Rico Nelson is an astute business and wealth strategist, with a background in executive leadership and a keen vision for the ways in which public infrastructure investment creates equity impact.

In 2022, he took the helm of the Colorado-based construction management firm, Civil Technology Inc., where he continues to build upon a profound legacy and creates opportunities for community advancement. As the firm’s CEO, Nelson is focused on breaking down barriers to economic equity while utilizing innovative technologies and expanding the vision of his predecessors.  

The Preservation of History

Civil Technology Inc. was organized in 1989 by Nelson’s older brother, Carl Bourgeois, who co-founded the company with his business partner, Sheila King.

Bourgeois, a well-respected real estate developer, investor and philanthropist, was known throughout the city of Denver for his role in revitalizing the historic Five Points neighborhood. By restoring several dilapidated spaces, he managed to preserve the area’s rich history, boosting residents’ morale and highlighting the importance of development within the Black community.

Throughout his career, he served as a mentor to many; but to Nelson and his siblings, the developer’s influence surpassed the professional realm.

“Carl, at his core, was about family. He really invested in legacy, and the legacy for his family,” remembers Nelson. “He took that same emphasis for legacy into his love and appreciation for the Five Points community, and the Black business community in particular.”

At the age of 21, Bourgeois’ personal and educational goals were disrupted by the loss of his mother, Bobby Stroud Bourgeois. Adamant that his family should stay together, he adopted his four younger siblings, moving to Denver in the 1970s and working in the banking industry to feed and clothe them.

His commitment was rewarded by the company he worked for and admired by the people he later served during the redevelopment of the downtrodden community.

“What he wanted to do was to revitalize the community, because when he was building his family in Five Points in the 70s, that was one of the most blighted communities in the nation. So, he wanted to begin acquiring real estate and redeveloping land to bring some enthusiasm and excitement back to the community,” says Nelson, pointing out the difficulties Black Americans faced while trying to get commercial financing in that time.

King Harris, who now serves as chairman of the board of directors for The Foundation for Sustainable Urban Communities, advised Bourgeois to consider construction management to circumvent financial constraints.

Upon Civil Technology’s formation, the firm acquired monumental development contracts, eventually becoming ingrained in the footprint of the Mile High City. It was involved in high-profile projects throughout Denver, such as the construction of Denver International Airport, the Stapleton (now Central Park) redevelopment project, the Webb Municipal Office Building, the renovation of the Denver Art Museum and the 14th Street Streetscape downtown.

After building a legacy of urban revitalization and community stewardship in Denver and Colorado Springs, Bourgeois’ vision for development projects in Africa was never fully realized. Sadly, he passed away on July 17, 2022, after a long battle with cardiac amyloidosis.

The Next Era of Enterprise

After his brother passed, Nelson stepped into the role of CEO, drawing upon his extensive experience in financial management, wealth strategy and organizational leadership.

He knew Civil Technology needed a figurehead to generate a renewed sense of purpose into historically disenfranchised communities. In 2022, he assumed the leadership role while rebuilding enthusiasm in the business, social and political realms; though his primary focus was to expand the enterprise to a much larger audience.

During his first two years with the company, he has managed to build a strong team that is capable of taking its program and project management, construction, engineering and civil infrastructure services from local to international.

Born in Colorado Springs, Nelson traveled back and forth between Colorado and Southern California throughout his childhood. After high school, he played college basketball at the University of Texas at El Paso, and studied to obtain a degree in marketing.

After college, he pursued a career that suited his interests, knowing that life offered him two choices: to either become an employee or an executive.

“I wanted to travel a path that offered me more autonomy over my career trajectory. So I chose the path of executive,” he asserts, supporting his decision to explore wealth management early on.

“When you get into the realm of finance and the many segments of that industry, you get a real entrepreneurial education. From day one, you have to learn how to manage your own calendar. You have to learn how to engage and interact with clientele. You have to learn how to win the discussion – because that’s what moves the needle forward in your career.”

“In retrospect, I didn’t fully understand the career path that would lead me toward executive leadership outside of the willingness to get up every day and bet on my own capacity to go out there and make a dollar.”

Nelson mastered the art of evaluating cash flow statements and balance sheets, preparing him to build and maintain financial viability for businesses of all types. While working in financial industries, he familiarized himself with the dynamics involved in corporate resource flows, positioning him to become a skilled organizational leader. His partnerships with corporate leaders resulted in the development of optimized business processes and increased shareholder value in every position he’s held.

A Paradigm Shift

Nelson had just stepped into a new executive role in 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic changed the trajectory of his career and altered the course of his life.

For many, the global shutdown resulted in a period of upheaval, and for Nelson, it was a transformational experience that forced him to consider the “existential dynamic” of the time.

“I was listening to the messaging we were receiving and watching what was happening in our social environment,” he says, referring to social justice protests that erupted as a result of police brutality in cities across the country.

“At the same time, there were natural disasters, environmental deficiencies, climate change and the depletion of natural resources. Then I started listening to the narrative coming from Washington DC.”

One of the hot topics surrounding the 2020 presidential campaign captured his attention. On both sides of the political discourse, infrastructure was a theme that kept showing up, with each presidential candidate acknowledging the need for funding to support the country’s aging physical structures and facilities.

“I started to do some research and realized that our national and global infrastructure score was very, very low; and our local infrastructure score was very low. Huge amounts of investment were being made, giving the world and our country an eco-friendly face lift,” Nelson recalls.

Recognizing the threat his three children would face if society didn’t change its relationship with the social and physical environment, he began to re-envision Civil Technology’s impact as a catalyst for change.

“That felt a lot more meaningful than the work that I was doing at the time,” he says. “So, I decided to make a transition.”

A Vision to Uplift

Civil Technology was created to be an intermediary, exhibiting exceptional technical understanding and facilitating construction projects with the best qualified project engineers, inspection personnel, construction professionals and technicians.

For over 30 years, the award-winning firm has maintained a record of safety, reliability and cost savings, while embracing emerging technologies and providing oversight for customer management, pre-construction, project and financial management.

Building upon the work done before him to create the company’s commendable legacy, Nelson continues to invest in the people and technologies that drive progress forward – not just for the company, but for an entire industry.

Outside of his CEO title, he serves as president of the Colorado chapter of the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials (COMTO), a nonprofit organization founded in 1974 to provide minorities with access to opportunities within the transportation and infrastructure space.

Known as “The Voice of Equity in Transportation,” COMTO is a leading national advocate for employment diversity and inclusion, representing over 3,000 members in the U.S. and Canada and assisting in the procurement of contracts for underrepresented individuals, including women, veterans and people with disabilities.

“As I stepped into the role, one of the most important things I set out to do is shift the paradigm that exists in the business community,” Nelson explains.

“There are three stakeholders who operate as cornerstones to the organization. One…is the small minority-owned business community (Civil Technology would be identified as a part of that group). Another, is the prime consulting and construction community. The third, is the public sector leadership – the agencies that focus on transportation work.”

He goes on to share his primary focus on drawing these groups together to ensure that the community remains livable amid tremendous growth and that infrastructure issues are addressed.

Professional overturn is one of the most critical factors Nelson hopes to rectify using innovative approaches to interagency collaboration and employment processing. “There’s a huge population of individuals who are leaving the industry,” he says. “For every four engineers who retire or step out of the industry, they’re only being replaced by one.”

“From top to bottom, there were 17 million a few years ago, and every year about 1.4 million are leaving. They are being replaced by only 300,000 to 400,000. …We have an institutional knowledge and awareness that is diminishing faster than it can be replaced.”

In addition to those startling industry employment trends, Nelson is also focused on encouraging businesses classified as disadvantaged business enterprises (DBEs) to use their status as a stepping stone, and not become plateaued.

“I see all of the challenges that exist to continually and perpetually operate within this certification program. …the greatest of which is the fact that you are limited in the amount of revenue you can generate, and the amount of personal net worth you can hold as the majority owner,” he states.

“That problem, in and of itself, tells me how far we can grow.”

In addition to urging companies to graduate from DBE funding programs, he insists that financial literacy is a vital component for individual success at any level of business.

To counter the loss of infrastructure professionals, COMTO operates a scholarship program designed to encourage high school students to pursue careers in the transportation space. Additionally, Civil Technology is developing an internship program for civil engineering students in college.

“We have to draw the younger generation into infrastructure, because our futures are truly at stake.”

The Journey Forward

Nelson operates with a deep sense of purpose, examining present realities and future possibilities from a spiritual perspective. He desires to be part of a solution for his family and society at-large, creating ways to insulate his community and loved ones from environmental and social impacts – and he does it all from a place of peace and love.

With a uniquely insightful and philosophical view of the world and his place in improving it, the CEO is focused on building…his community, his family and himself.

“Everything – every element of what I’ve experienced in business and any success that I’ve had in my career has largely been about the journey,” he says. “The journey is the real success. …Thus far, on the engineering front, it’s been wonderful.”

Editor’s note: For more information about Civil Technology, Inc. visit www.civiltechnology.com.