The Shell Game And Black Contractors

(This is the conclusion of a 3 part series on Blacks in construction)

There is an old saying among women that goes, “Always a bridesmaid. never a bride.” This means that a person never rises to the level of being the most important person in a situation.

The same phrase could be used for Black men and women in the construction industry who want to be general contractors instead of being pigeonholed holed into being a sub-contractor.

Over the past 15 of the 20 years that I have covered Blacks in construction, specifically in the area of being a general contractor, the excuses as to why Black contractors can’t move up always falls into one of three categories;

1) “They lack capacity.” 2) “They lack the ability to bond.”

3)“They lack enough trained employees.”

However, Black contractors and even some White contractors, off the record, will say it’s, racism, discrimination and a sense of entitlement and white privilege that White general contractors enjoy and have enjoyed for decades.

After the first series a White construction company owner called and asked, “Why would we teach Black contractors on how to be a competitor?”

My reply to him centered around the fact that there is more than enough money to go around in the construction industry in Kansas City and because helping small Black contractors rise is the right thing to do. “Since you did admit that what is holding Black contractors down is pure and simple racism. Always the Bridesmaid. Never the Bride.”

Our conversation ended immediately.

The bottom line centers around several factors for Black contractors to move into the realm of being a General Contractor.

First they must first be able to pass the test which comes with mentorship and experience.

Second they must be mentored. This can be done in joint partnership endeavors, with majority firms, so that they can learn the ropes and have the exposure needed to break the concrete ceiling.

Had Chester Franklin not mentored Ms. Lucile Bluford who mentored Ms. Donna Stewart who in turned mentored me, chances are there may not be CALL newspaper today.

At the Urban Summit on Friday, May 20, Jim Watts, who has been in the construction industry for decades, brought up a great point. His point was centered around relationships.

There is an old saying, “It’s not what you know. It’s, who you know.” Relationships can get you in the door.

Third and most importantly they must be allowed the opportunity to succeed or fail. That could be a very costly lesson, but how did the White construction companies get to the position they are in today? Through mentorships, relationships and trial and error.

One of the things that Black contractors must work on is to stabilize their back office accounting support. This will help increase their bonding capacity and ensure financial stability.

Lastly, we have to create a workforce in the Black community. I am optimistic that with Kansas City Public Schools moving in the right direction academically along with Charter schools our children will learn how to read a ruler or tape measure.

They will learn how to read a blueprint and learn business management skills so that they can run successful businesses.

KCPS must open a Vocational Training school within one of its schools to teach our children how to enter into the construction industry no matter what level and be successful.

One other point is that Black developers must not be afraid to go outside of the box and mandate that White contractors use and mentor Black subcontractors to be GCs.

Likewise, the City must come up with methods to train Black subs to be GCs and even figure out a way to mandate on projects that they mentor them. They must do this in the same fashion as they mandated that developers building housing projects must set aside some units as affordable housing.