Walter Reed
About Us
Walter Reed “Contractor’s College”
Walter Reed Contractor’s College is an intensive mentoring service designed to help wounded veterans adjust to life after Walter Reed by teaching them about the construction industry. Nearly fifty veterans have already participated, gaining knowledge that can help them get jobs or start their own businesses—whether in construction or elsewhere. After only two years, seven of our graduates are setting up their own businesses, and others are working for large construction companies, their owners, and their subcontractors. Classes are already full for our third semester this Fall.
Walter Reed Contractor’s College derives from two longstanding industry programs: the ACE Mentoring Program, a course designed to teach high school students about the construction industry, and Turner Construction’s “Contractor’s College,” a more advanced course for minority- and women-owned businesses. Several participants in those programs have worked with wounded veterans at Walter Reed for years, and often provided informal advice about possible construction careers. Two years ago, they were able to organize a more formal set of classes. Thus the Walter Reed Contractor’s College was born.
Our Team Projects
Every other week for the last six months, a dozen or so wounded veterans met for an hour and a half with industry mentors to learn a new aspect of the construction business. This past semester, topics included:
• An Overview of the Construction Business
• Reading Design Documents and Estimating Cost Control Scheduling
• Starting a Business: Examples of Success and Failure
• Sales and Marketing
• Mechanical and Electrical Systems
• Disabled Veteran Owned Businesses
• How to Use Lawyers (and When Not to Use Them)
• BIM, Computers, and Construction
• Networking
The semester ended with a guided tour of the billion-dollar hospital project at Ft. Belvoir.
Participants and their families had an overwhelmingly positive reaction to the course. Doctors and therapists, too, told us that they could see a real difference in our students’ attitudes—which can only help recovery.
As old construction hands ourselves, we naturally hope that every one of our students joins the construction industry. Some already have. Even those that don’t, however, will be better off for having participated in Walter Reed Contractor’s College. We can’t wait to start up again.
Participate in ACE!
If you’d like to experience ACE’s challenges, opportunities and rewards for yourself, just contact the ACE leader listed in the upper right-hand corner of this page.
