Bowa Construction, a Black-owned construction firm based in Chicago, has been selected as the primary contractor to construct a new police department facility with more training and office space inside Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. The company is the first minority-owned contractor in the state of Illinois to be awarded such a contract in the state’s most populated city.
Nosa Ehimwenman, who is the founder and CEO of Bowa Construction, says he is grateful for the huge opportunity which is part of an ongoing $8.5 billion expansion project at the airport.
The new facility includes a new roll call room, locker rooms with showers, a modern gym, interview rooms, and dedicated space for the airport’s bomb squad, SWAT teams, and K-9 units. It also features fiber optic internet lines that allow officers to easily complete online certification courses to improve their training.
Ehimwenman, whose parents are Nigerian, says that he has always been inspired by his father who used to work as a taxi driver at the very same airport to make ends meet. “My father always told me: Be disciplined, work hard, and good things will happen,” he shares.
He continues, “This project represents a long journey, as I mentioned,” said Ehimwenman. “It represents, again, equity, inclusion, diversity, and change. This city has 77 neighborhoods, 2.7 million people, and it’s the first time that a prime contractor that looks like me has completed a project at the airport as a prime.”
Bowa Construction has also spearheaded several other major projects at the same airport including the construction of the airport’s largest Starbucks restaurant in Terminal 2 (near Gate C1), the complete demolition and renovation of an existing Starbucks in Termainal 2 (near gate E11), and a new Wicker Park Sushi restaurant and bar located in Terminal 1. His company also took the lead on carpentry and electrical upgrades to facilitate airport static display improvements.
