Community Involvement

SGI provides construction experience, workforce development, construction relations, and community outreach to our clients. We offer customized economic workforce development programs and a targeted-hire jobs training program that is nationally recognized. SGI brings to you an extensive hands-on experience working with community-based organizations and the small business contractors to ensure that dollars are reinvested at the highest level possible back into the community for further local public benefit. Our goal is to nurture a sustainable construction economy that is highly skilled and diverse for all of the communities we serve.

As Program, Project, and Construction Managers for some of California’s largest capital improvement projects, SGI sees firsthand how these major construction programs serve as a catalyst to better our communities. SGI welcomes the opportunity to incorporate workforce development, economic impact programs, and student internship opportunities into the projects we serve.

  • Student Internships: SGI’s commitment to education does not end at our school programs. In fact, we provide summer internship programs, for high school and college students on our municipal projects as well, including the City of Fresno and Dinuba, CA. SGI plans and provides an appropriate variety of on-the-job training tasks for the student interns. Typically, these programs have a specific educational goal, so we work with the student interns and their school instructor(s) to develop goals, objectives, project/work, and often a final presentation that is completed throughout the course of the internship.

  • Los Angeles Unified School District: SGI’s employees have created, implemented, and executed the “We Build” Program for LAUSD, which is a national award winning approach that delivers workforce development and economic impact program for a school district.

    During SGI’s tenure of administrating the program, over 1,700 local district residents graduated from the “We Build” program: 91% are minority; 6% are women; and 86% of those ready-to-work graduates have been placed in construction careers.

    The “We-Build” program is completely portable and scalable. In fact, we have provided this service for the Los Angeles Metro and the Los Angeles County and are excited to share our targeted worker program for your project.

  • West Contra Costa Unified School District: As the prime program, project, and construction managers for this District, SGI is actively involved with the client, community, and Building Trades to promote careers in construction and the related fields of architecture and engineering. In partnership with the District, our mutual efforts is the enhancement and encouragement of targeted-workers and small business owners who are interested in doing business with or working in the District’s Bond Management Program.

    The underlying philosophy of the program is to act as a vehicle for building the real capacity of small business and targeted individuals to maximize their potential to successfully participate in other large projects. To facilitate capacity building, in conjunction with the Building Trades Council and WCCUSD’s “School to Career”, free tutoring classes are offered for the preparation for trade union entrance exams, interviews, and applications.

    West Contra Costa Unified School District and SGI is committed in Student Success—SGI is the proud sponsor of The Ivy League Connection, a unique scholarship program developed for West Contra Costa USD that affords Bay Area students the opportunity to assert their intellectual prowess at many of the nation’s most prestigious Ivy League colleges. Another partnership established for the benefit of students is our support of Architecture, Construction, Engineering and Technology (ACET). ACET has proven to be a pathway for students to gain early insight into careers through course work and summer internships. This program epitomizes results attained through collaboration between state and local government, the trades and SGI.

  • City of Seattle: The City of Seattle Department of Finance and Administrative Services, Purchasing and Contracting Services Division determined that there was a need for increased training and apprenticeship opportunities in the construction industry and that a diverse, well-trained workforce was critical to the economy as well as the social vitality of the region.

    SGI collaborated with the City of Seattle on the implementation process to create access for the local residents of Seattle that included the following:

    • A review of the City’s boilerplate contract documents, including general conditions, community workforce agreements, and Seattle contracting guideline
    • The creation of a project fact sheet regarding Seattle’s apprentice utilization program
    • Feedback on current policies in relation to Seattle’s demographic profile
    • Provided program implementation options
    • Developed and created a disadvantaged area resident certification form
    • Defined the City of Seattle’s role of the job coordinator
    • Created a contractor pre-job local hire check list (compliance)
  • East Side Union High School District As the prime program manager, SGI works in partnership with the Buildings Trades Council and the ESUHSD to offer a school curriculum that provides exposure to the construction and design industry. The S4CA Summer Internship Program is mandated by the Program’s Project Labor Agreement. It provides opportunities for students, who are interested in participating in a summer internship, to learn more about construction and design from a number of different perspectives.

    Over the last several years, SGI has worked in collaboration with the Santa Clara County Construction Careers Association, Buildings Trades Council, and the District to develop and cultivate a program that incorporates the school curriculum and graduation requirements, while providing exposure to the construction and design industry.

  • Oakland Unified School District: In partnership with the school district, SGI hosts a six-week summer, paid internship program for high school and college students interested in the fields of construction, architecture/engineering, construction/project management, building and grounds (systems management), and custodial services.

  • South Bay Union School District: During this program, SGI instituted an outreach program for local contractors. Specifically, we solicited local trade contractors for the Lease-Leaseback General Contractor. This included outreach events that provided potential subcontracts information about upcoming contracting opportunities, as well as safety and bonding requirements.

  • The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA Metro): SGI executed and implemented LA Metro’s Targeted Hire Program to serve the targeted population for its federally-funded Westside Subway Extension Exploratory Shaft and Advanced Utilities projects. SGI provided a pipeline for targeted workers to these projects and established the infrastructure to report, monitor, and measure the success of the program against the identified hiring goals. With the support and commitment from the contractors, subcontractors, and the client, following results were achieved:

  • Richmond Housing Authority Rehabilitation and Reinvestment Act: SGI served the local Richmond community by providing construction management services for projects at various public housing developments, including Friendship Manor, Triangle Court, Nevin, and Hacienda.