Digging despite the dirt; Excavator keeps family business growing in spite of favoritism rumors.(News)(Ferguson Enterprises Inc. (Detroit, MI))

Crain's Detroit Business, August, 2004 by Ankeny, Robert

Byline: Robert Ankeny Detroit contractor Bobby Ferguson hears the whispers about his company getting preferential treatment from the city administration, but says he largely ignores them. Some of the stories claim that phone calls by influential politicians netted him work such as the Compuware Corp.

headquarters excavation. Others say that Kwame Kilpatrick or others on the mayor's behalf pressure developers and construction managers to use Ferguson or other favored contractors. But Ferguson, 35, said his company, Ferguson Enterprises Inc., has been winning bids and doing business with the city since the 1970s, through three administrations. And he is too busy advancing a construction business he has managed since he was 17 years old to worry about the...

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