Fighting for Equality

Building Capacity Among MWBEs for Our Future

Minority & Women Business Enterprises (MWBEs)

East Harding is Arkansas’ construction industry leader related to the mentoring, training and capacity building of MWBEs.  Minority contractor development has been a personal passion for East Harding co-founder Bob East for over 30 years.  In 2008, Bob developed the Associated General Contractors’ Construction Mentor-Protégé Program and presented it to then Governor Mike Beebe.  The Governor endorsed the program and appointed Bob as the Chairman.  At that time, Bob recruited the CEOs of our peer companies to participate in the program.  With the help of Van Tilbury, Bob recruited MWBEs to participate, matched MWBEs to each construction mentor company, and managed the program that was training the MWBEs about every aspect of commercial construction.
 
After two years of meeting and mentoring, Bob and Van realized that what the MWBEs really needed was the opportunity to work on large-scale commercial construction projects.  To achieve this goal, the MWBE program needed a public sector leader willing to implement the program on a large-scale public project.  Then UA-Little Rock Chancellor Joel Anderson championed the program and helped get alternate solicitation and bidding guidelines approved by the University of Arkansas System.  Since that approval, UA-Little Rock has enjoyed a high rate of MWBE success with two East Harding Construction projects that averaged 28% MWBE award.
 
The City of Little Rock’s 12th Street Station (39% MWBE) & Little Rock Technology Park (26% MWBE) were also milestones in the MWBE program.
 
East Harding Construction endeavors to expand and grow its MWBE program in every possible project.  Our latest MWBE project, The Pine Bluff Main Library, completed in 2020, awarded 44% of all contracts to MWBEs or local subs, further demonstrating East Harding Construction’s continued focus on “building capacity” in Arkansas.