SEATTLE – On September 25, Clark Construction launched its 2019-2020 Strategic Partnership Program. The eight-month course, which is offered at no cost to local small business owners, provides comprehensive construction management and business skills training. This year, 13 participants are enrolled and taking the next step toward smart, sustainable growth. Classes are being held at Clark’s Sea-Tac International Arrivals Facility jobsite office near the Sea-Tac airport campus in South Seattle.
The Strategic Partnership Program is an intensive, executive MBA-style course targeted to local small business enterprises, including minority-, women-, and veteran-owned firms. Since its launch in Seattle in 2017, 25 entrepreneurs have completed the development program. The primary goal of the course is to grow the capabilities and business acumen of small, local firms to enable them to successfully compete for the best possible opportunities in Seattle and surrounding markets.
Current class participants kicked off the program with a half-day orientation that included presentations by Liz Alzeer, the City of Seattle’s Director of Purchasing and Contracting Services, and the Port of Seattle Director of Diversity in Contracting, Mian Rice, as well as an inspirational message from program graduate Jan Keiser of the Keiser Group.
The Strategic Partnership Program includes weekly interactive classes focused on a wide range of topics, such as finance and accounting, insurance and bonding, project management, contracts, and estimating and purchasing; it also includes business competencies, such as networking and presentation skills. These classes are taught by a team of seasoned Clark professionals and local industry experts.
“It is very rewarding to witness the transformation of small businesses who graduate from our program. There is a tangible benefit to local economic growth when we are able to help build local small business capacity and provide opportunities for them to work alongside us on our projects. We consider it an honor to be able to have a meaningful impact in this community,” said Marivic Bamba Chennault, Clark’s director of community relations and small business development who oversees the Strategic Partnership Program in Seattle.
Founded by Clark in Washington, DC, in 2006, the Strategic Partnership Program has more than 800 graduates nationwide. In addition to its Seattle and DC classes, Clark has expanded the program to additional cities where it builds, including Chicago, IL, Irvine, CA, Kansas City, MO, San Francisco, CA, Seattle, WA, and, most recently, Los Angeles, CA.
Clark has awarded more than $1 billion of contracts to graduates of the program nationwide.
The Strategic Partnership Program was recently named a finalist in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s 2019 Corporate Citizenship Awards in the category of Best Economic Empowerment Program.
About Clark Construction Group
Clark Construction Group, LLC is one of the nation’s most experienced and respected providers of construction services. Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland and American-owned and operated since 1906, Clark is consistently ranked by leading industry organizations as one of the largest general building and civil construction companies with annual revenues of approximately $5 billion.
