University Partnership Brings Construction Management Training Program to Local Minority and Women-Owned Businesses
Nearly 60 local minority and women business owners received intensive training in a variety of business and construction management topics this summer as part of a free program offered by Turner Construction Company and sponsored in part by The University of Chicago Facilities Services.
August 18, 2009 will mark the graduation date of the latest class of students at the Turner School of Construction Management. The University of Chicago Facilities Services partnered with Turner to organize the 14-session training program aimed at expanding capacity and encouraging growth for Chicago-area minority and women business owners.
Nadia Quarles, Director of the University’s Office of Business Diversity, has made it her mission to establish partnerships within the community and to provide opportunities for minority and women-owned businesses to develop their operations and enhance their administrative and managerial skills. Nadia was pleased that Facilities Services and Turner Construction worked together to enhance the construction management training program. This venture was an ideal fit with her mission.
Turner Construction has a lengthy history of collaborations with minority and women-owned businesses, and uses its status as the nation’s largest general builder to encourage emerging owners. Turner is proud to have awarded over $1 billion dollars in construction contracts to minority and women-owned businesses over the past four years.
"We are very proud to have this record of accomplishment and that we are able to provide so many opportunities to minority and women-owned contractor communities around the country." said Turner President and CEO Peter Davoren.
Founded in 1969, the Turner School of Construction Management has seen over 15,000 minority and woman business owners successfully complete the program in over 70 cities nationwide. The classes are offered free of charge and are taught both by members of Turner Construction staff and leading professionals from the construction industry. A wide variety of topics are covered in the seminars, including: green building construction, construction law, risk management, blueprint reading, estimating, and financial management.
Quarles feels that the University is in a unique position to support the type of community-based business development that the Turner School provides. She notes that many of the minority and women-owned businesses that participated in the Turner program may be too small to win a contract with the University, but "that should not stop us from becoming a resource for those entrepreneurs".
This year’s graduates of the Turner School will be able to use the various construction management skills gained through Turner’s program as they grow their businesses and meet the challenges of future endeavors.
For more information on Turner Construction Company services, visit their website.