Thirty-One Companies Graduate LSDBE Strategic Partnership Program

BETHESDA, Md. – On June 10, the owners or executives of 31 small business enterprises celebrated the completion of a comprehensive ten-month education program intended to increase their size, scope, and scale within the construction industry. The graduates were honored during a ceremony at the Hyatt Regency Bethesda, hosted by Clark Construction Group, LLC. 

This event celebrated the third class of graduates from the Local, Small, and Disadvantaged (LSDBE) Strategic Partnership Program. Developed in 2006 by Clark, in coordination with the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College, the program is designed to educate and prepare small business enterprises to work with Clark Construction and other large firms.  Many graduates of the past two programs have gone on to develop mentoring relationships with larger construction industry businesses. 

"We are very proud of the graduating companies," said William L. Talbert, CEO of Clark's Mid-Atlantic Region. "The program has a very rigorous curriculum and each of these participants was fully engaged throughout the entire process. "Our hope is to see these companies again, as they bid on larger construction projects in the Washington, D.C. area." Talbert, along with Clark Vice President Wes Stith, addressed the graduates and presented each with a certificate. Clark CEO Pete Forster congratulated each graduate and reinforced the company's commitment to assisting small businesses development. 

Participants in the LSDBE Strategic Partnership Program met weekly for ten months. Program courses included the fundamentals of project management, architectural blueprint reading, estimating, purchasing, financial statements and accounting, and insurance and bonding. The program included a capstone project requiring teams of students to submit a small business plan and presentation to a team of Clark executives.  

A fourth LSDBE Strategic Partnership Program class is scheduled to begin in fall 2009.