Winner
Construction
Tari S. Rivera has always taken a nontraditional approach to her entrepreneurial ventures. In 1977, Rivera was the only woman in her graduating class from The University of Akron’s College of Engineering Construction Management program, and she was one of the few women competing for management positions in the construction industry. Yet, with a positive attitude, Rivera faced adversity and overcame every obstacle. She worked her way up the construction industry ladder, and soon, she was working on multimillion-dollar public projects.
In 1994, when the company she was working for suddenly closed, she founded Rivera Construction Co. Inc. in her living room. With employees working in her home and a 2-year-old son, she had great incentive to succeed, and within five months, she had secured enough work to lease office space and established headquarters in Lakewood. She changed the company’s name to Regency Construction Services Inc., and Regency is now a certified female business enterprise with 70 employees that offers construction management and general contracting and works in both the private and public sectors. The majority of Regency’s work is focused on nonresidential and mostly nonindustrial construction.
In 2006, Rivera began to diversify, entering into health care construction, which has paid off by keeping the business stable during the recent economic downturn.
Regency is also ahead of industry standards. Women make up about 10 percent of employees in the construction industry in the U.S.; however, Rivera’s staff is 42 percent female, with women working at all levels of management. Rivera understands the difficulties that women have in the construction industry and helps develop all of her employees, and she advocates specific career paths that provide high levels of job satisfaction.
In addition to her work at the company, giving back to the community has always been important to Rivera, and Regency has sponsored fund-raisers for local hospitals and introduces students to the construction industry through its Junior Core program.
As a result of her efforts, Rivera was the first woman inducted into the Cleveland Engineering Society’s Hall of Fame in its 54-year history.
How to reach: Regency Construction Services Inc., (216) 529-1188 or www.regencycsi.com
