Miller-Valentine Commercial Construction Group has partnered with Karrington Construction Services to form a unique collaboration that meets the minority diversity requirements of clients seeking to build or renovate a new or existing facility.
Miller-Valentine has as almost 50 years of construction experience in a varety of services, including design/build construction, development, property management, finance, brokerage and leasing. The Karrington Company is a 100 percent minority-owned construction service company that specializes in project management and construction equipment rentals.
The combination of the two organizations functions as an integrated relationship, not just a partnership in name only. Karrington managers are involved in the day-to-day planning and execution of projects. This allows them to gain the experience they need that will eventually provide them access to larger construction projects.
“We have great respect for the Karrington team,” said Chris Knueven, President of Miller-Valentine Commercial Construction.” They have done a great job combining their desire to serve clients who want to build using a minority-owned company with a commitment to creating new opportunities for other small, diverse businesses.”
The partnership allows clients to meet their minority inclusion goals by using a 100 percent minority firm coupled with a larger company with greater depth of construction and real estate experience. The team has completed two projects—building a $7.5 million facility for a mega church in Maryland and renovating a P&G facility.
“We have always been interested in doing construction work for clients seeking a company comprised of minority partners and managers. But we wanted to partner with a larger, more experienced firm,” said Mark Parks, President of The Karrington Co. “Miller-Valentine has been the perfect match for us not only because of their considerable expertise in all aspects of real estate development but also because of their commitment to mentoring our staff and training them move on to larger projects.”
The mentoring aspect of the partnership is one of the things that make it unique. MV/Karrington team members work together in all areas of a project, from preconstruction to on-site execution and project occupancy. MVG staff members mentor Karrington managers, giving them training and experience on larger construction and renovation projects than they would normally encounter. This on-the-job training empowers Karrington managers to “pay it forward” by inviting other minority subcontractors to bid on jobs to which they might not otherwise have access.
MV/Karrington is looking to do new construction and renovation in the office, institutional, medical and industrial sectors.
