GUILFORD COUNTY, N.C. — The contract between Guilford County and Samet Corporation went south over plans to demolish the Guilford County jail and build a new sheriff's office admin building.
County commissioners voted to terminate the contract Thursday night in an 8-0 vote.
The company claimed the county instructed them to hire more minority subcontractors after the bid process was over.
County and Company Respond
Guilford County Attorney Andrea Leslie‑Fite released a statement following the end of their agreement with Samet:
Guilford County’s termination of the contract with Samet Corporation was not based on the level of MWBE participation in Phase 1 or future phases of the project. Rather, the working relationship was disrupted by an incident that was wholly inconsistent with Guilford County’s commitment to its core values. Samet’s effort to try to justify the recent conduct on this project reinforces why the unanimous action taken last night by the Board of Commissioners was necessary.
Samet said a former employee was frustrated with the county's alleged request for more diversity and made disrespectful comments. Samet said it fired the employee, but the county moved forward with terminating the contract.
Samet Corp also released the following statement after the contract was terminated:
Samet has a long-standing and deep commitment to Guilford County and to equity, inclusion, and diversity on its construction work for the County.
On the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office Building project, Samet achieved over 40% minority and women-owned business enterprise (MWBE) participation of the total trade cost, which exceeds the 10% state baseline for MWBE. Of that, 15.9% was Black-owned enterprise participation, which exceeded participation by any other minority group.
As a result, we are deeply disappointed the County unreasonably terminated our contract when:
The County acted improperly by instructing after the subcontractor-bid process was completed in compliance with all laws and County policies, that Samet identify and hire additional Black-owned subcontractors outside of the bid process. After an internal investigation by outside counsel, Samet terminated the employment of a project employee who demonstrated their frustration with the request and openly questioned the validity of the County’s directive. The tenor of the employee’s remarks were inconsistent with Samet’s values and commitments. Samet’s values and success regarding diversity and inclusion and MWBE participation have been widely recognized, including by County officials (elected and unelected) and business journals. Termination of the contract is counterproductive to the County’s stated goals. Termination of this contract impacts dozens of subcontractors including MWBE subcontracts, totaling $8.7 million of work on this project. Additionally, this delay and resequencing would make the project more expensive to complete. Furthermore, every trade-package bid is now public record, making it extremely difficult for those subcontractors that were determined the lowest responsible bidder for their respective bid package to rebid and win under a new general contractor or construction manager.
Samet remains committed to continue being a leader in minority-contractor hiring and a valuable partner to the County.
What's Next
The next step is to find a new contractor to tear down the old jail that'll eventually lead to the building of a new sheriff's office.
The timeline is already years behind schedule, partially because of the pandemic, and more than double its original budget.
Samet says terminating the contract will make it more expensive.
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