September 24th 2023.
Dannis Mitchell and Kimle Nailer are two Black women at the helm of Detroit's construction industry transformation. Mitchell is the Director of Community Engagement for Barton Marlow and Nailer is the owner of the Nail-Rite Construction Company.
The two have taken different paths to get to where they are today. Mitchell was tapped to lead Barton Marlow's diversity efforts, and was subsequently selected to head up the firm's project for the Little Caesars Arena, home to both the Detroit Pistons and Red Wings. On the other hand, Nailer's background in real estate enabled her to build her own company from the ground up.
In an effort to diversify the construction field, Mitchell created the Barton Marlow Bootcamp. This program proved to be a great success, and other companies sought to replicate it due to its effectiveness in training and hiring young, diverse workers.
"Internally I asked for more resources and needed to build a team to do so," Mitchell said. “I was allowed to hire several people and specifically hired young women of color to enter this space. I was very intentional about it because it allows us to go into various school districts across the country to talk about skilled trades and management jobs.”
Nailer was inspired to enter the construction industry after witnessing the Little Caesars Arena development, which Mitchell had been involved in. Having lived in Chicago, she had also noticed how a single project – McCormick Place – could lead to the economic development of nearby communities.
"I said construction is the industry I should be in," Nailer said. “This is an industry that can be reparations for the Black community. The wages are higher; the projects can redevelop communities. If you stabilize the income, you have more homeowners, more solid tenants, and the neighborhood stabilizes."
Nailer and Mitchell are both working towards using construction as a way for Black Detroiters to build wealth. Nailer believes this is possible if the city invests in the uplift of its Black population, and "if churches teamed up with the City of Detroit, then they should be the community partners with the Land Bank. We can then teach the skill of construction from start to finish.”
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