NAWIC partnered with four industry organizations to promote the role of women in construction, while the ABC announced two strategic alliances to promote opportunities for women and minorities.

NAWIC Signs New Partnerships

The National Association of Women in Construction, headquartered in Fort Worth, recently signed partnering agreements with four industry moguls during its 51st Annual Meeting and Convention. The association partnered with Paxton/Patterson LLC, The ACE Mentor Program of America, FMI Corp. and the Construction Specifications Institute. The partnering organizations seek to mutually promote the construction industry and the role of women in the industry.

NAWIC's agreements with Paxton/Patterson LLC and ACE center on improving the construction industry's image among young people, educators, parents and career counselors to attract more youth to careers in construction.

NAWIC and FMI will seek to mutually promote the construction industry and the role of women in construction.

NAWIC and CSI agreed to work cooperatively to advance the technology of quality of building construction and management in the United Sates and to better serve the needs of members and customers.

Associations Partner to Improve Business for Women, Minorities

Associated Builders and Contractors, the National Association of Minority Contractors and Women Construction Owners and Executives, USA, recently announced two strategic alliances designed to promote free enterprise, open competition and opportunities for all construction firms.

The three associations officially entered into the agreements during the ABC's Legislative Conference in Washington, D.C.. The associations expect that the national-level agreements will trigger similar partnerships among the associations' local members nationwide.

The ABC said the agreements will allow construction's leading diversity stakeholders to develop national initiatives that will encourage similar local level programs by providing women- and minority-owned businesses with access to services, training, networking and other programs.

ABC's Darnall Comments on NAMC, WCOE Association Agreements

Following is an excerpt of comments released by Jack Darnall, national chairman of the ABC, following the announcement of the NAMC and WOCE association agreements:

"In construction, individuals are not judged by the color of their skin, their ethnicity or their gender. They are judged by the quality of their work, their integrity and their skill.
"ABC believes in open competition and free enterprise. To underscore its guiding philosophy, ABC has signed two national-level agreements with the National Association of Minority Contractors and Women Construction Owners and Executives, USA.

"The agreements stem from a shared belief between ABC, NAMC and WCOE that in order for the U.S. construction industry to remain competitive in a global economy, it must continue to diversify its workforce by attracting significantly more women and more members of the minority community into the industry. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Current Population Survey, in 2004, women represented 12 percent of all construction industry workers, while African-Americans represented 9 percent and workers of Hispanic origin represented 30 percent.

"With the assistance of NAMC and WCOE, ABC will develop and distribute to its chapters materials to assist non-minority construction firms to effortlessly do business with historically under-utilized minority- and women-owned businesses.

"To increase their professional expertise within the construction industry, members of NAMC and WCOE will join with ABC members to encourage and help facilitate joint educational and training programs among each organization's respective local chapters, including programs in craft training, management education and safety training.

"Additionally, ABC and NAMC will work together to support the use of mentor-protégé programs that allow ABC's larger, more-experienced contractor member firms to share their experience and industry knowledge with smaller, minority-owned contracting firms. This program will provide NAMC members with access to valuable information, networks and resources to help improve their businesses and ultimately strengthen the entire industry.

"Finally, to ensure that all contractors have a fair and equal opportunity to bid on federal, state or locally funded construction projects, ABC will work with NAMC and WCOE on legislative initiatives common to both organizations that will prevent such practices as the use of union-only project labor agreements and other procurement mechanisms that subvert free and open competition within the local, state and federal public works sectors of the construction industry."