Strategic Partnership Program Helps Boston Businesses Grow

BOSTON – Increased opportunities await the first class of graduates from Clark/Skanska's Boston Strategic Partnership Program for small businesses. The owners and executives of 22 local Minority Business Enterprises (MBE) and Women Business Enterprises (WBE) recently completed the five-month executive MBA-style program.

The program's graduates were celebrated at a March 30 graduation ceremony that featured remarks from a past program graduate as well as Reginald A. Nunnally, Executive Director, Massachusetts Supplier Diversity Office.

The Strategic Partnership Program was developed by Clark Construction Group in 2006, in coordination with the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College, as a means to educate and prepare small businesses to work with large contractors. Since its inception, more than 300 participants have completed the program and these companies have been awarded more than $500 million in contracts on Clark projects. This was the first time the program was offered in Boston.

Clark/Skanska's Strategic Partnership Program consisted of weekly courses, supplemented by experiential learning in the field. Over the course of the program, City Council members, State Senators, and Boston Mayor Marty Walsh spoke to the participants, reinforcing the importance of MBEs and WBEs to the local economic fabric. In addition, Clark/Skanska employees and other industry experts worked with the graduates to review the fundamentals of project management, estimating, purchasing, basic accounting and financial reporting, bonding and insurance requirements, and how to read and understand blueprints. The program culminates with a capstone project requiring teams of students to submit a small business plan and presentation to a team of Clark/Skanska executives.

Clark/Skanska is a joint venture of Clark Construction Group and Skanska USA. For more information, click here.