Six GCs Launch Mentorship Cohort for 12 Los Angeles Subcontractors
Six major general contractors and AGC of California have launched an eight-month mentorship program for 12 small, local and diverse subcontractors in Los Angeles. Construction Dive reports the Prime Pipeline Alliance was announced Oct. 14.
How the Program Works
The cohort includes plumbers, electricians and concrete contractors, and the 12 firms share one curriculum. The six participating builders are Clark Construction, Hensel Phelps, PCL Construction, Skanska, Turner Construction and Webcor. The AGC Construction Education Foundation and the Greater Los Angeles African American Chamber of Commerce helped establish the partnership.
The format departs from traditional one-to-one mentoring. All six contractors work with all 12 subcontractors across eight sessions. Participants meet different parts of each builder’s team, including estimators, preconstruction leads and scope managers, said Erin Volk, senior vice president of workforce and community development at AGC of California and executive director of AGC CEF. “This is by design; it was important that all six general contractors committed to exposing cohort participants to an ecosystem of support within their companies,” Volk told Construction Dive by email.
Volk said most of the GCs already run their own regional development programs. She described this as the first time they have set aside competition to commit to mentoring small and underrepresented firms together. Skanska’s Construction Management Building Blocks program, which helps smaller, diverse companies win contracts with the firm, is one example. The firm finished the Los Angeles World Airports Roadways, Utilities and Enabling project at LAX in July, which it used to showcase small and local business participation.
The 12 selected firms are EHEZ Electrical Contracting, Energen Electric, Fehoko Concrete, Fixed Dimensions, Flo Engineering Inc., High Note Technologies, Indeed Construction Cleaning, JNA Builders, JNR 2 Construction, Pacific Coast Slurry & Striping, Pad Elevators and RX Plumbing.
What It Means for Subcontractors
- Cohort is closed. The 12 firms are already named, so there is no enrollment to chase this round. Construction Dive’s report does not say how firms applied, what the eligibility criteria were beyond “small, local and diverse,” or whether a second cohort is planned. AGC CEF, which Volk leads, is the logical place to ask.
- Support the report does not cover. The announcement as reported does not mention bonding help, insurance help, prequalification or bid-access mechanics, and it does not say whether participation leads to contract awards. Do not assume any of those come with the program.
- Use the GCs’ own programs. Volk said most of the six builders run regional development programs. Skanska’s Building Blocks is the one Construction Dive ties to winning contracts. Our inference: a sub outside the cohort can contact those programs directly.
- Know who you will meet. The cohort sessions put subs in front of estimators, preconstruction leads and scope managers. Our inference: subs that want similar access should have scope sheets, unit pricing and capacity figures ready for those roles.
- Trades represented. Electrical, concrete, plumbing, elevator, striping, engineering, cleaning and general contracting firms are in the group. Our inference: Los Angeles subs in those trades may now be competing against firms with direct GC exposure.
- Skanska’s track record. A March 2025 Construction Dive piece, linked from this article, says Skanska’s small business incubator has led to $740M in partnerships. That gives a sense of the scale such programs can reach, though it is not a projection for this cohort.
