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Diversity and Apprenticeship Programs
Qwest Field & Event Center is the product of a diverse and active workforce. Referendum 48 required the project to adopt King County's goals for Minority and Women Business Enterprise participation and the PSA worked closely with First & Goal Inc. and Turner Construction in an effort to satisfy those requirements.
The program had separate goal categories for construction, architecture and engineering, services and tangible property. The final totals for Minority and Women Business Enterprise participation are as follows:
|
Minority Business Participation |
Women Business Participation |
|
 |
|
|
Goal |
Actual |
Goal |
Actual |
| Construction |
14% |
10% |
8% |
10% |
Architectural/
Engineering |
17% |
14% |
10% |
11% |
| Services |
6% |
21% |
15% |
28% |
| Tangible Property |
10% |
0% |
3% |
2% |
In addition to the M/WBE goals, First & Goal and Turner Construction voluntarily established an overall goal for workforce diversity of 29 percent women and minorities. The project achieved 25.4 percent participation by women and minorities.
Apprenticeship Program
In an apprenticeship, workers earn while they learn, gaining valuable hands-on experience on the job while earning a good wage with benefits. Apprentices also attend classes to increase knowledge about their chosen trades. Apprenticeships are found in a variety of trades including structural steel iron workers, other iron workers, masons, framers, painters, sheet metal workers, sprinkler fitters, plumbers and electricians.
Before construction started, the partners in building the stadium and exhibition center settled on an ambitious goal - at least 15 percent of the labor hours would be done by apprentices. In the end, apprentices performed 19 percent of the work on the construction project.
The apprenticeship program was successful due to strong coordination between the unions, Turner Construction and all of its sub-contractors on the project.
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