McCarthy Building Companies joined one thousand contractors across the nation and leading activities in St. Louis for the first-ever Construction Inclusion Week. Daily themes include Leadership Commitment and Accountability, Unconscious Bias, Supplier Diversity, Jobsite Culture and Community Engagement. Locally, McCarthy hosted a variety of activities throughout the week on jobsites and in offices aligning with these themes, including live webinars, small group conversations, online educational content, supplier open house events and community outreach activities, including a supplier diversity open house at McCarthy’s national headquarters office in Des Peres.
The inaugural Construction Inclusion Week kicked off on Monday, October 18, 2021. Construction Inclusion Week provided five days of content and resources designed to promote inclusion and enable hard conversations regarding diversity within the Construction Industry. The theme was “Building the Foundation for Inclusion,” and provided content includes toolbox talks for project sites, table talks for office locations, activities for use at home, and a bevy of supplemental resources for deeper exploration. Daily themes include Leadership Commitment and Accountability, Unconscious Bias, Supplier Diversity, Jobsite Culture, and Community Engagement.
More than 1,100 construction industry firms throughout North and Central America signed up to participate and have received access to materials and resources that help foster conversations and bring awareness to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Firms of all sizes, including top-ranked national firms and local small businesses, registered to take part. Specialty contractors, suppliers, and affiliated industry organizations, including owner entities, also signed up. Over 70% of registered companies are non-MWBE/SBE/LGBTQ+ certified firms interested in enhancing and improving inclusion efforts.
Construction Inclusion Week invited every member of the construction industry to unite to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion. The resources enables construction companies of all sizes to plan targeted activities for their organization and trade partners. By working together, learning from one another, and being consistent in commitments and actions towards maintaining a safe and inclusive work environment–free of harassment, hate, or bigotry of any kind – Construction Inclusion Week encourages a positive change in the industry for generations of workers to come.
Organized by Time for Change, a consortium of six general contractors, the collaboration’s goal was to identify ways to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion in the construction industry. The shared effort by Gilbane Building Company, DPR Construction, Turner Construction Company, Mortenson, McCarthy, and Clark Construction Group resulted in organizing an industry-wide Construction Inclusion Week with affiliated partners Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC), Associated General Contractors (AGC), and Culture of Care.
Visit www.constructioninclusionweek.com to sign up and access valuable resources to bring awareness to diversity, equity, and inclusion concepts for job sites, teams, and companies. From safety to job site technology, our industry has made the most progress when we collaborate. Fostering sustainable and buildable change requires unity, a common focus on achieving shared goals, and bold steps.