Turner Celebrates Construction Inclusion Week by Opening Doors to Careers and Opportunity

Turner is expanding access to construction careers and creating an environment where people can grow, succeed, and build a future.

Turner Construction Company is marking the seventh annual Construction Inclusion Week by highlighting its efforts to introduce more people to careers in construction and create workplaces where everyone has the opportunity to succeed.

As a founding member of Construction Inclusion Week, Turner is committed to building an industry where people are welcomed, valued, and treated with respect and dignity. This year’s theme, “Opening Doors, Building a Workplace for Everyone,” reflects the importance of both expanding access to construction careers and creating an environment where people want to stay, grow, and advance.

“Construction is an industry where people can make a good living, support their families, and build rewarding careers,” said Fuquan Collins, Senior Vice President, Turner. “There is also a tremendous sense of pride that comes from looking across your community and knowing you helped build something that will make a difference for generations.” 

Creating Pathways into Construction

Turner has been engaged in workforce development for decades. Those efforts have developed local talent pipelines and connected people in communities with construction opportunities. 

One longstanding example is Turner’s involvement with the ACE Mentor Program, which introduces high school students to careers in architecture, construction, and engineering. Turner was among the first companies to join ACE more than 30 years ago and has remained actively involved, with employees across the company serving as mentors and in leadership roles.

For many students, that first exposure can become the start of a career. Students may progress from high school mentoring to Turner externships, college internships, and ultimately full-time careers. Turner hosts more than 100 ACE externs each summer, and ACE graduates who have joined Turner have returned to their former high schools to mentor the next generation of students.

Another example is the Tennessee Builders Alliance’s Titans Construction Training Camp, established in connection with the New Nissan Stadium project in Nashville. The program provides 200 hours of paid, hands-on construction training, industry credentials, and connections to employment opportunities. The program demonstrates how major construction projects can do more than create buildings. They can create opportunities for people to develop skills, enter the industry, and build careers.

Creating a Place Where People Want to Stay

“Getting someone to enter construction is only the beginning,” said Pamyla Fountain-Brown, Vice President, Turner. “We are committed to creating an environment where people want to stay. People should come to work knowing they are respected, that someone cares about their well-being, that they have an opportunity to grow and that they belong here.”

For Turner, inclusion is reflected in everyday experiences: how people treat one another, how teams work together, and how individuals are supported as they develop their skills and pursue their goals.

Creating this environment benefits individuals, strengthens teams, and helps the construction industry attract and retain the people needed to meet the demands of the future.

Construction Inclusion Week provides an opportunity to reinforce these commitments across the industry, while recognizing that meaningful progress depends on the actions people take throughout the year.

“At the end of the day, everything we build is built by people,” said Fuquan Collins. “We have an opportunity to introduce people to an industry where they can achieve their dreams, support their families, develop skills, build a career, and contribute to something larger than themselves. That’s good for those individuals, good for our industry, and good for the communities we serve.”