Raymon P. Dones learned electrical and plumbing
trades while working as a Pullman car porter in Denver, Colorado.
After receiving his electrical contracting license, he established
Dones Electric, which later became incorporated as Aladdin Electric
in Oakland, California.
Dones is a founding member of The National
Association of Minority Contractors, a nonprofit trade association
that was established in 1969 to address the concerns of minority
contractors. Today the organization has chapters in 49 states, the
Virgin Islands, England and South Africa. Ray Dones was instrumental
in establishing Project Upgrade, one of the first construction
trades apprenticeship training programs in the United States.
As a contractor, Dones had a hand in building or
subcontracting a large part of Oakland's landscape, including the
MORH and Acorn housing developments in West Oakland, the West
Oakland Health Center, and the early construction of Oakland City
Center.
In 1999,
Dones was named one of the most influential people in the
construction industry by Engineering New-Record Magazine.
Joe Debro and Ray Dones
