Sep 19, 2023

Skanska

Daige

Skanska USA Building named Kelly Daige as its first national director of inclusion and partnerships. The global contractor says this new role is a key addition to its national diversity and inclusion team. Daige is based in Skanska's Boston office. She is focusing primarily on building and integrating the company's relationships with key external organizations and networks in the diversity and inclusion space, as well as developing national approaches and metrics around community and employee engagement. Daige joined Skanska in 2015, and since 2018 served as manager of executive support services.

Wood Technology Center

Seattle Colleges received a $750,000 Gable Grant from the Lowe's Foundation for the skilled trades training programs at the Wood Technology Center, a division of Seattle Central. The Wood Technology Center provides training for professional carpenters, from students just starting out to experienced practitioners seeking to upskill and reach a higher rung in their career. Seattle Colleges will use the Gable Grant to enhance staffing at the center, particularly for student recruitment, retention and outplacement. The funds will also support a site manager to coordinate center logistics, which will become increasingly complex as programs grow in the coming years, partly through this grant. Programs at the center include the PACT pre-apprenticeship program; associate degree programs in carpentry and boat building/fine carpentry; and a new nine-month certificate program in residential construction.

ABC of Western Washington

IDI Distributors and the Lynnwood branch of First Citizens Bank have joined the Associated Builders and Contractors of Western Washington. Kent-based IDI provides insulation materials, fire stop materials, caulking compounds and sealants.

Boise Cascade

Boise, Idaho-based Boise Cascade plans to add a door shop in the Denver suburb of Commerce City. The company reports the 127,000-square-foot millwork facility should be finished later this year, and is expected to begin production in early 2024. The new shop will expand Boise Cascade's offerings of pre-hung doors and other millwork products in what it calls one of the country's fastest growing markets.

Sep 12, 2023

Compass Construction

Fenton

Chebotarev

Hammond

Withrow

Spiegelman

Ethan Spiegelman and Maguire Withrow joined Kirkland-based Compass Construction as project engineers. The company also announced that Greg Hammond was promoted to senior project engineer, and Oleg Chebotarev and Sunny Fenton were promoted to project engineers. Spiegelman and Withrow are both recent graduates of the University of Washington, majoring in construction management. Spiegelman had completed multiple internships in the field prior to graduating, and Withrow completed two internships at Compass. Hammond has been with Compass since 2020 and was originally hired as a project engineer on the Yesler Terrace Phase 1 building. Both Chebotarev and Fenton joined Compass in May 2022 as field engineers, and this summer graduated from the construction management certificate program at the UW.

Camp buildHER

Photo from Skanska [enlarge]

A student learns the basics of running an excavator during Camp buildHER.

The inaugural Camp buildHER was recently held at the ANEW Training Center in Tukwila. The free two-day camp gave young women in grades 7-10 a unique, hands-on approach to construction careers through various projects, panels and mentorship opportunities, learning directly from women working in the industry. It was organized by the Puget Sound Chapter of the National Association of Women in Construction. More than a dozen companies participated in the camp, including McKinstry, Skanska, Andersen Construction and JTM Construction.