New Orleans, LA – San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Engineering and Construction was named as the first-ever Diverse Business of the Year award winner by the Associated General Contractors of America, association officials announced today. The association also awarded Diversity and Inclusion Excellence Awards to Auston Commercial, Bjork Construction, the Massachusetts Port Authority and the San Antonio Chapter of AGC.
“These awards honor member firms and chapters that have established exception programs dedicated to expanding the diversity, and with it the strength, of the construction industry,” said Art Daniel, the association’s president and president and COO of AR Daniel Construction Services in Cedar Hill, Texas. “Launching these awards is a key part of a much broader effort we have underway to foster an even more diverse and inclusive construction industry.”
Daniel noted that Yerba Buena’s founder, Miguel Garza had a goal of helping the economically disadvantaged neighborhood where he grew up, San Francisco’s Bayview District. That is why the firm’s approach has been to hire locally and promote from within, and as a result, 92 percent of the firm’s employees are people of color. Embracing diversity and inclusion has also helped the firm to build their bonding capacity, capability, and track record, the association president added.
In addition to naming Yerba Buena as the Diverse Business of the Year, Daniel also announced four other winners of the association’s inaugural Diversity & Inclusion Excellence Awards. Austin Commercial, based in the Texas state capitol, won the Diversity & Inclusion Excellence Award for a large contractor. The Diversity & Inclusion Excellence Award for a small contractor went to Bjork Construction in Fremont, California. The Diversity and Inclusion Excellence Award for a service or supply firm went to the Massachusetts Port Authority. And the Diversity & Inclusion Chapter Award went to the San Antonio Chapter of AGC.
The five awards were presented during the association’s annual convention in New Orleans. A diverse panel of judges, representing all aspects of construction, evaluated the submissions based on three criteria: corporate commitment to diversity & inclusion, workforce diversity & inclusion initiatives and subcontractor/supply chain diversity & inclusion initiatives, Daniel noted. He added that the awards program is sponsored by Willis Towers Watson.
