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Impact Report

Our Communities

Our Communities
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Supporting Our Communities

It’s our promise to leave behind a positive legacy in communities around the world where we live and work. We live this mission through our partnerships and stewardship efforts, by creating educational and career opportunities, and with the projects we choose to take on.

Group of bechtel.org volunteers waving from suspension trail bridge holding a Bechtel banner, with young community members.

Contributing to Local Economies

Testimonial

Home Building Materials, Inc. is a small family-owned and operated lumberyard established in 1954. We first started working with Bechtel on the Sabine Pass Liquefaction project and have moved on to the Driftwood LNG project. Bechtel has been a pleasure to work with over the years and has always been fair to our small business. They have made a very positive impact on the success of Home Building Materials and have given us the opportunity to bid on other megaprojects throughout Southwest Louisiana. We are looking forward to new opportunities in the future with Bechtel.

Bechtel is an active member in the communities where we live and work. We create jobs, provide training opportunities, do business with local suppliers, and support civic and charitable organizations. Our presence has enabled many local businesses to expand their operations to meet the growing demand for goods and services. In addition to our substantial spending through local purchasing and hiring, we build and enhance the capacity of local workers and companies, stimulating long-term economic development beyond the projects we deliver.

In 2022, for example, we completed construction on the Shell Polymers Monaca project in Pennsylvania—the largest union construction job in the U.S. at the time. At peak construction, there were more than 9,000 workers on site. Projects of this size generate tens of thousands of dollars per month through purchases of everything from materials and equipment to food and water. When possible, Bechtel taps local businesses to help provide these critical needs. On the Shell Polymers Monaca project, we worked with more than 150 local suppliers, including 65 minority or women-owned businesses.

Developing the Local Workforce

We create opportunities for the local workforce to acquire new and valuable skills and pursue careers in construction, strengthening the community’s workforce for the long-term.

Our Efforts

North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU)

We are proud of our 100-year partnership with NABTU. We’ve built a great relationship with the building trades and we’ve delivered outstanding projects together.

Our Efforts

Apprenticeship Readiness Programs (ARP)

Bechtel is proud to partner alongside NABTU and TradeFutures to advance ARP programs, which help local women, veterans, and people of color launch careers in the construction industry. On the Plant Vogtle project, more than 40% of the ARP apprentices were women, and more than 80% were from underrepresented groups.

Our Efforts

Workforce Readiness and Development Initiative

As part of our longstanding partnership with Lamar State College in Port Arthur, Texas, Bechtel launched a women’s-only Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) training program to both increase opportunities for women and address the shortage of qualified CDL drivers.

Our Efforts

Bechtel Apprenticeship Program

Partnering with local entities and the Department of Labor in Texas and Louisiana, Bechtel’s Apprenticeship Program helps to reskill local residents. We train apprentices using the National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER) curriculum, and offer them entry-level craft positions upon completion.

Our Efforts

Career and Technical Education Programs

Bechtel donates thousands of tools to support local high school students enrolled in career and technical education and welding programs, preparing them for sustainable, rewarding, and quality jobs that don’t require college degrees.

Supporting Small and Diverse Businesses

Through strong collaboration with small and diverse businesses, including subcontractors, vendors, and consultants, we are supporting local businesses and stimulating the economy beyond the projects we build.

For example, on the Sepulveda Transit Corridor project in Los Angeles, Bechtel has engaged 30 different small, local, and minority-owned businesses as part of the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) program, representing 30% of our total spending in Phase 1. This not only strengthens our ability to deliver a quality project, but also reinvests project dollars into the local community.

Corpus Christi Liquefaction Stage 3

More than half of all field commitments awarded to local businesses.

Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant

Nearly half of subcontracted dollars awarded to local Pueblo County and Colorado businesses.

Mobile Launcher 2

More than two-thirds of total subcontract dollars awarded to small and diverse businesses at the project in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Note: Bechtel defines “local” as a 50-75 mile radius surrounding our projects and “diverse businesses” as companies that are at least 51% owned and controlled by a person(s) of an underrepresented, disadvantaged background, categorized within the regions of the world where they operate, including women, minorities, veterans, people with disabilities, etc.
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Procurement & Contract
Awards 2018-2022

We increased our global spending on goods and services by 25% in 2022 compared with 2021. In 2022, we spent $11.6 billion on goods and services globally, including purchases from local, small, and disadvantaged businesses.

Person standing next to a painting.

Launching Our Reconciliation Action Plan in Australia

To provide tangible and substantive benefits for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, Bechtel launched the Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) in 2022, founded on the core pillars of relationships, respect, and opportunity. This plan, which was endorsed by Reconciliation Australia, the leading body for reconciliation in the country, is a formal commitment to expand access for First Nations people across our projects and operations.

With this RAP, we will measure progress across our business for the first time—an important step to continue supporting and growing our diverse and inclusive workforce and supply chain.

Leading with Stewardship

At Bechtel, we’re proud to be a part of diverse communities where we live and work, and we’re always looking for more and creative ways to support the local workforce and the aspiring STEM and construction talent eager to enter our industry.

Bechtel President and COO Craig Albert with a group of people at a NACME event.

Inspiring Tomorrow’s Engineers

For decades, Bechtel has worked to inspire the next generation of engineers. And as investment in infrastructure surges around the world, we need more engineers who are ready to help us build a better world—to renew infrastructure, strengthen critical supply chains and manufacturing, advance the clean energy transition, and support long-term economic gains. Securing the workforce needed to meet the moment requires strong collaboration with diverse partners.

Three female students participating in SWENext.

Houston’s Young Women’s Preparatory Academy

Bechtel recently partnered with the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) to open a SWENext chapter, providing female students access to programs, mentors, and resources to support their educational goals.

A group of children with Bechtel volunteers at the National Society of Black Engineers' Summer Engineering Experience for Kids.

National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE)

Along with Techbridge Girls, Bechtel supported NSBE’s 2022 Summer Engineering Experience for Kids for more than 1,700 students in the U.S., Canada, Kenya, Nigeria, and the U.K., including virtually.

A young girl looking into a telescope at Noche de Ciencias.

Society of Hispanic Engineers

B-FAMILIA, Bechtel’s Latinx business resource group, hosted more than 50 Bechtel colleagues who volunteered their time and expertise to attend the Noche de Ciencias 2022 gatherings to share insights on STEM careers.

Young woman wearing safety goggles and operating machinery at the Institution of Engineering and Technology.

Institution of Engineering and Technology

In the U.K., Bechtel donated $63,000 for the Institution’s Launch Scholarship program. The donation will  support at least 11 students for the duration of their education, and it builds on the $970,000 Bechtel has already gifted to the IET for its Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics educational outreach efforts.

Bechtel team members wearing safety gear standing in an electrical room, looking at a tablet.

Supporting Veterans

With their leadership skills, technical training, rigor, and mission-focused approach, military veterans are ideal candidates for many positions in our industry. We’re proud to provide professional development and career opportunities for this important community.

Helmets to Hardhats

We are proud to support NABTU’s H2H program, which connects transitioning active-duty military service members, veterans, National Guard, and Reservists with skilled training and quality career opportunities in the construction industry. H2H has helped over 40,000 military personnel successfully transfer into civilian careers in the construction trades.

Military to Project Program

Our “Military to Project” program actively recruits veterans and transitioning service members. On the U.S. Gulf Coast, Bechtel is partnering with Workforce Solutions to provide apprenticeships for U.S. veterans. These apprenticeships help veterans develop useful job skills and opportunities by working with them from the time of hiring through training, integration onto a project, and completion of tradecraft mastery.

Giving Back to Our Local Communities

Bechtel employees around the world are deeply motivated to give back to their communities.

Person wearing safety gear, holding two safety flags during a presentation to young students in classroom.
Bechtel in Serbia

The Morava Corridor Bechtel-ENKA project team in Serbia led a Road Safety Awareness Caravan for 220 first and second grade students, aiming to instill a safety mindset from a young age.

Bechtel in Arizona

In Glendale, Arizona, our colleagues gathered for the annual Community Involvement Day to help those in need, hosting a Mobile On-Site Mammography for free screenings and a blood drive. They also assembled “pantry-packs” in partnership with the Valley of the Sun United Way and supported the Hope for Hunger Food Bank.

Bechtel in the U.K.

In the U.K., Bechtel’s Sellafield Pile Fuel Cladding project team became a Skills Blox advisor with St. Bridget’s Primary School in West Cumbria. Skills Blox is a skills-development program to introduce primary school students to positive role models from local businesses who can help them develop key skills.

Bechtel in Chile & Peru

In Chile and Peru, our colleagues led volunteer campaigns, speaking to students about STEM careers, and collecting school supplies and instructional materials to support local schools, including Santiago Apóstol High School and San Luis Gonzaga COPRODELI Educational Institution in Lima.

Bechtel Group Foundation

Bechtel Group Foundation partners with global nonprofit organizations on efforts that promote education, especially in STEM fields, and use engineering and construction skills to improve quality of life.

View from a suspension bridge.

Bridges to Prosperity

Since 2016, we’ve partnered with Bridges to Prosperity to build trail bridges that provide access to critical services for those living in isolated rural areas in undeveloped countries. For example, in Rwanda, a Bechtel team designed and constructed the Muduha Trailbridge, a 52-meter suspension footbridge providing local residents safe and reliable access to markets, schools, and healthcare across the Muyanza River.

World Central Kitchen volunteers.

Supporting Ukraine

In response to the invasion of Ukraine, we led a fundraising campaign for World Central Kitchen (WCK). WCK began serving hot meals along the Poland-Ukraine border within hours of the initial attack and has served more than 220 million meals. Bechtel Group Foundation matched the donations made by team members, bringing the total donation raised by colleagues to over $200,000.

Celebrating 10 Years with FIRST in Chile

Over the last 10 years, we’ve provided $8.2 million to support FIRST programs in 10 countries. In 2022, we celebrated 10 years as a national sponsor for the FIRST Lego League in Chile, designed to inspire young students interested in engineering and technology, while teaching key life skills and building confidence.

50 Years of Collaboration with the Society of Women Engineers (SWE)

Bechtel’s partnership with SWE dates back more than 50 years. SWE is the world’s largest advocate and catalyst for change for women in engineering and technology. Our support has helped create SWENext clubs worldwide, which offer self-development courses, leadership training, and college prep to girls in grades K-12, as well as funding for translation of educational materials and development of online learning modules.

Increasing Diversity in STEM

In 1974, Bechtel was a founding member of the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering (NACME), and we’ve been a member of NACME’s Board of Directors since its inception. Recent support included a donation of $200,000 to NACME’s Bridge Scholarship Program, which offers summer seminars to students entering four-year engineering or computer science programs, and aims to improve academic performance and graduation rates.

Maintaining a Strong Supply Chain

Bechtel team member in safety gear writing on a clipboard.

Our supply chain is complex and geographically vast, representing billions of annual spending on goods and services around the world. We support large projects in remote locations using a diverse supply base supported by regionally positioned personnel with extensive local knowledge.

It’s through our resilient, adaptable, and innovative supply chain, led by skilled experts anchored in best-in-class processes and tools, that we are able to consistently deliver on our safety, quality, cost, schedule, and sustainability commitments, even amid global setbacks such as the post-pandemic economy and the Russian-Ukrainian war.

Construction equipment and materials.

Looking Ahead

We’ve set long-term strategies to create even more resilience in our supply chain, and have implemented additional programs to improve certainty of delivery and to exceed our customers’ expectations. These strategies include developing global category teams and a market watch program to anticipate and respond to environmental and economic changes and opportunities, centrally led logistics and supplier quality services, a new integrated materials management approach, and an international trade compliance approach.

Diversity

Our supplier relationship management program emphasizes diversity and embraces strong supplier and subcontractor collaboration. These efforts maximize the value chain with suppliers from small and minority-owned businesses.

Safety & Ethics

As in all areas of our business, Bechtel is committed to the highest standards of safety and ethics in the industry and within our supply chain operations. It’s not just our expectation that our suppliers and subcontractors do the same, it’s our policy. Bechtel’s Code of Conduct guides our actions and applies to all Bechtel colleagues and all those with whom we work around the globe.

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