ST. LOUIS — Entrepreneur Marion Hayes, a member and participant in the Electrical Connection has been honored by the St. Louis Business Journal as one of the region’s “Most Influential Minority Business Leaders.” Hayes was recognized for both his personal success as founder and president of BRK Electrical Contractors, LLC, and for his continuing efforts to improve the St. Louis Union construction industry. Hayes is a board member of the venerable labor-management organization, PRIDE of St. Louis, Inc. He is also a founding board member of the PRIDE Regional Union Construction Center (RUCC) the first-ever minority small business incubator for the construction industry. Hayes combined higher education with training at the finest union electrical apprenticeship program to achieve entreprenuerial success. In 1994, he earned a degree in electrical engineering and a master’s in construction management from Washington University. He also completed the four-year apprenticeship training program at the nationally recognized Electrical Industry Training Center in St. Louis, which is operated jointly by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local #1 and the National Electrical Contractors Association — St. Louis Chapter. He became an IBEW Local #1 journeyman wireman in 1995. He founded BRK in 2003. In selecting Hayes as a “Most Influential Minority Business Leader,” the Business Journal cited a number of accomplishments including: Lending a minority contractor’s entrepreneurial perspective to PRIDE of St. Louis, Inc. — a local construction labor-management group that for more than 35 years has fostered teamwork and collaboration to advance St. Louis as the best place to build; Helping guide the mission of PRIDE RUCC of building a sustainable minority contracting community in St. Louis; Working to improve the St. Louis union electrical industry through the Electrical Connection — a partnership of IBEW Local #1 and NECA; and Advising the SIU-E Construction Leadership Institute, which develops leaders in the construction industry in the St. Louis area. Hayes 17-year career in the electrical industry has been previously honored by the St. Louis Minority Business Council as the 2007 Construction Business of the Year and by the St. Louis RCGA and the Urban League as the 2003 Minority Emerging Business of the Year.