Frank Scopetti, vice president of Water and Mechanical Services at McCarthy, has been appointed to the board of directors for the newly formed Elite Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business Network- Arizona Chapter (Elite SDVOB-AZ).

In this role, Scopetti will assist the organization with business development, professional growth, and provide mentoring, guidance, and recommendations on legislative issues. He will also be integral in developing the business community involvement and supporting membership growth in Arizona.

The Elite SDVOB Network is a national veteran’s organization geared towards advancing the growth and commercial competitiveness of service-disabled veteran-owned business enterprises through education, services and legislation. The relatively new Arizona chapter represents a diverse group of contractors and business professionals created to assist veterans and service-disabled veterans operate self-sufficient businesses.

“Being a part of an organization that gives support to those who gave so much of themselves to our country is an incredibly enriching and meaningful experience for me,” Scopetti said. “I look forward to helping this network, which has chapters forming across the country, continue to grow and reach more U.S. Veterans.”

Scopetti is the vice president of Mechanical and Water Services with McCarthy Building Companies, and has professional and community affiliations with the Arizona Water and Pollution Control Association, Association for Construction Excellence (ACE), and served as the chairperson for the Design Assist Task Force-Services and Deliverables. The Scottsdale resident holds a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering from Pennsylvania State University as well as bachelor’s degree in business administration from Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

About McCarthy
McCarthy is one of the nation’s largest commercial builders. McCarthy has offices in Phoenix; Newport Beach, San Diego, Sacramento and San Francisco, Calif.; Las Vegas; Dallas and Houston; St. Louis and Atlanta. McCarthy is 100 percent employee-owned. More information about the company is available at www.McCarthy.com.

The CorpU Awards salute corporate and government learning organizations that create exciting, impactful programs resulting in measurable improvements in employee and business performance. Since 1999, the Awards, given by CorpU, the leading provider of corporate education research, benchmarking and advisory services for the enterprise learning marketplace, have set the standard for corporate learning.

“The winning programs show how important learning excellence is in enabling companies to execute their business strategy,” said Peter McAteer, CEO of CorpU. “We congratulate them.”

“Operating in today’s business world is more complicated than ever,” commented McCarthy Chairman and CEO Mike Bolen. “Through McCarthy Build U^® we are able to provide our employee-owners with a comprehensive training and development program designed to result in both short- and long-term success. To be included among this year’s CorpU Xchange award winners is truly an honor.”

Founded as a family owned business almost 150 years ago, McCarthy is one of the largest 100% employee-owned companies in America today. The firm has long fostered a culture dedicated to continuous improvement, and “Learning” represents one of McCarthy’s six company Core Values.

While a formal McCarthy Training Program had been in place for decades, McCarthy formally launched an entirely revamped training program in 2008 under McCarthy Build U. Unusual in the construction industry and among best-in-class training programs outside of the construction industry, the McCarthy Build U framework provides the company with the structure, alignment, centralization and flexibility needed to personalize training to meet both individual and business needs.

About Corporate University Xchange
Corporate University Xchange is a private membership of senior learning and talent executives. Founded in 1997, members have access to cutting-edge research, practitioner-tested tools, and expertly facilitated peer-to-peer networking.

About McCarthy
McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. is one of the nation’s oldest and largest domestic general contractors. Committed to the construction of high performance buildings, the company provides general contracting, construction management, and design-build services for healthcare, educational, commercial, parking structures, science and technology facilities; office buildings; tenant interiors; mixed-use; bridges; and highways. Repeatedly honored as a Best Place to Work, McCarthy is 100 percent employee owned. More information is available online at www.mccarthy.com.

Construction was managed by a joint venture of McCarthy and Kwame Construction, who exceeded minority participation on the project, achieving 30 percent overall participation. Bond Wolfe Architects designed both buildings.

Barbara C. Jordan Elementary, the first new University City school in more than 15 years, was built using green engineering practices and the district has applied for LEED certification, which will be determined following occupancy of the building. Enhanced day lighting and air quality will create a better learning environment for students while being respectful of the surrounding environment and resources. Environmentally conscious building elements include rain gardens, drought-tolerant landscaping, placement of windows to maximize daylight, a highly efficient HVAC system, and other features. Recycled materials were used when possible and practical.

Construction on the new Barbara C. Jordan building began in the fall 2009 on the site of the previous building of the same name. Originally named Daniel Boone School, the District changed the name in 1996 to honor Barbara C. Jordan, the first African American woman from a southern state elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.

Groundbreaking for a second new University City elementary school, Pershing Elementary, will be held on May 13. The McCarthy and Kwame joint venture will also manage that project, beginning tear down and abatement once school is out. Pershing will also be a two-story, 60,000-square-foot building, but will retain more of the features of the original school as requested by the community. Pershing will also be built to meet LEED certification and with similar minority participation goals. The beginning of Pershing was coordinated closely with the completion of Barbara C. Jordan so that the construction process could be as efficient as possible.

“The project will have an aggressive schedule, with construction expected to complete in July 2012, in time for the beginning of the school year,” said McCarthy Project Director Christopher Nisbet.

About McCarthy
McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. is one of the nation’s oldest and largest domestic general contractors. Committed to the construction of high performance buildings, the company provides general contracting, construction management, and design-build services educational, healthcare, commercial, parking structures, science and technology facilities; office buildings; tenant interiors; mixed-use; bridges; and highways. Repeatedly honored as a Best Place to Work, McCarthy is 100 percent employee owned. More information about the company is available online at www.mccarthy.com.

This is the first year that Patrick Henry High School has been involved with the ACE Mentoring Program, and this event marked the organization’s first job site tour. The group of students was led by McCarthy Project Director Steve Van Dyke in and around the new five-story building, where they learned firsthand about its structural and seismic components and the many roles of a general contractor. The new state-of-the-art Patient Care Pavilion will house a surgical center with 16 operating rooms, 72 private patient rooms, a neo-natal intensive care unit and a cancer center.  Slated for completion in 2010, the building is striving for LEED certification.

About McCarthy
McCarthy is the nation’s 10th largest domestic general contractor (Engineering News-Record, May 2008) and has been ranked among the top five national healthcare builders by Modern Healthcare since the magazine began its annual ranking more than 30 years ago. In addition to San Diego, McCarthy has offices in Newport Beach, Sacramento and San Francisco, Calif.; Phoenix; Las Vegas; Dallas; St. Louis and Atlanta.  McCarthy is 100 percent employee owned. More information about the company is available online at www.mccarthy.com.

ACCESS and McCarthy have a long history.  ACCESS was the evolution of an idea germinated by past Midwest Division President Karl Kloster and Washington University Director of Supplier Diversity Programs Sandra Marks more than 10 years ago aimed at exposing middle school minority students to construction as a career.

The resulting program called Minority Youth in Construction (MYIC) program was a voluntary summer school session providing math and computer education, mentoring, life-skills training and exposure to high-paying career options in the construction field with some hands-on training.

In 2004, Kloster and Marks once again put their heads together and led the creation of a one-stop information and resource shop for St. Louis minorities interested in entering the construction industry. Named ACCESS the organization now supports existing construction industry diversity development programs and builds partnerships between existing initiatives aimed at workforce and W/M/DBE development to maximize the use of resources.

The students selected to participate in the MYIC program primarily are from the public school systems in the Normandy, Wellston and University City area.  The six-week program is divided into four levels (in accordance with the year of high school they will be attending).  After completion of each summer’s program, participants from each level will advance to the next level the following summer.

About McCarthy
Founded in 1864, McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. is one of the nation’s oldest and largest privately held construction firms.  The company provides general contracting, construction management, program management and design/build services for healthcare, education, parking, entertainment, retail, laboratory, biotechnical, microelectronic, and industrial facilities; office buildings; tenant interiors; mixed-use; and bridges and highways.  McCarthy is 100 percent employee owned.  More information about the company is available online at www.mccarthy.com.