Terry Hampton
Executive Director
Association of Construction Careers, Education, and Support Services (ACCESS)
Terry Hampton is Executive Director of the Association of Construction Careers, Education, and Support Services (ACCESS) which is an Information Resource Center structured to assist anyone over the age of 18 who is interested in entering the construction industry.
Terry started her construction career in 1992 when her plans to become an event planner at a nonprofit were hijacked by a stint as a field administrator at an Alberici Constructors job site.
Terry is a graduate of Webster University and was working on her Master’s Degree when she took the job at the Alberici site through a temporary agency. After she had moved on to another employer, the president of Alberici asked her to start up a diversity program, and Terry became director of diversity for the contractor.
Later on, in the year 2000, Terry formed TM2 Construction, a general contracting company. At first, most of TM2’s work came from DaimlerChrysler, but since then, TM2 added customers including Washington and Webster universities, AmerenUE and BJC Hospitals. TM2 had revenues of $10 million to $16 million a year on jobs from $1,500 handrails to $7 million renovation projects.
It was very challenging for Terry, being a woman and minority in a white male dominated industry. However, the industry has advanced a great deal since then for women and minorities. She involved herself in several programs that assisted her in reaching her goals. She has also done her part to make sure such programs are available, through her involvement with the Associated General Contractors, St. Louis Minority Business Council, and Alberici University.
Terry still acts as an advocate in assisting inner city youths and adults to successfully become apprentices on existing construction project sites, and very active in several organizations which assist in this effort. She has recently and now presently serves on several boards and committees representing diversity in the construction industry
She has been awarded various industry honors including: MBE/Buyer/Coordinator of the Year; Distinguished Women’s Award for Community Services; Bank of America’s Supplier Diversity and Development Executive Management Award; Unsung Heroine Award for Community Services, the St. Louis Council of Construction Consumer’s Advocacy Award, Contractor of the Year through the St. Louis Minority Business Council, Salute to Excellence Top 25 African American Businesses in St. Louis, Most Influential Business Women Award, Nominated for the 2004 Alumni of the Year by Webster University.
Terry has been featured in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, St. Louis American Newspaper, St. Louis Business Journal, Small Business Monthly, Construction and News Magazine, Suburban Journals, the Sentinel Newspaper, the St. Louis Minority Business Council’s Smart Initiatives Newsletter, the Association of General Contractors Visions Magazine, and featured on Fox 2 Morning News Show.
She has been instrumental in assisting with the success of the implementation of “Alberici University”, which is a core of construction and business classes to assist MBE/WBEs in developing their business skills.
Hampton has faced personal challenges as well – her husband, Clarence Hampton III, died suddenly of heart problems at the age of 49, after 30 years of marriage. Hampton has two children, a son and a daughter. “You have to pick yourself up, stay strong, keep going, stay focused and have faith in God and in what you’re trying to accomplish”.