Marketplace®

Daily business news and economic stories

Can Cleveland require contractors to hire local workers?

The Supreme Court of Ohio will decide.

Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in downtown Cleveland is undergoing a $185 million renovation. The construction firm on the project has voluntarily agreed to comply with a local ordinance that requires contractors on certain publicly funded construction projects allocate at least 20% of the work hours to Cleveland residents.
Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in downtown Cleveland is undergoing a $185 million renovation. The construction firm on the project has voluntarily agreed to comply with a local ordinance that requires contractors on certain publicly funded construction projects allocate at least 20% of the work hours to Cleveland residents.
Adrian Ma/ideastream

The city of Cleveland has an ordinance, known locally as the Fannie Lewis law, that requires contractors working on projects that receive more than $100,000 in city funds to hire city residents for at least 20% of the construction work hours. If a contractor doesn’t comply, it has to pay a fine. City officials say that attaching these strings to public projects helped Clevelanders pull in at least $34 million in construction wages between 2013 and 2016. And yet, while other cities, such as Detroit and Boston, have similar “local hire” rules, Cleveland’s could be overturned if Ohio’s Supreme Court decides that a state law prohibiting such “residency quotas” takes precedence.

Related Topics

Latest Episodes

View All Shows
  • Marketplace
    5 hours ago
    25:19
  • Make Me Smart
    10 hours ago
    19:00
  • Marketplace Morning Report
    13 hours ago
    6:55
  • Marketplace Tech
    17 hours ago
    8:33
  • This Is Uncomfortable
    3 days ago
    56:05
  • Million Bazillion
    24 days ago
    32:45