ABC Chairman’s Message: Increasing diversity, equity, and inclusion - by John Cruz

ABC member companies know better than anyone just how much our industry has changed in recent years. Technology is responsible for many of the changes, but the transformation goes deeper and is more important. I am pleased that ABC is part of this change.

In today’s construction market, we don’t have the luxury of skipping over anyone who has the talent and desire to succeed. ABC Massachusetts was the only construction association awarded a state grant aimed at increasing diversity, equity, and inclusion in our industry. The grant includes funding for an internal diversity survey of our membership, which can be found here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/NB6S8ML.

Please be assured that all individual responses and company identities will remain completely anonymous and confidential, as the survey is conducted through an independent third-party resource that will review and analyze the data to maintain anonymity and confidentiality.

The easy-to-take survey takes approximately 7-13 minutes to complete, and is available in English, Haitian Creole, Portuguese, Spanish, and Simplified Chinese. The survey results will equip members to become more diverse, equitable, and inclusive and understand their organization’s diversity dynamics, including:

• How members can attract and retain diverse talent

• Methods for creating a more inclusive workplace

• Meet or exceed workforce participation goals for public and private projects

We ask that you complete this survey promptly, share it with employees throughout your organization and encourage them to take part. The anonymous data collected from this survey will be compiled, analyzed, and then shared with members. It will also be reported to the state so that it can better understand and support diversity in construction in the Commonwealth. As a reminder, your information and that of your company identity is not recorded and confidential. Only overall survey results are being collected.

Thank you for your participation in taking the survey and urging your employees to do the same! Your feedback is important.

John Cruz is the chairman of Associated Builders and Contractors Inc.-Mass. Chapter and president & CEO of The Cruz Companies, Roxbury, Mass.