BOWA Construction

BOWA Construction is a minority-owned Chicago general contractor and construction manager founded in 2009, headquartered on South Stony Island Avenue with a second office at 2 Prudential Plaza. Part of The BOWA Group, it has completed more than 250 projects across aviation, healthcare, higher education, K-12, federal and public work, transportation, athletics and recreation, and multi-unit and affordable housing, and has grown from a single Chicago base into offices in Champaign, Dallas, Columbus, Nashville, Orlando, Newark and Brooklyn. Notable work includes the Robert Crown Community Center ice complex and library in Evanston, the Gately Indoor Track and Field Facility, Ogden Commons, Lathrop Community Partners Phase 1A and several O’Hare International Airport packages. BOWA is partnered with McHugh Construction on the 111 West Monroe conversion.

BOWA means “build your future” in Edo, a language of the Benin Kingdom in what is now Nigeria. The company says the word was a chant people recited to encourage builders rebuilding the kingdom more than 200 years ago, after the British invasion of 1897. The mission attached to that name is stated in one line: the firm exists to build in all communities.

The founding story is deliberately modest. BOWA started in a second bedroom of a family home, moved into a rented 10-by-10 office on the South Side, and years later took over the whole building it had been renting, a former retail strip that housed a beauty supply store, tire shop, liquor store and fast food eatery, now a renovated office of more than 10,000 square feet. Chicago work also runs from a West Loop office at 222 S. Jefferson Street. The offices are grouped into three regions, BOWA Central, BOWA South and BOWA East, and the firm additionally lists a Washington point of contact.

BOWA carries SDB, HubZone and MBE certifications, which it says can be provided for a project on request. Affiliations include the Chicago Minority Supplier Development Council, the Airport Minority Advisory Council, the Chicago Urban League, the Illinois Black Chamber of Commerce, and the South Shore and Columbus chambers of commerce. Its executive management team is organized around preconstruction, operations, engineering and community engagement. The company publishes seven guiding principles it calls BOWA DNA: The People, Teamwork, The Client, Innovation, Gamechangers, Purpose and Community. Beyond the public-sector markets the firm is best known for, its published market list also covers science and technology, data centers, mission critical, corporate interiors, retail and hospitality, high-rise residential, general commercial work and conceptual estimating. Staff development runs through the BOWA Emerging Leaders Program, and the company operates a separate giving arm, Bowa Gives.