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TriMet awarded $170 million in contracts to minority-owned firms, women-owned firms or disadvantaged business enterprises for the Portland-Milwaukie light-rail project.

That sum is the most the transit agency has spent to hire MWDBE firms since starting a program 14 years ago to increase the number of construction contracts it awards such firms, said Johnell Bell, TriMet’s director of diversity and transit equity.

Previously, TriMet awarded $62 million in contracts to minority-owned, women-owned or DBE firms for construction of the MAX green line, and $36 million for construction of the MAX yellow line.

Of the 538 firms hired to work on the $1.49 billion MAX orange line between Portland and Milwaukie, 130 are owned by minorities or women, or are DBEs.

鈥淥ne of the things we’re really proud of is it’s not just a handful of firms,鈥� Bell said. 鈥淎 lot of this work is just having the exposure and the opportunity.鈥�

The MWDBE firms represent 25 percent of all contracted firms working on the project, which is scheduled to finish next year. That exceeded TriMet’s goal of 22 percent, Bell said. The agency set no specific goal for hiring MWDBE architecture and engineering firms; however, 20 percent of the design firms working on the project are certified, he said.

The large percentage of MWDBE participation for the orange line project has garnered attention from the Federal Transit Administration, one of the project funders, Bell said.

鈥淲e’re one of the top (agencies) in the nation in terms of hitting DBE goals,鈥� he said.

TriMet officials last week recognized an individual and a firm involved in the orange line project for helping advance the agency’s Disadvantaged Business Enterprise program goals. The 2014 DBE Champion of the Year individual award went to Hoffman Construction project manager Daryle Low. The organization award went to prime contractor Stacy and Witbeck.

To date, the orange line project has created 12,800 jobs, according to TriMet.