It is the mission of the National Black Contractors Association of America (NBCA) to develop and provide national leadership for equal opportunity for people of color and women in the construction industry. The NBCA was established in 2008 to focus on construction opportunities for women and people of color. The NBCA has been noted by the construction industry as a national leader in collaborating with city, state and other governmental agencies creating and developing programs and opportunities in support of social equality. There have been many historic accomplishments in the fight for equal opportunity and the future presents many more challenges. However, with the development of organized programs and training opportunities, we can successfully foster increased capacity building, for the small, emerging and underutilized construction community. To which NBCA constructed a new $1.5 million dollar, state-of-the-art, 10,000 square foot training center and corporate headquarters located in the heart of the inner-city. A HUD Community Development Block Grant and support from City Councilman George L. The facility accommodates plan rooms, classrooms, a meeting hall and an executive boardroom. It was designed to serve the needs of small emerging and underutilized businesses, community groups and individuals within the local community. The NBCA membership is comprised of small “mom and pop” contractors as well as large national builders. This creates partnerships for greater opportunities in a proactive environment, in a post Proposition 209 era, (a California law established eradicate forced mandated quotas).The NBCA has established a Federal and State approved Apprenticeship Training Center (ATC) for drywall, lathing and carpentry trades. In fact, this facility is the “nation’s first” and only State approved African-American sponsored program. These trades are geared toward encouraging unskilled men and women to acquire the necessary skills to be proficient in these trades. Pre-Apprentice are initially referred to the Inner-City Labor Boot Camp Program administered by the BCA, to complete 480 hours of on/off site construction training. Mentoring and safety meetings follow this as a supplement to our “earn and you learn philosophy”. The actual Apprenticeship Program is a formal organized system of on-the-job-training. Over the years, the NBCA has established an outreach function that job-places these apprentices with some of the leading builders and developers in the State. Apprenticeship programs may vary in length from one to five years and most run two to four years depending on the trade. At the end of the program, the State of California awards a certificate of completion indicating that the participant has completed training that meets the industry standards for occupational proficiency. The NBCA, as a construction industry association over the past 30 years, has created unique relationships with developers, architects, engineers, builders and contractors, resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars in construction opportunities. Some of America's largest capital improvement projects are marked as monuments of equal opportunity where African-American contractors, people of color and women have participated because of the efforts of the NBCA. The NBCA member contractors have trained many youth from the inner-city community of San Diego, which has historically conceded to high numbers of under skilled and unemployed. The end result has been thousands of construction employment and training opportunities for women and people of color. Please visit our website @ www.bcasd.org for more information on the most recent programs and projects of the National Black Contractors Association of America.
