Since June, DURA has been working with three Denver-area nonprofits to provide funding for programs to help small construction companies and contractors navigate the COVID-19 pandemic. More than 200 professionals and numerous small businesses have benefitted from the various courses offered by Hispanic Contractors of Colorado (HCC), Mi Casa Resource Center, and Black Business Initiative (BBI). Programs offered include PPP loan forgiveness, how to leverage technology for small businesses, contracting opportunities, one-on-one construction-related business counseling, and more.
These programs have also served as a support resource for small business owners, providing access to other leaders in the industry learning how to pivot their business model and maintain a safe workplace.
“Uncertainty was on everyone’s mind,” said James Martinez, vice president of HCC and owner of Martinez Associates, Inc., a small, minority-owned geotechnical engineering firm. “Small businesses are a different beast – many don’t have the technology to let everyone work at home immediately.”
As a small busines owner himself, Martinez said the support from HCC helped him understand how to continue providing services while maintaining safety for personnel, such as conducting COVID-19-specific trainings to ensure employees were safe in the field. Martinez says he feels lucky and knows of some companies in his field that had to close their doors because of the pandemic.
Chad Green, CEO of Bauen Studios, a local general contractor based in Denver, says he became a member of HCC because of the programs offered around COVID-19. “As a concerned business owner, I wanted to have access to the most up-to-date and accurate information regarding the pandemic and how it was impacting our industry, specifically, as well as ensuring we were getting real time data on best precautionary practices to keep our job sites and community as safe as we could.”
More than $655,000 was distributed among the three nonprofits as grants and came through DURA’s Construction Employment Opportunity (CEO) program. These programs are currently open to any Denver-area small and/or minority-owned business in the construction industry.
To enroll in a program or learn more, contact one of the grantee organizations directly:
Black Business Initiative
bbiprofessional.com
303.900.7780
Hispanic Contractors of Colorado
hcc-diversityleader.org
303.893.2877
Mi Casa Resource Center
micasaresourcecenter.org
303.573.1302