RGD Construction has only about a half-dozen employees, but its owner hopes to have at least five times that many in a few years.
Dawn Barnes, owner of the North Las Vegas company, said it’s already on a growth trajectory, but that winning a local small-business contest that promises $100,000 in advertising will help.
On August 17, the 4-year-old company was named winner of the annual Las Vegas Raiders and America First Credit Union Small Business Showcase.
After beating out three other finalists—A Taste of Coffee, Caked Up Las Vegas and The Steamie Weenie—Barnes’ business will receive a seasonlong sponsorship deal that will include radio advertisements, digital signage inside Allegiant Stadium, and promotional space on the team’s website and mobile application.
Barnes is particularly excited to win the contest because women-owned construction companies aren’t terribly common. And she has a special connection with the team and stadium, since RGD did painting at the facility when it was being built.
“We need more women in the construction field, and I will train them and hire them,” Barnes said. “You just have to have the confidence to do it.”
Growing up in the Bay Area, Barnes said she spent a lot of time around her father and brother, who were both in the construction business. She also enjoyed woodshop classes in high school and became skilled in the area of drywall work.
RGD does a lot of residential remodel work, but also takes commercial jobs, mostly jobs that consist of flooring, drywall and painting.
“Traditionally, working in construction has been a man’s job,” Barnes said. “There’s a stigma that it’s dirty and that maybe women don’t have the strength or capacity to do it, but we do. I can use my hammer just as good as anyone else out there.”
Barnes said she got wind of the contest through Frank Tavares, an America First Credit Union employee and an active member of the Nevada Hispanic Business Group, of which she’s also a member.
Business owners were asked to write a profile about how the sponsorship package would help them.
“Winning this is going to allow me to grow the company and work with different organizations,” Barnes said. “We’re a minority-owned, women-owned company, and I want to work to help bring more women into this field. This will help me grow enough to be able to help educate on that topic.”
Christian Howard, vice president of corporate partnerships for the Raiders, said it’s important to his employer to give back to local small businesses.
“Small businesses are so important to not only the Valley but the entire country,” Howard said. “This is just such a cool program, because none of these small businesses would be able to be involved in a sports partnership at this level, just because of the size and cost of something like that. To afford a small business some assets that it wouldn’t normally be able to afford, it’s just great.”
One of Barnes’ biggest fans is her daughter, Journey Adams, a student at Cram Middle School in North Las Vegas. Journey even helps out on some construction projects.
“Up until recently, I was a single mom and construction is what I did to pay for everything from college funds and just saving,” Barnes said. “This is an interesting industry for women. It’s male-dominated, so there’s a big underserved community of women, and it’s also fun.”
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