Building Talent Foundation (BTF), a nonprofit organization dedicated to strengthening the residential construction talent pool, renewed its partnership with home builder Meritage Homes. Through the partnership, both organizations will work toward a shared goal of driving forward a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in the residential construction industry.
“At Meritage, we seek partners dedicated to empowering underrepresented groups in the home building industry,” says Phillippe Lord, CEO of Meritage Homes. “BTF’s initiatives closely align with Meritage’s efforts to enhance diversity within the company and across the industry.”
As part of Meritage’s DEI strategy, its charitable foundation, Meritage Cares, invested $125,000 to support BTF’s mission to advance education, training, and career progression of young people and those from underrepresented demographics.
BTF was established in 2019 by Leading Builders of America, an association of the 20 largest home builders, including Meritage Homes. In its 10 active markets across Arizona, Florida, Tennessee, and Texas, BTF supports young people and people from underrepresented groups with career coaching and job search assistance toward careers in home building. The skilled labor shortage has become more pronounced in the construction industry over the past few years, with recent research from the Home Builders Institute suggesting the industry needs an additional 2.2 million new hires from 2022 through 2024 to keep up with demand.
“We’re delighted to continue this partnership with Meritage because of their commitment to building a culture of DEI,” says Branka Minic, CEO of BTF. “Meritage has now extended their sponsorship of BTF, and this vote of confidence helps us progress toward our goal to create a sustainable residential construction workforce by 2030.”
The partnership extension with Meritage follows BTF’s recent collaboration with fellow founding member Lennar. The nonprofit also recently entered partnerships with SkillPointe Foundation, the Southern Careers Institute in Texas, M.T. Copeland Technologies, and the Painting Contractors Association (PCA) to provide career coaching and job placement services to students involved with each organization.
