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NEWS RELEASE December 21, 2006 For more information, contact Steve Houston at 314/721-2828. PRIDE to Launch Incubator Program for Minority Entrepreneurs Jan. 5, 2007 Names Alan C. Richter Executive Director of Regional Union Construction Center (RUCC) ST. LOUIS – A meeting for minority entrepreneurs in the construction industry will be held Jan. 5, 2007 to introduce a first-of-its-kind initiative to build a sustainable minority contracting community in St. Louis. The 8 a.m. meeting at Carpenter’s Hall at 1401 Hampton Ave. in St. Louis will detail the new Regional Union Construction Center (RUCC) incubator established by PRIDE of St. Louis, Inc., the area’s venerable construction labor-management organization. The RUCC’s mission is to help minority owners of union construction companies grow their businesses via a structured program that shares best industry practices. After having their operation assessed by industry experts, participants will receive a tailored training and educational program, one-on-one counseling and have access to a three- to five-person business advisory board. The incubator’s business development program will begin accepting applications from qualified small minority-owned construction companies in January 2007 according to Alan C. Richter, RUCC executive director. He said the center, which will be based at the Wellston Enterprise/Small Business Building at 6439 Plymouth Ave., aspires to mentor five to seven minority contractors in its first year. Richter is the former regional director for the St. Louis Small Business Development Centers (SBDC)– an outreach program affiliated with the University of Missouri – Columbia. As RUCC executive director, Richter will oversee day-to-day operations and carry out the directives of the incubator’s 11-member board of directors. “With Alan Richter on board as executive director and our 11-member board of directors in place, we will hit the ground running in 2007,” said Terry Nelson, RUCC president and chairman of PRIDE’s diversity committee. “I’ve seen 100 minority contractors in this city launch businesses over the past 20 years and I’ll bet less than a dozen are still in business today. We’re not interested in perpetuating that. Our program is designed to help build strong minority construction businesses that will succeed over the long term.” Nelson is also executive secretary-treasurer of the Carpenters’ District Council of Greater St. Louis and Vicinity. “Minority contractors face a number of challenges,” said Marion Hayes, an incubator board member and a minority contractor who owns BRK Electric. “Bonding issues, developing lines of credit and the tendency for delays in payment on projects make it enormously difficult for minority contractors to stay in business. And, often the lure of large public projects can be the death knell of a contractor that takes on a significant amount of work without sufficient capital to meet payroll and to pay health and welfare benefits, taxes and buy tools and materials.” “We will help contractors become better at managing their businesses,” said Richter. “Our program will make available a variety of business specialists to help improve the day-to-day operation of a construction company.” The group estimates it will cost $500,000 annually to operate the incubator. The Carpenters’ District Council has committed $10,000 per month to it for the next three years. Other financial backers include the St. Louis Regional Business Council, Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 562, The Pyramid Cos., McCarthy Building Cos., Inc. and McBride & Son Enterprises. Other contributors will continue to be sought. “This is a united effort by the St. Louis union construction industry,” said Jim LaMantia, PRIDE executive director and incubator board member. “It is hard to believe that in less than a year we have found a location for the RUCC, recruited a board of directors, named an executive director and are implementing a funding plan. I commend Terry Nelson and his leadership team for advancing a vision that will help build a more sustainable minority contracting community and ultimately make the St. Louis construction industry more competitive.” In addition to Nelson, LaMantia and Hayes, RUCC board members include:
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