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The Black Lives Matter movement has spurred corporate America into action, prompting donations, statements of solidarity and public reexaminations by some of the nation’s most recognizable companies.

The construction industry, however, has been noticeably quiet.

鈥淚t’s been shocking to me,鈥� said Andrew Colas, president of Portland-based Colas Construction. 鈥淭he CEO of Warner Bros. made statements. The CEOs of Fortune 500 companies have made statements. There’s just been complete silence on the local level, on the national level, in our industry.鈥�

Colas Construction is the largest Black-owned construction firm in Oregon, and one of the largest on the West Coast. The company has tackled large public projects, including a sizable renovation of the Oregon Convention Center.

鈥淐hange is on all of us, and the chance to lead it comes in the choices we make every day,鈥� Colas wrote in a statement posted to the company’s Instagram page on June 3. 鈥淪peak up, stand up and disrupt the cycle.鈥�

Colas said he decided to say something after hearing little from others in the construction industry.

鈥淎 $650 billion industry has had nothing to say,鈥� he added in a text message. 鈥淪o we had to speak up.鈥�

The death of George Floyd, a Black man, in Minneapolis after he was held under the knee of a police officer for 7 minutes and 46 seconds has galvanized protests and forced a fast-moving reckoning of racism in American life. So far, there have been few immediate repercussions in the construction industry.

Some organizations connected to the building industry have embraced the Black Lives Matter movement. Prosper Portland posted a Black Lives Matter webpage. Several architecture firms have posted supportive statements. Lever Architecture, for instance, issued one that read in part, 鈥淚t is incumbent on us as architects to engage communities of color and to listen with humility.鈥� Lease Crutcher Lewis also posted a supportive statement to Instagram.

Statements are good, but require follow-through, said Nate McCoy, executive director of the National Association of Minority Contractors-Oregon.

鈥淪tatements mean nothing if there are no real efforts or change behind them,鈥� he said.

As for Associated General Contractors‘ Oregon-Columbia chapter, it has taken a low-key approach to the moment.

鈥淒uring this time, we have quietly chosen to continue the work we have started and been part of for many decades,鈥� Executive Director Mike Salsgiver stated in an email message. 鈥淭he AGC Oregon-Columbia Chapter condemns the murder of George Floyd 鈥� and the behaviors that led to his death and to the deaths of many others 鈥� in the strongest possible terms. We fully understand the deplorable and unacceptable effects these crimes against our fellow citizens have had, and continue to lead and support initiatives that will eliminate racism in our society and our industry.鈥�

The local AGC chapter has worked for many years with NAMC-Oregon, the Oregon Association of Minority Entrepreneurs, LatinoBuilt, the Professional Business Development Group and others, Salsgiver stated.

鈥淲e continue to stand with these and other organizations to ensure that this work will continue,鈥� he added.

Locally, the construction industry remains overwhelmingly white in ownership as well as in executive and managerial roles, despite a diverse entry-level workforce. But public-sector work has helped Black-owned firms grow. Contracting preferences that favor minority-owned contractors have boosted companies including Colas Construction, Raimore Construction and O’Neill Construction Group in winning major contracts from local public agencies such as Prosper Portland, Metro and TriMet.

Colas Construction in 2017 landed the largest public contract awarded to a minority-owned firm in Oregon at that time: a $32 million deal to perform interior renovations at the Oregon Convention Center.

That was exceeded in March by with TriMet for the Division Transit Project in Southeast Portland. Raimore co-founder Jeff Moreland could not be reached for comment.

But contracting preferences haven’t done nearly enough to compensate for the advantages of white-owned firms that have decades of accumulated wealth and business relationships as well as large-scale bonding capacity, Colas said.

鈥淚t’s about economic development for Black people,鈥� he said. 鈥淭here are a lot of Black businesses out there that are fully capable, that do great work and just don’t get the opportunities others do.鈥�

Portland should have many more successful Black-owned construction firms, according to Colas.

鈥淯ntil we start seeing more Raimores, more City of Roses, more Colas’, you’re not going to see that (economic development) piece,鈥� he said. 鈥淐an anybody tell me five Black-owned companies that have more than 50 employees? You can’t. It’s not working.鈥�

McCoy echoed those sentiments.

鈥淚t’s shameful that it’s only Colas and Raimore that are getting contracts at the level that they’re at,鈥� he said. 鈥淲hy is that? I think there’s still a systemic problem.鈥�

McCoy and others are pushing public agencies to move away from race-neutral policies to race-conscious policies that take into account historic discrimination.

Black-owned firms and other emerging contractors typically begin as subcontractors. More must be done to help them grow, said Daniel Drinkward, vice president of Hoffman Construction, a major general contractor.

鈥淚t’s got to go beyond hitting the contracting and workforce targets,鈥� he said.

Hoffman mentors minority-owned contractors on business aspects such as insurance and accounting that sometimes prove challenging for new firms, Drinkward said.

鈥淲e spend a lot of time working with minority-owned firms to make sure that when they do get contracts on our projects that they are successful and that it helps build their business,鈥� he said.

Hoffman Construction stands with its Black workers, Drinkward added.

鈥淗offman is committed to providing an anti-racist and inclusive workplace,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he status quo is not acceptable and we have to do better.鈥�

The widespread protests have generated some optimism in the fight against racism, Colas said.

鈥淚t has been heartening,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t’s nice to see all shades of people standing up and saying this isn’t working. What’s been happening the last 400 years is wrong, and we need to acknowledge it.

鈥淵ou get to the point as a Black person where you just feel helpless,鈥� he added. 鈥淥ur struggles are serious and they’re real.鈥�

McCoy said he’s had conversations in the industry where others say 鈥渁ll lives matter鈥� as a counterpoint to the Black Lives Matter message. Such race-neutral language accomplishes nothing, he said.

鈥淎bsolutely all lives matter,鈥� he said. 鈥淏lack lives have to matter more, and have to be called out individually because things have to change.鈥�

Correction: This story earlier referred to an incorrect timeline for the Minneapolis incident. Media reports have since indicated George Floyd was pinned by an officer’s knee for 7 minutes, 46 seconds, not 8 minutes, 46 seconds.