By Rachel Hawkins, NDG Staff Writer
The Regional Black Contractors Association (RBCA) held the Year End Gala on Oct. 20 at the Hilton in Arlington. The RBCA is a trade union serving the local construction industry for 14 years. Their job is to work on behalf of members and local industry partners to ensure their members are obtaining meaningful work. They also assist in managing contract deals between the city and the state, while advocating for the mobilization of social change within their communities.
“We are honoring the contracts we have gotten this year, and the small team we are building with all of the big teams,” John Proctor Chairman of the RBAC. “The purpose of this is to celebrate what we have done this year as well as let everyone get together. A lot of these people don’t know each other, and I want them to get acquainted with each other.”
The annual gala is held to celebrate the members as well as the stakeholders within the city and highlight many game changers inside of the industry. They ranged from construction to political figures in the African American community.
The organization strives to contribute toward influencing social changes while trying to tackle issues like unemployment to underemployment, education, and giving back to the community in forms of scholarships to help underserved students get into universities.
“This year we’ll be celebrating the gains the RBCA has already accomplished, including some of our scholarships efforts as well as rehabilitation for our community.” Zerius Brittain, Director of industry partnerships on the board of directors for RBAC, and Dallas Black Chamber of Commerce said. “What they have in common (the organizations) is that they work in a space of not only construction but social mobility as well.”
The organizations honored during the gala are staples within the community, with many of them being legacy companies and organizations, also community-based organizations.
“This is important because we get to talk about the future, and what we plan to do for the community and some of the things we hold dear to our hearts, and things we want to see change,” Brittain said. “We get to highlight those who already made changes without the blessings from a lot of the decision-makers. They already stepped in and did all of the work, and they already gained changes. This is really to highlight them and set an agenda for 2025.”
The RBCA awarded $45,000 worth of scholarships this year. Brittain pointed out this is more than what the industry usually provides to help the underserved communities.
“We have industries partnerships, so one of the things underserved communities have been asking for is a program that actually combines commercial, social, and academic components into something that works for the community,” Brittain said. “We’ve created that through industries partnerships. This is something that has never been done before in construction.”
The RBCA’s efforts working across the spectrum locally, nationally and internationally in the industry is the difference maker.
“This is a real partnership between the trade union as well as the community colleges, and commercial sectors,” Brittain said. “We are active nationwide, and I am currently leading our efforts to plan the international space. We actually have contractors who plan international space, that’s one of the things I don’t think a lot know about. And we don’t just cater to construction, we actually play in all industries from artificial intelligence to technology as well as engineering for the community.”
 held the Year End Gala on Oct. 20 at the Hilton in Arlington. The RBCA is a trade union serving the local construction industry for 14 years. Their job is to work on behalf of members and local industry partners to ensure their members are obtaining meaningful work.){kind=link}