Bald Eagle Erectors, Sowles Construction and Target Field among those honored at the Construction Partnering Program’s (CPP) Award Reception.

The fifth annual Construction Partnering Program Award Reception recognizes construction companies and projects for their successful participation in the Construction Partnering Program (CPP) and the effort to include minority and women in the projects.  This year’s reception was held at Regions Hospital (2008 large project of the year) over 80 attended included many major construction contractors and participants in the CPP. 
Over the past decade, the CPP has matched general contractors with emerging woman- and minority- owned firms with the intent of mentoring and building the capacity of both the owners and the businesses.  The City of St. Paul provides partial funding to support the program which is managed and facilitated by MEDA and the Association of Women Contractors. 

This year’s CPP award winners include:

CPP PARTNERSHIP OF THE YEAR - Bald Eagle Erectors and Sowles Construction.
This is awarded to a partnership that actively promotes the mission of CPP through their partnership and their commitment to the CPP Program. The partnership must be currently active and attend the CPP meetings during the year.

The partnership of Bald Eagle Erectors and Sowles Construction was established in the early 2000’s and really "took off" in 2004.  In the last 4 years, Bald Eagle’s sales doubled from $3.3 million to $6.5 million in 2008 and employs 45.
Some of the recent major projects worked on by the partnership include the Guthrie Theatre, Minneapolis Central Library, Lake Street Target, Smith Ave. Parking ramp, the pedestrian bridge for Target Field and U. of M. Bioscience building.

LARGE PROJECT OF THE YEAR - Target Field
This award is given to the Project that represents the best use of CPP Partners, and is $10 million or more in construction costs and the Project must have been recognized during the CPP meetings during the current year.

The general contractor is Mortenson, and as of mid-September, Mortenson reported aggregate Small/Woman/Minority Enterprise (S/W/MBE) participation of 32% against a goal of 30%. Of the $307 million procured, $99 million have been spent with 121 different S/W/MBE firms with 90% of these firms locally owned.  “I am proud that this project helped spur opportunities for many businesses and many workers here in the Twin Cities,” said Steve Cramer as he accepted the award as board chair of the Minnesota Ballpark Authority and on behalf of the project owner, Hennepin County.  

CPP partnerships which were used on Target Field include Mortenson/Thor Construction, Mtec Electric/Parsons Electric, Gunnar Electric/Gephart Electric, Bald Eagle Erectors/Sowles Construction that worked on the pedestrian bridge.

SMALL PROJECT OF THE YEAR - United Family Practice
This award is given to the Project that represents the best use of CPP Partners, and is under $10 million in construction costs.  The Project must have been recognized during the CPP meetings during the current year.

On the United Family Practice project, 17.1% went to women owned businesses, and 15.5% went to minority owned businesses for a total of 32.6% or about $1.9 million of a total available dollars of about $6 million.  This is an incredible achievement and credit goes to the project owner and its general contractor, McGough, Inc., for their commitment to include woman-owned and minority-owned subcontractors. 

CPP PARTNERSHIP OF THE YEAR - Bald Eagle Erectors and Sowles Construction
This is awarded to a partnership that actively promotes the mission of CPP through their partnership and their commitment to the CPP Program. The partnership must be currently active and attend the CPP meetings during the year.

The partnership of Bald Eagle Erectors and Sowles Construction was established in the early 2000’s and really "took off" in 2004.  In the last 4 years, Bald Eagle’s sales doubled from $3.3 million to $6.5 million in 20oo8 and employs 45.
Some of the recent major projects worked on by the partnership include the Guthrie Theatre, Minneapolis Central Library, Lake Street Target, Smith Ave. Parking ramp, the pedestrian bridge for Target Field and U. of M. Bioscience building.

GENERAL CONTRACTOR OF THE YEAR - Shaw-Lundquist Associates
This is awarded to a General Contractor that has shown a commitment to the CPP program.   
• Must have used partnerships on projects.
• Has attended CPP Meetings during the current year.
• Shows an ongoing commitment to minority and women owned contractors.
Shaw-Lundquist is a regular attendee at the monthly CPP meetings, always looking for opportunities to utilize women and minority contractors in their projects. One of its projects, the Winnipeg Apartments, also used a CPP partner-Grand Building Supply/Twin Cities Hardware to provide all the doors and frames.  Shaw-Lundquist Associates is one of the largest minority-owned construction businesses in the nation. 

SHINING STAR OF EXCELLENCE - UNIVERSITY of Minnesota
A special award was given this year to a participant that has demonstrated an unwavering support of the CPP and the inclusion of minority and women owned businesses in its projects. In 2009 alone, the following University projects have used CPP partners: Fairview Children’s Hospital, TCF Bank Stadium, University HH Humphrey remodeling, the Science teaching P1 and the Bioscience campus project.

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The CPP is a concept initiated by the City of St. Paul in the mid-1990’s and developed by MEDA and the Association of Women Contractors (AWC) into a viable and powerful program used in construction projects metro-wide.