2024 AGC in the Community Award Winners
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MEMBER WINNERS:
Schweiger Memorial Scholarship Project
Advanced American Construction
Portland, Oregon
Advanced American Construction established this scholarship program to advance the education and career goals of outstanding students and apprentices in the construction industry. It provides academic and trade scholarships as well as support for construction students who are serving or have served any branch of the U.S. military. The firm established the fund to memorialize Konrad Schweiger and his son, Forrest Schweiger, who lost his life in a tragic construction accident in 1999. As of last year, Advanced American has raised over $1 million for the scholarship. The firm celebrated the milestone during a spectacular awards event featuring Mike Rowe of Dirty Jobs. Sixteen new construction students as well as two veterans now enrolled in the United Brotherhood of Carpenters Apprenticeship program received scholarships during the event.
Operation Fighting Back
Rocky Bleier Construction Group
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
When Master Builders of Western Pennsylvania launched a Caring for Our Community program to support local veterans, they teamed up with Rocky Bleier Construction Group to make disabled veterans’ homes safer and healthier. With many of the 18 million American veterans living in substandard housing in underserved communities, many are at risk of homelessness. Since the construction firm is a service-disabled veteran-owned small business, they were happy to get involved in the project. The company gave all employees the day off on Veterans Day 2022 so that they could help improve local veterans’ homes. The team replaced doors, installed windows, and replaced furnaces and kitchen cabinets, counters, and sinks. They installed new appliances, repointed exterior brick, and replaced driveways. Ultimately, the firm provided 22 workers for a total of 264 hours and donated about $32,000 in labor and $6,000 in material.
Habitat for Humanity SuperBuild Home, the Paredes Family
The PENTA Building Group
Henderson, Nevada
The PENTA Building Group’s charitable arm, PENTA CARES, provided volunteers and financial support to six months of ground-up construction of a new home for the Paredes family in Henderson. The SuperBuild program was started by FOX 5 in February 2020 to help provide safe, suitable homes, and PENTA shared these goals from day one. PENTA organized several trade partners to assess the home and partnered with All 5’s Construction to address several issues, including a spider infestation, mold, and extensive water damage. The team decided it would be most efficient to move the family to temporary housing while work was underway, and it was the realtor spouse of a PENTA project manager who helped to secure the living space. The family’s father, Dio Paredes, worked side-by-side with volunteers. All 5’s saw his potential, mentored him, and ultimately offered him a full-time paid apprentice carpenter position. PENTA and All 5’s employees helped build and lift the roof trusses, install doors and windows, and install and level wall frames. They also provided volunteers with specialty experience, such as quality control, inspections, construction safety and carpentry. A total of 34 employee and family members contributed about 30 hours each towards building the new home.
CHAPTER WINNER:
Jenna’s Promise
Associated General Contractors of Vermont
Johnson, Vermont
After Greg and Dawn Tatro lost their daughter Jenna to substance use disorder in 2019, they began Jenna’s Promise, a nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating barriers to treatment. The AGC of Vermont began working with Jenna’s Promise the year it was created, as the Tatros are members of the chapter and owners of GW Tatro Construction. The chapter has donated services and raised funds to create and improve Jenna’s House. It also worked with Jenna’s Promise Roasting Company to make a contractor blend coffee, the proceeds of which support the continued operation of Jenna’s Promise. Chapter staff helped create a video highlighting barriers to employment related to substance abuse in partnership with the Vermont Department of Labor and supported multiple workforce development projects for those in recovery. The chapter also encouraged its members to donate time and skills to build a recovery facility for Jenna’s Promise.