For the past 16 years, JE Dunn has successfully facilitated our Minority Contractor Development (MCD) program in Kansas City and other offices across the county. Our program consists of eight comprehensive training modules intended to mentor small and emerging minority- and women-owned businesses (MWBE) in all aspects of running a commercial construction company. The four-hour courses are designed to educate and equip companies for success, help grow their businesses, and launch a partnership with JE Dunn. All classes are taught by JE Dunn employees and focus on the following topics:
- Principles of Business Excellence
- Sales, Marketing, & Human Resources
- Competition & Bidding
- Leadership & Project Documentation
- Time Management & Scheduling
- QA/QC, Safety, and Construction Technology
- Legal, Financials, & Risk Management
Expanding the MCD Program to Nebraska
We’re excited to announce that we have brought the MCD program to the Omaha marketplace. After two months of community outreach that included in-person events, print advertisement, and radio, our team interviewed 15 applicants and selected nine minority contractors to represent the first class of our program.
JE Dunn’s goal is to inspire real change in our community. Free of charge to participants, the MCD program will lift up small minority businesses, provide the education and resources they need to succeed, help create jobs for members of underserved populations, and develop meaningful relationships with companies we can hire for future projects. This type of partnership is urgent and necessary to remove the barriers that have historically blocked diverse, emerging construction firms from expanding.
The MCD program will also help increase workforce capacity in an industry that is currently plagued by labor shortages. According to the City of Omaha’s annual Building and Development Summary, the total estimated value of building permits issued by the Planning Department in 2021 climbed to approximately $1.15 billion, one of the highest yearly amounts on record for the city of Omaha, and the data for 2022 will likely be even stronger.
JE Dunn is currently the only Construction Manager in the area that offers this type of program. We’re eager to play a role in advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in the billion-dollar Omaha construction sector. The MCD program has been received extremely well locally by the public, City of Omaha leaders, and our existing clients. We intend to learn from this first class and continue to grow the program in the future.
