority-owned businesses for multiple roles, including the minority construction management role. Sherwin-williams will announce those partnerships once the contracts are fully agreed upon and signed, Young said in the statement.
“We are highly disappointed and surprised by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference’s (SCLC) and the Black Contractors Group recent statements and today’s small protest, all of which ignored our inclusive approach, are uninformed by the facts and are counterproductive,” Young wrote in the statement.
Young added that Sherwin-williams believes the Black Contractors Group’s grievance stems from the fact Sherwin-williams did not award the entire minority construction management role to one of the representatives of the group.
Young said Sherwin-williams conducted a multistep process and reviewed bids for the role, and ultimately chose to divide the role among multiple firms “to ensure the most positive and productive outcome for the project.” Young said that a representative of the Black Contractors Group declined its portion of the awarded contract.
Four other minority-owned businesses are still working with Sherwin-williams, and Young said the company expects to finalize contracts with them soon. Young noted that Sherwin-williams encourages Black-owned and other minority businesses to register online so they can be contacted as more opportunities become available.
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference, a historic civil rights group co-founded and once led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., has its Streets to the Suites campaign where it works to mediate and provide justice for companies and people experiencing corporate racism.
Dr. Charles Steele, the president of the SCLC, claimed during Tuesday’s news conference that Sherwin-williams “reneged” on its commitments for the project, and had lost the trust of the Black Contractors Group as a result.
“When you lose trust in a corporate company and even an individual to any degree, then it’s failure,” Steele said. “But we came today to say we can resurrect that failure. We can resurrect it and bring it to common ground, and that’s why I’m here. I’m here to negotiate with Sherwin-williams.”
The project is expected to cost $600 million, with more than $100 million in public incentives. Sherwin-williams plans to start the project later this year, which includes starting work on a research and development campus in Brecksville. Sherwin-williams plans to move employees from the current headquarters on Prospect Avenue and employees from the research facilities by the end of 2024.
Throughout its protest Tuesday, the Black Contractors Group emphasized that it simply wants to be included in the process of Sherwin-williams’ project. Al Lewis, who works with a security company, is on the board of the group and said he and others just want an opportunity to help serve the city and their families.
“I just want a little piece of what they’re doing to feed my family and to feed my company also,” Lewis said.