South Carolina State law in accordance with Federal Highway Administration (FWHA) regulations requires that a percentage of federally funded highway construction projects be awarded to Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (DBE). The DBE includes both Minority Business Enterprises (MBE) and Women Business Enterprises (WBE). The South Carolina Code of Laws also requires that DBE employees have 20 hours of continuing education credit to maintain their state contractor certification (Code of Regulations, 2001).

The MBE and WBE construction firms are generally subcontracting firms that have started from ground zero. They are comprised of individuals that know their trade/profession very well but may not have enough project management skills to either operate a construction firm or to successfully complete a construction project. A recent survey conducted by the Carolinas Associated General Contractors (AGC) of design and construction professionals in the state of South Carolina identified a need for a continuing education course in construction management processes for individuals working for MBE and WBE construction firms (Gennett, 1999; Latham, 2000). This type of a course would benefit individuals who have had little formal training or education in project management skills required to successfully bid, negotiate and complete highway construction projects.

The original objective of the research was to develop a continuing education course addressing basic project management processes that the MBE and WBE construction firms need to know in order to successfully manage a federally funded highway construction project. This continuing education course would have consisted of a series of one-day educational modules on federal and contract document interpretation skills, finance skills, and business practices and communications.

As the research progressed, it was determined that there was an overlap between proposed course modules and existing educational training opportunities. The research consisted of assessing the strengths and weaknesses of existing courses that MBE and WBE construction individuals have taken in the past and assessing what types of needed training are not being offered. The overlap occurred in the areas of basic financial skills, understanding SCDOT requirements and business practices, and networking with various support organizations. As a result of this finding, one of the decisions made was to develop a database of all training modules, seminars and courses offered in the state of South Carolina or available from other states via home study applications in order to reduce travel costs as much as possible. The database includes information about courses, locations, times, types and levels of instruction, course content description, topical outlines, approximate costs, and whether or not continuing education units are available.

Prior to the development of a searchable database, an information search was conducted to gather data on construction training modules, seminars and courses offered either in the state of South Carolina or via home study applications. A construction training and course search of all colleges and universities in the state of South Carolina was conducted first. Next, a search of all professional construction organization’s web sites for training courses in construction was carried out and followed by a web search of training and learning centers. Finally, a general web search using the various Internet search engines was performed to identify any other types of construction-related training.

The development of a searchable database occurred in two phases. The first phase consisted of storing the data in Microsoft Access program in a searchable format. That is, a column containing each of the following pieces of information was created: course title, locations, times, type and level of instruction, course content description, topical outline, approximate cost, and whether or not continuing education units are available with the course. While Microsoft Access is a good program to manipulate and sort data, it is not a simple program to use for conducting multi-level searches.

The second phase consisted of writing a user-friendly search engine program that could be used to access and manipulate the data in Microsoft Access. Visual Basic was used to write the search engine program. This program pulls information from Access database and displays the information in pop-up windows through pull-down menus. The user can search either on a course category, location, or delivery methods or any combination of the three criteria. Category describes the type of courses, such as, accounting/finance, basic construction skills, contracts/legal issues, cost control, document control, equipment utilization, estimating and bidding, highway construction, human relations, leadership & teamwork, planning & scheduling, project management training, safety, and supervisory training. Location describes the course location; there are four options: at the user location (office and in-house seminars), courses offered in Georgia, home study (in the privacy of one’s home), and courses offered in South Carolina. The delivery methods describe the various instructional formats such as CD-ROM, classroom, Internet, self-study, and seminar. The user can also search using the additional information option in the program. The additional information option lists additional providers either offering continuing education courses or providing services that are not part of the database records. The search engine program guides the user through the use of prompts and pull-down menus to find construction training courses to fit individual needs. The Construction Education Searchable Database comes on a CD-ROM along with a user’s guide. The user’s guide contains detailed information about installing and using the database. A portion of the user’s guide is provided in Appendix A.

A construction training and course search of colleges and universities in South Carolina was conducted. This search included twenty-six four-year colleges and universities and eighteen two-year colleges. The results of this search are presented in Table 1 of Appendix B. Nine of forty-four universities and colleges in South Carolina offer construction courses. Six of the nine institutions offer semester long courses in construction, four offer continuing education courses, and only 3 will design short courses based on demand. Only 9% of all universities and colleges in South Carolina offer continuing education courses in construction and only 1 of 44 universities and colleges offer continuing education courses specifically designed for DBEs.

Clemson University offers B.S. and M.S. degrees in Construction Science & Management and short courses in project management through the Construction Industry Cooperative Alliance (CICA), which is actually based at the University of Texas. Clemson University will also co-sponsor short courses for DBE construction firms through its Small Business Development Center. South Carolina State University, through its Small Business Development Center EDI Program, offers short courses in construction management processes for DBEs. Central Carolina Technical College will offer 2 to 3 weeks long construction courses if there is a demand. Greenville Tech offers both short and semester long construction courses through their continuing education department. These courses include building systems, architectural graphics, Timberline estimating, contract documents, construction estimating, and technical math. Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College offers courses in surveying, construction materials, contracts and engineering law, strength of materials, and estimating. Piedmont Technical College’s Building Construction Technology is a training program in residential and light commercial construction. Areas of training include carpentry, cabinet making, blueprint reading, estimating, residential wiring, brick masonry, computer skills, form construction, and basic site layout. Williamsburg Technical College offers semester long courses in light building construction. Trident Technical College offers courses in building codes, blueprint reading, construction estimating, general and residential license preparation, construction materials, contracts, soil mechanics, planning and scheduling, construction management, estimating, highway design, structural steel, and OSHA workshops.

A web data search of professional construction organizations and training centers (as of April, 2001) resulted in finding 108 continuing education courses offered by 15 providers. Only one course per category is offered in accounting/finance and risk management. Just two courses per category are offered in cost control, document control, and productivity. Four courses per category are offered in equipment utilization. Five courses per category are offered in safety. Seven courses are offered in highway construction. Nine courses are offered in leadership and teamwork. Eleven courses per category are offered in basic construction skills and contract/legal issues. Twelve courses are offered in planning and scheduling. Fifteen courses in human relations are offered. Sixteen courses are offered in estimating and bidding. Seventeen courses in project management training are offered. Twenty courses are offered in supervisory training. The research showed that 20% of the courses are delivered through two-hour to 2-day seminars, 14% through 1 to 2 week classroom instruction, 30% through instruction via the Internet, 30% through instruction via audio-video-printed materials, 3% through instruction on CD-ROM, and 3% through self-study. Approximately 32% of the continuing education courses are delivered through seminars and classroom instruction and 68% are home study courses through audio, video, printed material, CD, and the Internet.

Federal Publications Seminar LLC (FPS) provides 73% of the courses addressing construction contracts and legal issues. 25% of FPS’s courses are delivered through the Internet and 75% through seminars in Hilton Head, South Carolina. Construction Estimating Institute (CEI) offers 63% of the estimating and bidding courses. 90% of CEI’s courses are home study delivered through audio, video, and printed materials and 10% is delivered through seminars. 71% of the continuing education courses in highway construction are offered by SC State University’s EDI program. All of the EDI courses are delivered through seminars. I.C.I. Consulting (ICIC) provides 53% of the courses dealing with human relations. ICIC’s courses are delivered through classroom instruction and home study via audio, video, and printed materials. Construction Industry Institute (CII) provides 24% of Project Management Training courses, all of which are delivered through classroom instruction. 45% of courses in supervisory training is offered by Construction Classes dot com (CCdc). These courses are offered through the Internet.

There are several certified DBE consulting firms in South Carolina that provide services and assistance in construction management processes to DBE construction firms. Carolina Procurement Institute offers services/assistance in areas of business development, marketing (market research, advertising, public relations, risk management, and procurement), finance/accounting, procurement code understanding, and construction (bid preparation, proposal writing, bonding/insurance, estimating, plans and specifications). DESA, Inc. through management of SC Statewide MBDC provides services/assistance in areas of business development, marketing, advertising, finance, accounting, management, construction (estimating, bid preparation, bonding, plans and specifications), information technology (equipment purchasing, application development, and networking), computers, and government contracting. DMAD Consulting Firm offers training/seminars on diversity, team building, mediation, and conflict resolution. Johnson’s Management Group, Inc. provides construction management services.

The gathered data was incorporated into the construction education searchable database either as database records or as additional providers. The database records are searchable based either on category, location, delivery methods or any combination of the three search criteria. Continuing education courses offered by universities or colleges that were sponsored or approved by SCDOT’s Office of Compliance were input as database records. Only SC State University’s EDI seminars met this requirement. Also continuing education courses sponsored by construction professional organizations and firms were input as database records. These database records contain information on courses provided by AGC, THGI, CEI, CII, NAWIC, CMR, TCMI, ICIC, NCCER, CE, CCdc, FPS, APM, and CZ, totaling to 135 records. A summary of the searchable database records is given in Table 2 of Appendix B.

Providers of all other continuing courses not sponsored by SCDOT’s Office of Compliance and are not a construction professional organization or firm are listed under "Additional Providers" in the construction education searchable database. These providers include Greenville Tech, Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College, Piedmont Technical College, Trident Technical College, VideoLearning Systems, Inc., SkillSoft Corporation, and RedVector.com, Inc. In addition to these providers, NAHB, HBI, and HBA construction professional organizations are listed under "Additional Providers" because their continuing education courses are specific to residential construction and not commercial or highway construction. HousingZone Campus is listed under "Additional Providers" because its continuing education courses may also be too specific to residential construction. However, those students desiring a more basic level of instruction may find these courses helpful. Additionally, certified DBE consulting firms in South Carolina providing services and assistance in construction management processes to DBE construction firms are also listed under "Additional Providers". These firms include Carolina Procurement Institute, SC Statewide Minority Business Development Center, DMAD Consulting Firm, and Johnson’s Management Group, Inc.

There are approximately 110 construction courses being offered over 16 different categories by fifteen providers. These providers belong to professional construction organizations and training centers. Of these 15 providers, only three offer courses across seven to ten different construction categories. The remaining thirteen offer courses across one to five different construction categories. Five providers seem to dominate in one area of construction education. Of these 5 providers, three of them have only one delivery method. Approximately 32% of the 110 courses are delivered through seminars and classroom instruction while 68% are home study courses through audio, video, printed material, CD-Rom, and Internet. Only 2 providers will conduct their seminars and classroom courses at the participant’s location. The remaining seminars and classroom courses are taught by four other providers at only three locations: Clemson, Columbia, and Hilton Head. Therefore, it can be concluded that saturation point has not been reached with regards to number of courses, providers, delivery methods, and locations. There is room for providers to offer construction courses on a wide variety of topics and media. The Construction Education Searchable Database CD-ROM was developed as a resource tool to provide an active link to many providers of construction courses. By being a searchable database, it provides an organized approach that will enable MBE and WBE construction firms user-friendly accessibility to the specific kinds of training that will meet their needs.

Code of Federal Regulations, 49 CFR 23 and 26, US Office of Federal Register, Washington, DC, 1999.

"Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) Program Administration Manual," FHWA-HI-90-047, Office of Civil Rights and Office of Highway Operations, April 1990.

TEA-21 – Transportation Equity Act for the 21^st Century, USDOT, web site: www.fhwa.dot.gov/tea21/dbe.htm

Code of Regulations, South Carolina Code of Laws, web site: www.scstatehouse.net/codereg.htm

Teleconference with Steve Gennett, Executive Vice President & CEO, Carolinas AGC,1100 Euclid Avenue, Charlotte, NC 28203-1868, phone: 704-372-1450, 8/27/99.

Meeting with Ed Latham, Vice President-Profit Management Group, Carolinas AGC, P.O. Box 30277, Charlotte, NC 28230-0277, June 8, 2000.

Associated General Contractors (AGC), 333 John Carlyle Street, Suite 200, Alexandria, VA 22314, e-mail: info@agc.org, web site: www.agc.org, phone: 703-548-3118.

Carolina Procurement Institute, 6941 N.  Trenholm Road, Suite Q-2, Columbia, SC 29206,e-mail: Gawcpi@ix.netcom.com, phone: 803-782-4505.

South Carolina Statewide Minority Business Development Center, 2111 Bull Street, Columbia, SC 29201, web site: www.scmbdc.com, phone: 888-779-5905.

DMAD Consulting Firm, 124 Meadow Brook Drive, Greenwood, SC 29649,phone: 864-222-5463.

Johnson’s Management Group, Inc., 187 North Church Street, Spartanburg, SC 29303, phone: 843-573-5333.

Construction Estimating Institute, 5011 Ocean Boulevard, Sarasota, FL 34242, e-mail: info@estimating.org, web site: www.estimating.org, phone: 800-423-7058.

Construction Industry Institute (CII), Attn: Frank Eskridge, Clemson University, PO Box 340912, 200 Lowry Hall, Clemson, SC 29634-0912, e-mail: CICA@ces.clemson.edu, web site: www.ces.clemson.edu/cica, phone: 864-656-4183.

I.C.I. Consulting, PO Box 3064, 104 E. Kiracofe Avenue, Elida, OH 45807-3064,e-mail: info@iciconsulting.net, web site: www.iciconsulting.net, phone: 419-339-5500.

Construction Classes dot com, PO Box 231832, Encinitas, CA 92023-1832, e-mail:bob@constructionclasses.com, web site: www.constructionclasses.com, phone: 760-634-2474.

Federal Publications Seminars LLC, 2818 Fallfax Drive, Balmar Building, Falls Church, VA 22042, web site: www.fedpubseminars.com, phone: 888-494-3696.

Portion of the Construction Education Searchable Database User’s Guide

Course Search Window

After opening the program, the "Course Search" window will appear. See Figure 1 – Course Search. This is the main window of the program for conducting searches of the database. You can choose one, two, and/or three of the search criteria to find construction training programs to fit your needs. Use the pull-down lists for each of these fields to help you select the available search criteria. They are listed as follows:

Category – describes the type of courses that a construction company might find helpful in fulfilling continuing education needs. There are several different categories to choose from:

Location – because this searchable database was developed for South Carolina construction companies, only those courses available in South Carolina or within a day’s drive to nearby locations outside of South Carolina were selected as records for this database. Also, any courses that could be delivered via the internet or home study were also included as records. The locations are as listed as follows:

Delivery Methods – describes the various instructional formats for these construction training programs. They are listed as follows:

Audio, Videotapes, Print Material

The button labeled "Additional Providers" on this screen lists additional providers offering continuing construction education courses that are not part of these database records. These providers offer construction training programs and services too numerous to include in this database. Contact information for these providers can be accessed by clicking on the "Details" button.

The "Exit" button will close the database program.

Only one field needs to be input for the search criteria to work. If you have made an error or want to re-select any of the fields, click on the "Clear Fields" button to re-select the criteria.

Once you have selected one, two, and/or three search criteria, click on the "Search" button to review the results. A "Course Search Results" window will display any records found matching your search criteria. See Figure 2 – Course Search Results.

By simply selecting just the course category field to search, all locations and delivery methods for a course category will be viewed on screen, further allowing you to select the delivery method or location of your choice. It will also limit the number of times "No Records Found" appears.

By clicking on the "Details" button, another window labeled "Course Information" will appear. See Figure 3 – Course Information below.

Here you will find details about the particular course such as:

Course title

Blank fields indicate no information was available at the time the database was developed.

By clicking on the "Print Info" button, you can print out this page for future reference.

Clicking on the "Details" button next to the provider field on the "Course Information" window gives you more information about the course provider such as:

The email and website fields are hyperlinks. For example, if your computer is logged onto the Internet, then by double-clicking on the website or email field, the program will automatically connect you to the provider’s website or email address. Then you will have access to the latest information about courses that the provider is offering. See Figure 4 – Provider Information below.

This database development of construction education programs for South Carolina MBE and WBE construction firms was made possible by funding from South Carolina’s Special State Appropriation in Building. The full report is in the publication "Construction Education Searchable Database" by Christine A. Piper and Shima N. Clarke, assistant professors of Clemson University in Clemson, SC.