Magazine publisher and real estate mogul Malcolm Forbes once explained diversity as “the art of thinking independently together.” It’s true: while diversity fosters a more creative and innovative workforce, it also drives collective economic growth and is critical to creating a competitive economy in a globalized world. 

The Rives E. Worrell Co., a JE Dunn Construction Company, believes diversity makes our organization stronger, more robust and improves the community in which we all live. We are committed to promoting diversity and building a culture that enables all our employees and partners to achieve their full potential regardless of age, gender, race, ethnicity or physical capabilities. 

However, diversity is not just a buzzword to the Rives E. Worrell Co.; it is something we put into practice every day. Over the past several decades, we have a long history of working with many minority- and woman-owned firms and organizations to promote diversity in our industry. 

The company’s Minority Contractor Business Development (MCBD) program, which first began in Savannah in 2011, provides a venue for minority and woman-owned firms in construction-related fields to participate in a training program to enhance business acumen and interpersonal and relationship building skills. 

Participants chosen for each six-month class have access to a full day of training each month, free of charge. Monthly MCBD sessions explore a broad range of topics, from legal and marketing to leadership and estimating. Facilitators are business owners and understand the unique needs and challenges that face small businesses. 

In the two years the program has been active in Savannah, the Rives E. Worrell Co. has awarded 24 projects totaling more than $23 million to local minority- and woman-owned businesses. More than $9 million of that went to MCBD program participants. One participant in the MCBD program is John Glover, a second-generation mason from Savannah whose family business, Glover’s Masonry, Inc., hit a brick wall when the economy stalled several years ago. He applied for, and was accepted into, the 2013-2014 MCBD program, and will graduate the first week of December.

“The more I learn, the more I realize I don’t know. I’m learning how to work the business as a business and not let it overwhelm me — it’s been great for my development,” Glover said after participating in the program.  “I’m grateful for this opportunity, to be honest. The education I’m receiving, a lot of people would pay for. So I don’t take it for granted.” 

While going through the program, Glover earned his largest single commercial job to date: a $295,000 subcontract to perform the masonry scope of work on The Islands Library project, a Chatham County SPLOST project that recently wrapped. Rives E. Worrell Co. then awarded Glover a second subcontract: the masonry scope of work on the Memorial University Medical Center Emergency Department Expansion, currently under construction. 

The next MCBD program will start on January 15, 2015. Competitively selected participants must:

• Be 51% minority or woman owned;
• Work in a construction-related field;
• Have been in business for at least two consecutive years;
• Meet business size regulations as defined by the Small Business Administration (SBA);
• Be involved in daily operations and committed to active MCBD program participation; and
• Be willing to register a Subcontractor Management System Profile. 

For additional information, contact Cherelle Cortez, diversity manager, at [email protected] or 912.354.1386.