Nayan Parikh Receives ‘Contractor of the Year’ Award

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Parikh was the only Indian-American to be awarded by the alliancethis year. Expressing his deep gratitude to the Board of Directors of theRegional Alliance for Small Contractors, Parikh said that he felt that theentire minority owned businesses were honored. “We are honored by this awardand thank the organization for recognizing the role of minority and women ownedbusinesses in the development of construction projects in the city,” he said.

“It is an honor for the Indian American community as awhole. We have made our mark in the profession and now are rightly recognizedby the mainstream America,” said Mihir Patel, president-elected, Society ofIndo American Engineers and Architects.

Parikh said that SIAEA was deeply engaged in the campaignfor better representation of small, minority and women-owned businessenterprises in construction and related industries in New York State. “Our nextgoal is to promote our representation in projects initiated by the New YorkCity government where Indian American contractors are yet to be categorized asa minority and disadvantaged group”, he said.

Gail Grimmett, Senior Vice President of Delta Airlines wasawarded Private Partner of the Year, while Partick Foye, Executive Director ofthe Port Authority of New York and New Jersey received Minority and Women Owned BusinessAchievement Award for the World Trade Center Project. Other awardees includedAnthony Baker of ACB Architects (Architectural Firm of the Year), AkinAboyade-Cole of Cole Technological Group (Professional Services Contractor ofthe Year) and Christopher Black of New England Construction Company (SpecialtyContractor of the Year).

Regional Alliancefor Small Contractors was established in 1990 to support the development ofsmall, minority and women-owned construction and related businesses. Theorganization aims at promoting policies and practices that improve thecompetitive position of small, minority and women-owned businesses and providesmarketing and networking opportunities for small, minority, and women ownedbusinesses with private and private sector firms. Society of Engineers andArchitects was represented by its president-elect Mihir Patel, past presidentRavi Shenoy, and other members of its managing committee.