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.