Minority and women-owned business enterprises (MWBE) have been historically underrepresented as subcontractors on large construction projects. This gap impacts the opportunity to employ people and businesses in our communities and our ability to help address economic inequality that exists for women and communities of color.

Suffolk aims to develop equitable solutions for small businesses in our local communities. To do so, we developed the Build With Us @ Suffolk program, which gives small businesses access to Suffolk and community subject matter experts so they can develop the skills and qualifications needed to scale up and work with large general contractors.

Build With Us @ Suffolk is not a traditional training program, workshop, or seminar. It’s a viable opportunity for M/W/VBE and SBA-certified firms—especially ambitious minority-, women- and veteran-owned small enterprises—to build their capacity and learn with Suffolk, the most innovative construction firm in the industry.

During the eight-course curriculum, Build With Us @ Suffolk opens doors for M/W/VBE and SBA-certified firms to expand their businesses, develop important relationships and make their unique mark on the construction industry.

Through Build With Us @ Suffolk, participants are:

• Learning our construction processes, systems and technologies
• Understanding our estimating and contractual rules of engagement
• Aligning with our detailed reporting systems, collaboration platforms and systems
• Building long-term mentoring relationships with Suffolk leadership

More than 150 small businesses have graduated from Build With Us @ Suffolk and, as a result, are pre-qualified to work on our projects. Of those, a third have worked with Suffolk directly or have partnered with another trade partner on a Suffolk project. Build With Us @ Suffolk businesses stay engaged through networking events with Suffolk clients, developers, contractor associations and local advocacy groups so they can continue to build their brands and be successful.