PSC Commissioner Arriaga Appointed to UMAP Board

UMAP encourages market access and economic opportunities for Diverse Business Enterprises (DBE) in the electricity, gas, water and telecommunications procurement marketplace.  In addition, UMAP continues to maximize opportunities for DBE’s supplier participation and to promote voluntary utility market participation in DBE supplier development programs.

In accepting his appointment, Commissioner Arriaga said he is interested in identifying ways in which investor-owned utilities contribute to the economic development in Florida with specific focus on their efforts to procure contracts with small businesses.  In April, he helped organize a PSC workshop on “Economic Development and Small Business Procurement by Florida’s Investor-Owned Utilities.”  At the 2006 NARUC Summer Committee Meetings in San Francisco (July 30-August 2), Commissioner Arriaga will be a featured speaker during the UMAP meeting.  He plans to highlight Florida’s utilities’ economic development efforts in Florida, with specific emphasis on small business procurement.

Commissioner Arriaga said, “I am pleased with the successes of Florida’s utilities in the area of supplier diversity, and I will continue to work with them to foster UMAP’s goal of enhancing opportunities for all participants in the electricity, gas, telecommunications, and water industries.”

Commissioner Arriaga, who was appointed to the PSC in October 2005, has a distinguished international career and a particular interest in economic development.  Prior to his PSC appointment, he was an independent management consultant for Ferrell Schultz Consulting, Inc., in Miami.  He also served as President and CEO of the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce, was on the Board of Directors of the Venezuelan-American Chamber and the Council of Bi-National Chambers, and was President and CEO of  Hispanic Unity of Florida.

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