The Conference of Minority Transportation Officials’ (COMTO) Southern California Regional Chapter has honored Balfour Beatty with its Member of the Year award. A national advocacy organization, COMTO’s mission is to ensure opportunities and maximum participation for minority professionals and businesses in the transportation industry. Balfour Beatty was recognized with the chapter’s Member of the Year award at its scholarship and recognition awards ceremony in Los Angeles.

Each year, the COMTO Southern California Chapter honors its members and local students who demonstrate a strong commitment to the transportation industry, significantly help enhance COMTO’s reputation and make a measurable impact on the community. The Member of the Year award recognizes corporate members that consistently go above and beyond in providing exemplary support for COMTO, and promote diversity and economic development of small and emerging businesses in the transportation industry.

“At Balfour Beatty, building sustainable relationships and partnering with small, minority, and women-owned businesses is more than a corporate social responsibility policy, we believe it helps us drive innovation, new ideas and better support the communities where we build,” said Joe Reed, vice president of alternative delivery at Balfour Beatty. “Our strong belief in promoting diversity makes being recognized by COMTO’s Southern California Chapter as its Member of the Year especially gratifying. We highly value the relationships and experiences we’ve gained through COMTO over the years, and look forward to supporting its mission well into the future.”

One example of Balfour Beatty’s commitment to the community and education is the unique relationship it has formed with the Inglewood Unified School District. Together with its LINXS Joint Venture team, Balfour Beatty engineers mentor MESA (mathematics, engineering, science achievement) students at the district’s Monroe Middle School. Recently, in preparation for the countywide MESA competition, the Balfour Beatty team helped Monroe students understand the concepts of structural engineering by building bridges with popsicle sticks.

“When students can talk to and learn from professionals, it connects what they study in school with its real-life application,” said Dr. D’Artagnan Scorza, board member, Inglewood Unified School District. “I’m thrilled to learn how the Balfour Beatty team members’ involvement encourages our students to stay committed to math and science, and pursue their passion. Our partnership with Balfour Beatty and LINXS, which is commendable and much appreciated, is key to the Inglewood School District. I look forward to it lasting for a long time.”

About COMTO

Founded in 1971, the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials (COMTO) was created to provide a forum for minority professionals in the transportation industry. COMTO's mission is to ensure opportunities and maximum participation in the transportation industry for minority individuals, businesses, and communities of color, through advocacy, information sharing, training, education, and professional development. The organization membership includes individuals, groups, transportation agencies, private sector corporations, non-profit organizations, and Historically Underutilized Businesses (HUBs).

About Balfour Beatty

Balfour Beatty is an industry-leading provider of general contracting, at-risk construction management and design-build services for public and private sector clients across the United States. Performing heavy civil and vertical construction, the company is part of Balfour Beatty plc (LSE: BBY), a leading international infrastructure group that provides innovative and efficient infrastructure that underpins our daily lives, supports communities and enables economic growth. Consistently ranked among the nation’s largest building contractors, Balfour Beatty is the No. 6 Domestic Building Contractor in the United States as ranked by Engineering News-Record. To learn more, visit www.balfourbeattyus.com.