Major Boston developer Suffolk Construction works to expand diversity on job sites
A day after Boston Mayor Michelle Wu announced a new policy to increase diversity and inclusion in the review process for large construction projects — a first-of-its-kind policy in the country.
Construction and development is booming in Boston, but diversity in the industry itself is not.
Nationally, only 30% of construction professionals are Hispanic or Latino and only 6.2% are Black.
In Boston, the numbers aren't much better, but there are efforts underway to change that.
Justin Sheridan is the president of Mass Signal Service LLC, a union electrical contractor.
“The landscape has changed a lot, and is still changing for the better,” he said.
He's been in the business for 20 years, and his company is now being introduced to bigger contracts thanks to a program through Suffolk Construction.
“Getting on a job site, getting that opportunity, it’s just been a great experience all around,” Sheridan said.
Corey Allen, a compliance manager at Suffolk, works to build relationships and recruit subcontractors owned by women and people of color into valuable programs.
“We take them on a two-month journey where they learn how Suffolk does business, give them industry insight,” he said.
Allen also partners with local tech vocational schools to find and inspire young talent, like 19-year-old Ettyenne Martinez, a mechanical and plumbing apprentice at E.M. Duggan who was able to get a full-time job right out of high school.
“My perspectives and hopes and dreams have been blown away constantly over every month every week,” he said.
In an industry with a major worker shortage, Allen, with the help of Suffolk Construction, makes it a priority to inspire and help build a workforce that represents the diversity in its neighborhoods.
“I’m lucky enough to be here and to be put in a position to be able to make those connections and be able to support changing the narrative here in the city of Boston,” he said.