Black Contractors United, Inc. is actually a spin-off of many organizations and people. The Black tradesman, "Brotherhood Club", who was responsible for inception of this organization indirectly began meeting at a barbershop on the Westside of Chicago in the late 1960s, just discussing the ups and downs of the construction industry as it related to black men and racism in our society. Those meeting eventually turned into the Westside Builders Association, which evolved into United Builders Association, a local affiliate of the National Association of Minority Contractors (NAMC).

 

Also, during the late 1960s, a "Tradesman Club" was founded and they partnered with Chicago Urban League for Project 110, a program designed to place 110 blacks into construction trades as coaches to train other blacks as they entered into the trades. The first candidates of the program became tradesman, but had to be under the protection of the U.S. Marshals for the first major projects due to threats made toward them. CEDCO, another association for blacks, who was funding the United Builders Association decided it would be best economically to consolidate the two associations., which caused problems for Westside membership as the meetings' location was not conducive for them. 

 

Remnants of Westside Builders Association, the United Builders Association, and the Tradesman Club came together to create Black Contractors United. The first president of BCU, Mr. Lawrence Woods, knew the importance of interaction with Political Officials at every government level, which made BCU different than the past organizations. 

​