The Washington, DC-based Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation, Inc. and the McKissack & McKissack/Turner Construction Company/Gilford Corporation/Tompkins Builders, Inc. Joint Venture announced that Angela Fortson, an African-American owner of Southeastern Granite Company, based in Elberton, GA, will serve as a granite consultant on the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial. Fortson will assist in the selection of the Inscription Wall granite and in identifying suitable domestic sources.
"It is extremely important to the Design-Build Joint Venture that African-American, minority and women-owned businesses are an integral part of the design and construction of this incredible Memorial," said construction executive Ken Terry. "The opportunities to participate are many, and we have made it a priority to inform interested parties about these opportunities and the qualification processes. The Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial will be constructed in accordance with Dr. King's philosophies of equality and conscience."
Fortson's success story is in keeping with the positive messages, stories and lessons that have inspired the design and construction of the Memorial. Fortson is a second-generation granite entrepreneur. In the early 1960s, her father, George M. Fortson, started the Fortson Stone Company with nothing more than a business dream, hard work, a chisel and a hammer. Today, Southeastern Granite Company and Fortson Stone Company have collectively supplied granite for major projects throughout the Southeast.
Fortson's scope of work also includes evaluating the suitability of proposed granite, assisting in the selection of slabs, and evaluating the design details and submittal review of the stone shop drawings.
