When Guiomar Obregón cofounded and stepped into the role of president of the Georgia Hispanic Construction Association (GHCA) in 2012, she had a specific plan in mind. “I knew what Hispanic contractors needed because I recognized what was lacking,” she says. Much of that knowledge came from her experience as CEO of Precision 2000 Inc. (P2K), the construction company she founded with her husband, Carlos Sánchez, nearly three decades ago. “Small contractors needed education and training opportunities,” she says. “They needed to know how to get bonded, develop banking relationships, get loans, read and write contracts, and manage their accounting.”
Fortunately, Obregón had years of experience to tap into. Born in Boston and raised in Colombia by parents who were both civil engineers, she was naturally drawn to the field. She earned a civil engineering degree from the Colombian School of Engineering and a master’s degree in civil engineering from Georgia Tech—the latter of which emboldened her to consider entrepreneurship. Following the construction boom spurred by the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Obregón and Sánchez, also an engineer, launched their own firm focusing on infrastructure projects for clients such as the city of Atlanta, the Georgia Department of Transportation, and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. During the Covid-19 pandemic, P2K even found a way to begin producing its own concrete despite shortages. “You have to see the opportunities in the challenges,” Obregón says.
That innovative mindset is something Obregón wants to share with future generations of engineers and construction professionals. It’s why she not only helped form the Latinas in Construction subgroup for the GHCA, but also launched the P2K Scholarship Program at Georgia Tech, which helps women and Hispanics become civil engineers. “Education is a game changer,” she says. “We want future employees to see that what we do is really important.” – AMY MEADOWS
