SkillSmart Logo
  • Company
    • About Us
    • Our Team
    • Careers
  • Who We Serve
    • General Contractors
    • Owners/Developers
    • Diversity Directors
    • Project Executives
    • Other Industries Served
  • Products
    • SkillSmart InSight
    • SkillSmart Seeker
  • News
    • Blog
    • Press / Media
  • Events
  • Resources
    • Case Studies
  • Contact
Schedule Demo
Support
SkillSmart Logo
  • Company
    • About Us
    • Our Team
    • Careers
  • Who We Serve
    • General Contractors
    • Owners/Developers
    • Diversity Directors
    • Project Executives
    • Other Industries Served
  • Products
    • SkillSmart InSight
    • SkillSmart Seeker
  • News
    • Blog
    • Press / Media
  • Events
  • Resources
    • Case Studies
  • Contact
Schedule Demo
Support
  • Company
    • About Us
    • Our Team
    • Careers
  • Who We Serve
    • General Contractors
    • Owners/Developers
    • Diversity Directors
    • Project Executives
    • Other Industries Served
  • Products
    • SkillSmart InSight
    • SkillSmart Seeker
  • News
    • Blog
    • Press / Media
  • Events
  • Resources
    • Case Studies
  • Contact
SkillSmart Logo
  • Company
    • About Us
    • Our Team
    • Careers
  • Who We Serve
    • General Contractors
    • Owners/Developers
    • Diversity Directors
    • Project Executives
    • Other Industries Served
  • Products
    • SkillSmart InSight
    • SkillSmart Seeker
  • News
    • Blog
    • Press / Media
  • Events
  • Resources
    • Case Studies
  • Contact
Blog
Home Smart Talk The InSight Minute: Strengthening Communities By Making a Bigger Pie
Smart Talk

The InSight Minute: Strengthening Communities By Making a Bigger Pie

November 20, 2022 SkillSmart
0 Comments
696 Views
61

We have a rare and exciting opportunity in our country right now, and we’re struggling a bit with how to write about it.  With everything so politicized, sometimes it’s difficult for all of us to see the significant wins even when they’re right in front of us.  So, we’re going to just wade in…

There is an opportunity for working people who have started their own businesses to grow those businesses, expand the economy, create wealth, and help build their communities.  With the passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), there is a nonpartisan effort within red and blue states to plan how small and large businesses in communities across the country can help improve our nation’s infrastructure and grow their local economies.  It’s often portrayed that for the economy to improve for one sector, another sector must be losing, but this is one time because of this previously unanticipated federal investment there is now actually a bigger pie that can benefit everyone!

The Equity in Infrastructure Project has brought together a diverse set of jurisdictions –  from Louisiana and Kansas to California and Illinois – to sign a pledge to leverage IIJA funding to create more opportunities for historically disadvantaged construction businesses — with an important emphasis on prime contracting roles.

“We thought that contracting was one of the ways we could use to increase generational wealth in underserved communities,” said Phil Washington, co-chair of the Equity in Infrastructure Project, at a press event on Oct. 11. “These six [DOTs] represent billions of dollars in infrastructure monies, and billions of dollars in terms of the work that they do in their respective states. So, this pledge to significantly increase minority prime contracting is very, very significant.”

Now is a time where our nation’s infrastructure can serve to bring communities together and benefit our largest construction companies and build capacity and economic growth among small, local, and MWDBE firms, subcontractors, and consultants in these communities.  It is unusual for this type of opportunity to come along, and it requires a measure of intentionality to ensure that all can benefit and the Equity in Infrastructure Project pledge is one way to do this.

At SkillSmart, we help track, measure, and demonstrate how the benefits of making investments in local workers and firms can benefit communities and we know that what is measured is what matters.  So, we’re pleased to see the pledge and look forward to seeing other organizations make similar commitments. And our team will continue working with these and other jurisdictions and general contractors to grow our nation’s infrastructure and communities, while positively affecting economic development.

AboutSkillSmart
SkillSmart provides construction technology to transform the way project data is tracked and reported. Our team supports some of the largest economic development and construction projects in the U.S. SkillSmart Insight helps organizations address diversity, prevailing wage, and regional workforce compliance, moving to quantify the economic impact of every project in the communities where you are building. We provide a secure solution for tracking and reporting all of the data that you need to run your project and your business. Our team works collaboratively with yours to streamline the way data is collected and stored so that when it comes time to report, analyze, quantify, and deliver the results there’s no second guessing.
Wage Theft – What To Look For and What To Do When You See SomethingNovember 10, 2022
Top 9 Questions to Ask When You Are a Project Manager Researching Construction Data Tracking SoftwareDecember 15, 2022

Related Posts

November 14, 2016
Smart Talk
Three steps to enhance your job search
75
0 Comments
November 21, 2016
Smart Talk
Focus on the after-interview process to help your job search
71
0 Comments
InSight was created to capture, store and report project, workforce, wage and business compliance data.

Learn how InSight can help your project today!
Seeker is a community engagement platform to build a skilled workforce pipeline for your business.

Build your workforce with Seeker today!
Newsletter

About SkillSmart

SkillSmart is a compliance, reporting and tracking technology company with a strong record of transforming communities by creating tools and services to build strong markets and clear paths to economic success.

  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service
  • Website Accessibility
Latest News
  • The InSight Minute: How You Can Track the Impact of Your IIJA Project
    The InSight Minute: How You Can Track the Impact of Your IIJA Project
  • 2022 Blog Recap: Exciting Revelations in Data Collection + Reporting
    2022 Blog Recap: Exciting Revelations in Data Collection + Reporting
  • The InSight Minute: Data, Insights, Action
    The InSight Minute: Data, Insights, Action
Comparisons
  • SkillSmart InSight vs. LCPTracker
  • SkillSmart InSight vs. B2Gnow
Connect
SkillSmart
PO Box: 1116
Germantown, MD 20875
(301)250-1015
Proud Member
SkillSmart Construction Association Logos

Copyright © 2022 SkillSmart. All Rights Reserved

#softlab_button_64210e809d866 .wgl_button_link { color: rgba(255,255,255,1); }#softlab_button_64210e809d866 .wgl_button_link:hover { color: rgba(234,118,0,1); }#softlab_button_64210e809d866 .wgl_button_link { border-color: rgba(234,118,0,1); background-color: rgba(234,118,0,1); }#softlab_button_64210e809d866 .wgl_button_link:hover { border-color: rgba(234,118,0,1); background-color: rgba(255,255,255,1); }#softlab_button_64210e80a014d .wgl_button_link { color: rgba(0,114,206,1); }#softlab_button_64210e80a014d .wgl_button_link:hover { color: rgba(255,255,255,1); }#softlab_button_64210e80a014d .wgl_button_link { border-color: rgba(0,114,206,1); background-color: rgba(255,255,255,1); }#softlab_button_64210e80a014d .wgl_button_link:hover { border-color: rgba(0,114,206,1); background-color: rgba(0,114,206,1); }#softlab_button_64210e80a579a .wgl_button_link { color: rgba(234,118,0,1); }#softlab_button_64210e80a579a .wgl_button_link:hover { color: rgba(255,255,255,1); }#softlab_button_64210e80a579a .wgl_button_link { border-color: rgba(234,118,0,1); background-color: transparent; }#softlab_button_64210e80a579a .wgl_button_link:hover { border-color: rgba(234,118,0,1); background-color: rgba(234,118,0,1); }#blog_module_64210e80b6b56.blog-posts .blog-post_title, #blog_module_64210e80b6b56.blog-posts .blog-post_title a { font-size:24px; line-height:36px; }#blog_module_64210e80b6b56.blog-posts .blog-post_text { font-size:14px; line-height:24px; }