Combining Construction and Community
By Brenden Nickels, Senior Office Assistant
Since 2020, Construction Inclusion Week (CIW) has been held the second full week of October. In 2025, CIW runs from October 13th to October 17th. The intention of this week is to promote opportunities in the workforce and enhance the experiences of those that are currently there.
This year, the main theme is “Opening Doors,” which shows the many ways that the construction industry attracts young people to join the workforce. It has been divided into five pillars: Commitment and Accountability, Attract and Retain, Belonging and Workplace Culture, Economic Opportunity, and Community Engagement. As a company whose motto is to “strengthen the communities we serve,” Kraus-Anderson continues to be a leader in the fifth pillar: Community Engagement.
“For KA, community engagement is part of our DNA: aligned with our core purpose,” said Nicole Malone, Kraus-Anderson’s corporate & community engagement leader. “It also means that we help our clients and customers-in the construction industry, in realty with our tenants, and in the Insurance industry-because we care about the causes that matter to them.”
One example of this is getting teenagers and young adults interested in seeing what the construction workplace is like. Some ways KA has done this is through “Power Girls,” where KA partners up with the Girl Scouts and the Carpenters Union to introduce girls ages 12 to 17 to the construction industry, mentoring high school students via the ACE Mentor Program, as well as volunteering with the Construction Careers Foundation, Achieve Twin Cities, Construct Tomorrow, and Building Strong Communities.
Kraus-Anderson is also planning to host the second Sporting Change Pickleball Tournament on October 30th, with proceeds going toward helping non-profit partners the LIVIN Foundation and PrairieCare Fund. The reason for this collaboration is because the construction industry currently has some of the highest suicide rates.
“As a company, we need to address these issues for our teams and for our industry, making sure that everyone is safe, both physically and emotionally,” Malone said. “Our ultimate goal is to shift culture, reducing stigmas and taboos about a topic that sometimes doesn’t get discussed when people need it most.”
Of course, the largest community engagement effort that Kraus-Anderson has is its KA Has Heart program. The program got its start after a volunteer event with Hearts and Hammers, a nonprofit that helps elderly, disabled, and/or United State Veteran homeowners with regular maintenance and repairs to their house. Some KA employees who participated were interested in more opportunities to volunteer, as well as partnering up with more charities in the Twin Cities area and near our other offices across the U.S.
Malone adds, “KA has a dedicated committee who reviews requests that come in for funding, volunteers, and other help. Regarding volunteerism, we like our employees to give feedback about what matters to them based on their passions and what makes sense for our company.
“In the end, we must make some tough choices because there are so many great non-profits out there doing great work, but we do our best to support the community in so many ways.”
CATEGORY: Construction