Dawson invests heavily in youth and education to support the communities where we live and work. From emergency response to school sponsorships and nonprofit partnerships across Southeast Alaska and Washington, it is important to us to not only build communities but to continue to uplift them.
We believe that everyone deserves to have a happy holiday season. That is why, every December, Dawson is proud to take part in Toys for Tots, Shop With a Cop and Project Santa. In 2025, the Shop With a Cop and Project Santa programs reached more than 170 kids across Whatcom County. Dawson is also grateful to be in a position where our Juneau and Bellingham offices can and do fund holiday gift drives for clients of the Southeast Alaska Food Bank, Salvation Army, Lummi Nation Commod Squad and Bellingham Food Bank.
It is important to Dawson to honor the long-standing relationships we have built with Alaska Native corporations and Tribal entities across Southeast Alaska and Northwest Washington. Together with Goldbelt, Sealaska, Tlingit and Haida Central Council, Ketchikan Indian Community, Huna Totem, Cape Fox, Klukwan, Yakutat Tlingit Tribe, Organized Village of Kake, Organized Village of Kasaan and Lummi Nation, Dawson has completed 117 projects to date, including totem pole restoration, cultural centers, Tribal government facilities and the Walter Soboleff Building. Each project carries deep cultural significance, and Dawson is grateful for the trust that has grown over decades of partnership.
We support Brigid Collins in their mission to ensure that every child deserves to grow up safe, and that families navigating crisis deserve support from their community. In 2024, Dawson was honored to become the inaugural donor of the Safe Kids Succeed Fund at Brigid Collins, a multi-year commitment that helps the Children's Advocacy Center keep its services free for the families who need them most.
For years, the Brigadoon Service Dogs facility dog Davie has sat beside witnesses, victims and survivors at the Whatcom County Courthouse, a steady friend through the hardest days. As Davie nears retirement, Dawson is proud to sponsor the training of his successor, a yellow Lab puppy the team named Dawson. He joined Brigadoon this spring at just eight weeks old through an Assistance Dogs International breeding program, and like every Brigadoon dog he will train alongside incarcerated handlers at two Washington state prisons before advanced training begins. So far his favorite treat is ice cubes and he is hard at work mastering the stairs. Big paws to grow into.
Dawson believes that strong communities begin with safe homes and supported families. That is why Dawson partners with the Whatcom Family YMCA, supporting the child care, early learning and youth programming the Y has run since 1890. Across town, Dawson also supports YWCA Bellingham, which has operated a domestic violence emergency shelter and supportive housing for women and families since 1907.
We believe a good education changes everything. Dawson funds endowed scholarships at Whatcom Community College and Bellingham Technical College, helping local students afford college and the trades. Our Whatcom scholarship gives preference to graduating seniors from Lummi High School. We also know every kid does better with someone in their corner, so we support Big Brothers Big Sisters of Alaska and its work to recruit more Alaska Native and American Indian mentors. And our own crews mentor the next generation of apprentices on the job across Southeast Alaska and Washington.
Dawson supports school activities and capital projects in the towns where our crews live and work. Juneau Douglas, Ketchikan Kayhi, Metlakatla, Bellingham, Lynden, and Ferndale are just a few of the schools Dawson has invested in over the years. The list keeps growing as we expand into more communites.
Dawson works alongside the Lummi Nation (Lhaq’temish) in support of: The Boys & Girls Club Kids Auction and golf tournament that together fund free summer camp and after-school programming for the 700 members served each year; Lummi Victims of Crime, which operates the domestic violence shelter on the reservation; and Northwest Indian College, where Dawson supports workforce and education programs that train the next generation of Tribal trades professionals.
Great projects start with great people, and Dawson invests in supporting them long before they enter the workforce. At career fairs across the region, like the AGC career fair, our team helps high school and college students explore what a future in the trades can look like. Our summer internships give students hands-on experience on real projects, alongside people who love the work. Dawson supports the schools training the next generation of skilled trades, from University of Alaska Southeast and the University of Alaska to Bellingham Technical College and Whatcom Community College in Washington. Our fully funded apprenticeship program means cost never stands between someone and a career in construction.
