News

Bay Area BBI Construction sponsors events honoring change-makers in our communities

Oakland, CA — BBI Construction, a leading Bay Area construction firm, is supporting our communities with sponsorship of multiple nonprofit events this Fall.

BBI Construction sponsorships include:
East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation (EBALDC) 46th Anniversary Gala – September 9th
Honoring individuals and organizations that are change-makers in our Asian communities, with KCBS’ Holly Quan as Master of Ceremonies.
To learn more and register: https://ebaldc.org/events-1/

Non-Profit Housing (NPH) Affordable Housing Conference – September 24th
The 42nd annual gathering of affordable housing leaders to advance affordable housing and build a future where every community is one of opportunity and everyone has a safe and affordable place to live.
To learn more and register: https://nonprofithousing.org/events-and-programs/conference/

Chinatown Community Development Center (CCDC) 44th Gala Anniversary – September 24th
“Chinatown is in the Heart” is the theme of an event honoring individuals who have made special contributions during these trying times.
For more information and to register:  https://www.chinatowncdc.org/ccdc-44-years-chinatown-is-in-the-heart

Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation (TNDC) “Pool Toss” – October 14th
TNDC event is an interactive online party in which our new CEO and honored guests compete to make the biggest pool splash! Complete with great music and a photo booth.
For more information and to register: https://www.tndc.org/get-involved/events/tndc-pool-toss

“We are delighted to have the opportunity to support organizations that are key to positive change in the Bay Area,” said William Rogan, BBI Construction president. “For more than 40 years, our focus as a company has been to add value to our communities by providing top quality construction for housing, schools, community centers, historic renovations, and commercial buildings. We celebrate diversity in our communities and in our workforce. We know that working together, we can improve this place we call home.”

This year, the construction industry will be celebrating Safety Week on May 3 – 7. The risks of injury are real and ever present during each step of our work. Safety is of paramount importance to our company and we are committed to achieving and sustaining an incident and injury free work environment. We believe that all incidents and injuries are preventable through management leadership, open communications and continual improvement of our safety programs and procedures. Safety starts with all of us and continues with our commitment to foster a safe environment for everyone on our projects.

During the National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC)’s Women in Construction Week and throughout the year, BBI Construction celebrates the women who are carpenters, electricians, project managers, marketing directors, architects and other skilled workers who make our construction sites and companies more inclusive and productive.

Women are essential to BBI Construction.
33% of our team are women, including in ownership roles. Three of our BBI team are active members of the NAWIC’s San Francisco chapter. Many of the architects and our other skilled construction partners are women. Many Bay Area GC’s coordinate with Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, California State University Chico, and other colleges with construction management programs to recruit and train new staff, including women.

Construction faces skilled worker shortages.
Our female workers and staff are more important than ever. The COVID pandemic created a severe downturn and the loss of 975,00 jobs in the Spring of 2020. While the industry recovered approximately 61% of those positions by the end of 2020 and demand for residential and commercial construction is expected to increase as the nation recovers from the pandemic – experts forecast that construction will experience 12 percent employment growth over the next four years – the industry faces a very real problem of labor shortages:
80% of construction companies report difficulties in staffing hourly positions
73% of companies expect the search for hourly crafts workers will get harder
43% of companies report that staffing issues have resulted in higher bids, longer project timelines and higher than anticipated costs

Who will fill those positions?
The industry’s reality is that Baby Boomer workers are retiring in record numbers, high schools across the nation have eliminated shop class and other training courses, and Millennials and younger people have neither the training nor the inclination to enter a business based on manual labor.

Construction needs more women!
The construction industry needs to attract more women. According to NAWIC, women currently make up 9.1% of the U.S. construction workforce. Current average skilled worker pay is attractive: The industry’s average wage just topped $30 per hour last month, and can continue to increase as workers gain skills.

The Association of General Contractors (AGC) recognizes the need to attract more young people to our business. AGC has lobbied for increased funding for technical education and is launching a digital advertising campaign targeting women and minority demographic groups.

Construction companies are stepping up, too.
46% of US construction companies have expanded in-house training programs and 50% have career-building programs. Currently, these programs are mostly in larger companies of 500 employees or more, but the need is felt at every level of our industry.

Take it from BBI: Women in Construction rock!
Statistics aside, BBI Construction supports Women in Construction for the very real way in which they contribute their skills, viewpoints and experiences to our company and our industry!

We are proud to announce our progress during the COVID 19 pandemic.  On Friday (6/12/20), we supported Eden Housing in breaking ground on their new ground-up transit oriented development – the Parrott Street Apartments project.  We’re working in conjunction with Lowney Architecture and Eden to build 62 units on a 0.46 acre lot directly adjacent to BART.   Located at the corner of San Leandro Boulevard and Parrott Street, it will positively impact our neighbors here in the Bay Area and continue to make a dent in providing more safe, decent and affordable multi-family housing.

Due to the pandemic, attendance at the groundbreaking was limited for safety’s sake and to ensure the requisite physical distancing.  Linda Mandolini – Eden Housing President, Assembly Member Rob Bonta, Councilmember Deborah Cox and Sean Callum, Eden Housing Board Member all spent a few moments at the podium and shoveling a little dirt.  See the live event here:

Keep checking back for progress photos and announcements of the grand opening next year, where I’m sure all the dignitaries will assemble again, hopefully without masks and distancing!

On January 30, 2019 BBI fielded 10 people to help with the bi-annual homeless people count in Alameda County. The Point-in-Time count is organized by EveryOneHome, a county wide collaborative organization that is working to end homelessness in Alameda County. We all got an early 5:00 AM start and walked or drove precincts all over the county to count each homeless person. A job well done!

We’d like to thank our subcontractors who generously provided materials and labor that we couldn’t have done without.

• Safway Services – Doug Schramm
• Janus Corporation – Justin Hoge
• Enterprise Roofing Services, Inc – Mike Obryant
• Albert Nahman Plumbing

BBI Staff and lots of volunteers from First Congregational Church of Berkeley spent a few Saturdays working diligently to assist this elderly Berkeley homeowner with some well needed repairs.

On Wednesday, June 14th BBI hosted a fundraiser for Alameda County Board of Supervisor’s President Wilma Chan.  In case you don’t know:

• Supervisor Wilma Chan is the current Board President of the Alameda County Board of Supervisors
• Supervisor Chan was our county champion on the successful Measure A1 –  Alameda County housing bond last November 2016
• Her re-election is scheduled for the June 5, 2018 election
• If Supervisor Chan receives over 50% of the vote on June 5, 2018, she is not required to have a run-off election in November

We were joined by many of our non-profit housing associates and several others in the construction industry.  Featured in the photograph are (L-R) Wilma Chan, Moe Wright & Mary Murtagh.