Jackie and Jim Gilliam started a construction cleanup business two and a half years ago when they saw a need to help contractors clean up construction sites of building debris.
A year into their Gilliam Construction Cleanup business, the Chattanooga couple learned about another opportunity to help their neighbors clean up and cut their power bills by making energy efficiency upgrades identified by energy auditors and financed through TVA’ EnergyRight programs. So last year, Jackie Gilliam decided to expand her business and try to be included in TVA’s Qualified Contractor Network of companies that install and make the energy improvements recommended in the utility’s E-score audits.
“We saw the need and recognized this could be another part of our business to help people make the energy improvements in their homes that will save them money,” Jackie Gilliam said.
To learn both the technical and the business skills to be a part of the energy efficiency programs at TVA, Gilliam and other minority-owned businesses have turned to a Building Futures Contractor training program created nearly two years ago by the Urban League of Greater Chattanooga. With funding from TVA, Urban Leagues across Tennessee have provided specialized training in three-month programs.
Already, 40 women or minority-owned contractors have graduated from the program – including Gilliam and nine other business owners in Chattanooga – to become part of the Qualified Contractor Network to make such energy upgrades as adding attic insulation, replacing windows and installing more energy-efficient appliances and HVAC systems. A new training program is also helping such companies become licensed building contractors.