Company History
cNI is unique. It is a "spin-out" company with roots at Arizona State University (ASU) in Tempe, Arizona. In October 2003, the Director of Business Development at the Del E. Webb School of Construction at ASU began discussions with staff at Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico's premier private university, regarding how to aggregate the construction industry's comprehensive menu of quality education and training services and products. The discussion evolved into providing online courses and products.
Tecnológico de Monterrey, with 33 campuses and over 100,000 students in Mexico, includes the Virtual University which has provided distance education to Tec's faculty, students and communities since 1989. The Virtual University has an international reputation as a premier provider of online instructional design and development in the world. Its collaborators and clients include institutions such as Harvard, Stanford, MIT, Microsoft and the University of British Columbia. The VU designed and hosts the online Masters in International Management program at Thunderbird, the Garvin School of International Management.
Together with construction industry leaders in Arizona, university officials decided to establish a private enterprise that would identify, develop and provide premier construction education and training content online. In August 2005 ASU's technology commercialization company, Arizona Technology Enterprises, LLC (AzTE), took an equity position in the company. In September 2005, Tec issued a Letter of Intent to take a direct equity position in cNI.
Since its incorporation in June 2005, constructNET International has secured a $500,000 five-year contract from Salt River Project (SRP), one of Arizona's largest utility companies, to develop an online Construction Management Certificate Program based on materials and content from the Del E. Webb School of Construction at ASU.
cNI has developed strong working relationships with indusvtry leaders, including the National Center for Construction Education and Research, the Associated General Contractors of America, the Industry Advisory Councils of the Del E. Webb School of Construction and the College of Engineering at Monterrey Tec, and the Cámara Mexicana de la Industria de la Construcción in Mexico City. It will continue to aggregate the best of the best as it continues "Building for the Future."