# Chicago's Ujamaa Construction Wins Diverse Business of the Year Award

- **Published:** 2019-04-09
- **Edition:** National
- **Source:** Construction Equipment Guide
- **Authors:** AGC
- **URL:** https://www.constructionequipmentguide.com/chicagos-ujamaa-construction-wins-diverse-business-of-the-year-award/44536
- **Tags:** AGC of Missouri, Associated General Contractors of America, Awards, Chicago, Illinois, Missouri, Pennsylvania, TEXAS, United Rentals

## Summary


## Article

Chicago's **Ujamaa Construction** was named as the **2019 Diverse Business of the Year** award winner by the **Associated General Contractors of America**, association officials announced April 9. The association also awarded Diversity and Inclusion Excellence Awards to **Austin Commercial**, **Shoemaker Construction Company**, **Central Builders**, **United Rentals** and the **AGC of Missouri**.

"These awards recognize firms that have established outstanding programs that have helped make the construction industry a more diverse, inclusive, and better sector in which to work," said Eddie Stewart, the association's president and president and chief executive officer of **Caddell Construction** in Montgomery, Ala. "By making our industry more diverse, we can solve a lot of our workforce challenges, and become a better, safer and stronger industry."

Stewart noted that Ujamaa's vision is to provide exceptional construction services in a socially responsible manner. The firm maintains a balance of corporate governance and social responsibility, striving to bring diversity into the work place and provide employment opportunities to the under-served.

In addition to naming Ujamaa as the Diverse Business of the Year, Stewart also announced five other winners of the association's second annual Diversity & Inclusion Excellence Awards. Austin Commercial, based in the Texas state capitol, won the Diversity & Inclusion Excellence Award for a large contractor. The Diversity & Inclusion Excellence Award for a mid-sized contractor went to Shoemaker Construction in West Conshohocken, Pa. The Diversity & Inclusion Excellence Award for a small contractor went to Central Builders in San Antonio, Texas. The Diversity and Inclusion Excellence Award for a service or supply firm went to United Rentals. And the Diversity & Inclusion Chapter Award went to the AGC of Missouri.

The six awards were presented during the association's annual convention in Denver. A diverse panel of judges, representing all aspects of construction, evaluated the submissions based on three criteria: corporate commitment to diversity and inclusion, workforce diversity and inclusion initiatives and subcontractor/supply chain diversity and inclusion initiatives, Stewart noted. He added that the awards program is sponsored by Willis Towers Watson.

For more information about the AGC Diversity & Inclusion Awards, please click [here](https://www.agc.org/diversityawards).

## Photos

![Chicago's Ujamaa Construction Wins Diverse Business of the Year Award photo 1](https://dmt55mxnkgbz2.cloudfront.net/1205x0_s3-44536-Screen-Shot-2019-04-09-at-12_26_17-PM.jpg)