Local blogger Sable Verity has the news that the Urban League is closing its Contract Development and Competitiveness Center, which helped women and minority-owned businesses win government contracts.

The Urban League's program was implicated in the Seattle Public Schools scandal when the state auditor found that SPS's own minority contracting program (which teamed up with the Urban League) was a mess of inaccurate billings and incomplete services.

We did some follow-up reporting on that big story—well-reported by the Seattle Times—and found that the League did some work with the Washington State Department of Transportation—and that WSDOT may not continue to work with the League.

Today, including her take on the WSDOT deal, Sable Verity, a former staffer at the Urban League, reports:

The specifics may not be public, but it’s clear the UL is in financial crisis having lost substantial contracts with SPS, the City of Seattle and others.

Now comes word the UL Board of Directors has shut down the Contractor Development and Competitiveness Center altogether and laid off staff; there is even a persistent rumor that interim CEO and President Tony Benjamin- once considered a front-runner for the job- has also been dismissed.

It’s a devastating blow to the UL legacy.

This latest action means only the Housing and Education departments remain.

The Urban League has a contract with WSDOT; according to Ann Briggs (Communications, State of Wa.) that contract is what is known as a “Task Order Agreement” which was created in January 2011. The TOA has a spending limit of up to $250,000 but was not a guarantee of work; the WSDOT could spend up to $250k with the UL but isn’t obligated to.