Award honors organizations that have developed innovative solutions in workforce diversity, inclusion and human equity

KANSAS CITY, MO – Clark Construction Group, its joint venture partners The Weitz Company, and Clarkson Construction, and development partner Edgemoor Infrastructure and Real Estate have received national recognition for keeping diversity, inclusion, and human equity at the forefront of the New Terminal Project at KCI. The team has been named by Profiles in Diversity Journal® among this year’s Top 10 Innovations in Diversity for 2020 award winners.

When the team was tapped to lead the development, design, and construction of the new $1.5 billion airport terminal at Kansas City International Airport, they promised the project would reach historic and transformative levels of diversity, spurring economic growth for minority and women-owned businesses.

“We are honored to receive this national recognition for rolling out programs that remove barriers typically impacting small, disadvantaged, minority, and women-owned businesses from securing contracts to work on projects of this magnitude,” said Geoff Stricker, senior managing director at Edgemoor.  “Our goal has always been to drive long-term growth and prosperity of diverse businesses in Kansas City.”

The project team set goals for Minority-owned Business Enterprise (MBE) and Women-owned Business Enterprise (WBE) participation that, based on market capacity in Kansas City, were ambitious and historic: 20% MBE and 15% WBE participation for both professional and construction services contracts. They have added more than 110 MBE and WBE partners to the New Terminal project roster since the start of procurement in 2018 and awarded $282 million in contracts to these firms of the $950 million of work to be subcontracted on the project.

The average MBE and WBE contract sizes for work on the New Terminal range from more than double, to nearly 10 times the size of the average MBE and WBE city contracts in KC. Programs such as Pay Without Delay, a Low Interest Loan program, KCI Supplier Support program, and Clark’s Strategic Partnership Program have been transformative for diverse businesses, and will continue to create success, long after the New Terminal project is complete.

“From day one, our team has worked to ensure this project is transformational for Kansas City by providing both meaningful economic opportunities for diverse businesses and the support and tools needed to help them succeed,” said Mark Goodwin, vice president at Clark Construction. “We’re proud of the talented minority- and women-owned firms who are helping us build. It is incredibly rewarding to see them grow and thrive on the jobsite.”

As a result of the programs offered by the team, diverse business owners have built capacity, grown their teams, acquired new capital, and developed the knowledge needed to win contracts on large infrastructure projects.

Daniel Felder, co-owner of Axiom Construction has significantly grown his concrete firm’s capacity by working on the New Terminal project. Axiom has secured $2 million in working capital and landed two New Terminal contracts totaling more than $14 million. The company’s previous largest contracts totaled $1.2 million. Axiom has also renovated its office and grown its workforce.

“The project team has created a culture of inclusion,” said Felder. “All voices being heard, and all having an opportunity to engage.”

Follow the progress of the New Terminal Project at BuildKCI.com.