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“ Prior to joining DBIA,” she continues,“ I worked for the independent Electrical Contractors Association as Vice President of Membership. So, my career has been in the nonprofit association field, not necessarily in design and construction, but I have, to a large degree, been drawn to the design and construction industry, probably because my grandfather, my father and my brother are all contractors. So, I’ ve always been around that industry and find it fascinating. Fast forward to today, and education is at the heart of what DBIA does. For an organization that had very little education in 2004, it now brings in almost half of its revenue from education, most of which is reinvested to develop new programs as the industry evolves.
“ When I joined DBIA, less than 15 states had a design-build authority, whereas today, all but two states have some level of designbuild authority in the public sphere. Today,
DBIA has indicated that design-build is about 44 percent of construction spending and is projected to be about 47 percent by 2028. So, this collaborative delivery method really is the way for the future.”
Indeed, in 1993, design-build was considered a radical approach to project delivery and design-builders were seen by many in the industry as a threat to the status quo. A small group of visionaries who believed there was a better way to build established DBIA. These founding fathers committed to changing the way the construction industry delivers projects by promoting the collaboration, innovation and efficiency of cost and schedule inherent in design-build. In the three decades since, design-build has become the nation’ s fastest-growing delivery method, and DBIA is the nation’ s leading source of education, resources and advocacy for Design-Build Done Right ®.
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