Clark Construction Debuts Small Business Training Program in Nashville

NASHVILLE, TN – Clark Construction Group has expanded its Strategic Partnership Program (SPP) to the Greater Nashville area. Originally launched in 2006, the 8-month program delivers executive MBA-style classes to small and diverse businesses, including minority-, women-, and veteran-owned firms in the construction industry. Twenty-two Nashville-area business owners and leaders make up the 2022 class.

Clark kicked off the inaugural Nashville program with a full-day orientation for participants on Thursday, October 20, led by Dr. Leonard Greenhalgh, director of programs for minority- and women-owned businesses at Dartmouth College's Tuck School of Business. The program's curriculum combines classes taught by Clark professionals and local industry experts with interactive team projects and specialty workshops. Throughout the course, participants will focus on a range of business and construction industry topics, including financial statements and accounting, insurance and bonding, estimating, purchasing, and project management, as well as softer business competencies such as presentation skills and leadership techniques. The SPP participants graduate following a capstone project and presentation to industry leaders.

Sixteen years ago, Clark founded the SPP to provide diverse businesses with the training, knowledge, and resources necessary for firms to compete for opportunities on large-scale construction projects. Since its inception, the company has expanded the course to eight markets across the country. To date, more than 1,300 small business owners and leaders have successfully completed the intensive program, gaining the capabilities and confidence to take their businesses to the next level.

SPP is part of Clark’s holistic approach to developing and mentoring small and disadvantaged business enterprises, and complements the company’s SDBE15 program, a corporate commitment to achieving at least 15 percent small or disadvantaged business participation on all projects - even those that don't otherwise have prescribed business requirements.

“Small and diverse businesses are the lifeblood of our communities. They bring invaluable perspectives and skills that make our projects and our industry stronger,” said Tim Lamson, Clark’s vice president in charge of the company’s operations in Nashville. “We are excited to deepen our investment in the growth of the region’s small business community and develop new professional relationships through our Strategic Partnership Program.”

Clark’s launch of the Strategic Partnership Program in Nashville comes just one year after the opening of the company’s new office in Nashville. Located just a few blocks from the city’s iconic Music City Center, the 2.1 million-square-foot convention center that Clark completed in 2013, the office is another symbol of the company’s commitment to serving the rapidly-growing Nashville market into the future.

Interested firms can learn more about the Strategic Partnership Program or apply for a future class by visiting www.clarkconstruction.com/spp.