WILMINGTON, DE — Wilmington Mayor Mike Purzycki, Economic Development Director Sean Park, and Wilmington’s Small and Minority Business Development Manager James Williams joined forces with representatives from Turner Construction Company and McKissack to celebrate the first graduating class of the Turner School of Construction Management (TSCM) in the City.
A total of 14 businesses were recognized at a ceremony held at the DOUBLETREE by Hilton in Downtown Wilmington on Tuesday, November 7. The new graduates are now eligible to bid as certified Turner vendors, with six businesses already certified as Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (DBEs) with the City of Wilmington.
Mayor Purzycki congratulated the graduates and their hard work, emphasizing the City’s commitment to reaching out to minority contractors and construction firms. “The Turner School is getting us closer to the goal of making sure that small minority contractors have the capacity to make it to the next level and to bid on larger projects,” said Mayor Purzycki.
The City of Wilmington partnered with Turner Construction Company, the nation’s leading general builder, and McKissack, the oldest minority/women-owned professional design and construction firm in the U.S., to bring TSCM to Wilmington for the first time in August 2023. The TSCM, established in 1969, aims to improve the economic viability of underrepresented business enterprises and increase their opportunities.
The program included seven two-hour classes held at the City’s Emergency Operations Center in Southbridge from September 20 through November 1, 2023. Topics covered ranged from safety programming and procurement readiness to financial management and business development.
Rodney Davis, Community & Citizenship Director at Turner Construction Company, expressed gratitude to the City of Wilmington for making the first-ever Turner School of Construction Management in Delaware a success. Meanwhile, Director Park thanked Turner Construction and McKissack for bringing the program to the City and pledged to make it a yearly offering for construction-aligned businesses.
The Fall 2023 Turner School of Construction Management – Wilmington graduates join the more than 35,000 people who have completed the TSCM program since its inception. They are:
- Jhalil Adams
- Shinera Adams
- Pamela Hill
- U’Gundi Jacobs
- Bill Jones
- Tariq Macon
- Lueve Victor N. Morlee II
- Esther Olatunji
- Brauna Selby
- Cassandra Sifford
- Britainy Stephens
- Vernon Stevenson
- Sultan Taskin
- Tyson Thompson
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