Developer & General Contractor  |  Diversity Objectives

Challenge:
A major redevelopment project is planned for the Lower Hill District in Pittsburgh. The project is set to cover a 28-acre area of the city that once was a vibrant neighborhood of diverse residents. The plan features a mix of residential, commercial/office, retail/entertainment, food venues and green spaces. One key initiative in this plan is a push for a high level of participation by disadvantaged contractors. A major goal for this project is to have at least 30% of work completed by Minority owned firms and 15% by Women owned firms. They also committed to a 20% overall minority labor force, including hiring workers from the local community. Buccini Pollin is the lead developer of this project, and they selected Carl Walker Construction as one of the general contractors tasked with achieving these objectives.

Solution:
Being such a large project with so many moving parts and with such specific criteria for contractors, Joe White, President of Carl Walker Construction, partnered with a North American ContractorLink customer solutions advisor for help. Utilizing our network of fully-vetted contractors, we streamlined his search and introduced him to a half dozen qualified contractors with the right skills and who were minority owned businesses.

Conclusion:
Due to the quality and diversity of the contractors in our network, we were able to quickly provide a number of contractors to fit the project perfectly. We aided Carl Walker and ultimately the Lower Hill Redevelopment project in their pursuit of these diversity goals, and at the same time we helped our MBE contractors to further develop and improve their own businesses. We feel very proud of the part we are playing in this project and the value we are providing to our contractors, the project, and the Lower Hill community.