Veterans on the Transbay Project

In 2012, the Transbay Joint Powers Authority issued a directive focused on hiring veterans for construction related jobs. This effort included developing a speaker series to reach out to veterans at San Francisco State University and City College of San Francisco, working with unions to identify unemployed veterans, gathering representatives from each union to specifically address veteran hiring issues and participating in initiatives such as One Vet, One Voice and United for Veterans to bring attention to this issue. Since then, the TJPA has been fortunate enough to hire several veterans on site.

Matthew Finch and Rick Hodgkins are two of the veterans that work on construction of the new Transbay Transit Center. Both served in the Navy. Matt works as a Superintendent for Webcor Builders and oversees quality assurance and quality control for the concrete work on the project. Rick, an inspection services employee, examines the structure of the project to ensure the building will be safe and secure.  Both men use their skills from the Navy every day while working on the project. The structured schedule and significant responsibilities that come with naval service have served Rick well during his transition to the construction field. Matt spent most of his time in the Navy performing civil construction work, developing technical skills that also easily transferred over to his work in construction.

Rick and Matt encourage veterans considering a future in the construction field to utilize the services offered, as well as support other veterans looking for similar opportunities. For more information on TJPA’s veteran outreach efforts, please visit http://transbaycenter.org/tjpa/faces-of-transbay/veterans.