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BUSINESS NEWS ROBINS & MORTON ACCEPTS TWO NATIONAL ASSOCIATED BUILDERS AND CONTRACTORS EXCELLENCE IN CONSTRUCTION Associated Builders and Contractors announced Robins & Morton as the 2019 National Excellence in Construction Pyramid Award winner for two projects at the 29th Annual Excellence in Construction Gala. Robins & Morton’s Pyramid Award winners include: ❚ ❚ AdventHealth Carrollwood: Healthcare, $25 million to $100 million category. Located in Tampa, Florida, the $52 million project included a three-level, 62,800-square-foot horizontal expansion and 40,810 square feet of renovation. The addition and renovation feature a loading dock, central sterile supply, support space, surgery expansion, and surgery renovation. This complex project affected various site utilities, including the relocation of existing chillers and associated piping of underground water retention vaults, main electrical service, gas service, water service and others. In addition to numerous infrastructure relocations, the project also
included the addition of 2,900 square feet for new chiller space. ❚ ❚ UltraStar Multi-tainment Center at Harrah’s Cherokee: Commercial, $10 million to $25 million category. The $18 million, 53,000-square-foot facility in Cherokee, North Carolina, houses an arcade with 55 games, a full-service restaurant, three bars, an event stage and a bowling center with 24 lanes; 16 on the main level, and eight on the second floor. Sixty-two screens cover the walls of the restaurant, the bowling lanes, the billiards area and the outdoor patio. There is also a large, 260-square-foot drop-down screen available on the event stage for use when no live entertainment is scheduled, as well as a 185-square-foot, dual-sided screen that hovers over the main bar, allowing guests to view the screen from both sides, including the restaurant on the main level and second-level bowling lanes. Robins & Morton performed the bulk of construction – foundations to Certificate of Occupancy – in only seven months, opening the facility on September 1, 2018, six weeks earlier than the contract date.
In addition to these national awards, Robins & Morton also took home 15 Excellence and Merit Awards from the Associated Builders and Contractors of Alabama, North Alabama, Greater Tennessee, Central Florida and Carolinas chapters. The Excellence in Construction awards program is the industry’s leading competition, developed to honor innovative and high- quality merit shop construction projects. The award honors all construction team members, including the contractor, owner, architect and engineer. The winning projects, selected from entries submitted from across the nation, were judged on complexity, attractiveness, unique challenges overcome, completion time, workmanship, innovation, safety and cost. Robins & Morton is a privately-held, innovation-driven construction firm committed to Building with Purpose. Since 1946, the firm has built a reputation as a trusted advisor to clients nationwide by cultivating a high- performing team that values integrity, safety, and innovative thinking. Robins & Morton is based in Birmingham, Alabama.
MARK CELONI, from page 11
benefited from Pennoni’s growth as it has allowed the firm and its employees to participate in and donate to many charitable organizations and causes. One of the reasons I am still employed at Pennoni after 30 years is due to the growth and success of our business. Unlike friends in many other companies, I didn’t need to leave my firm to find opportunity. I consider myself fortunate. I don’t know if I would be part owner of a firm if I didn’t work at an ESOP company. It has given me a retirement benefit that will greatly improve the financial stability of my family. It also makes me proud to be able to work in the city I grew up in at a company that serves the community well. With an ESOP in place, we dedicate ourselves daily to client service, to giving back to the community, and to nurturing the entrepreneurial spirit of our employee-owners. There is a very healthy culture and attitude at Pennoni which can be credited to its founder and leadership. The ESOP has allowed this culture to continue because our employees recognize that the performance of their own accounts is directly related to the success of the firm. Our firm continues to succeed with Chuck Pennoni’s original mantra, and we pride ourselves on the core values of honesty, integrity, and service. Fostering an environment like this has always been a priority at Pennoni. Transitioning to a 100 percent ESOP firm reiterated the depth of commitment to our employees and the value we place on partnering with our employee- owners to deliver exceptional service to our clients. MARK CELONI, P.E. serves as vice president and office director of Pennoni’s Philadelphia office. He can be reached at mceloni@pennoni. com.
goals along with the pillars of “honesty, integrity, and service” define the culture of Pennoni. Keeping that culture alive as the firm transitioned its ownership to an ESOP was important. “The ESOP allowed the company to continue to successfully grow. This growth provided opportunity for employees that remained with the firm. The growth of the company has benefitted the employee owners who have seen their ESOP retirement accounts increase in value.” I can remember attending a Saturday morning seminar in the early 1990s at Community College of Philadelphia to learn more about ESOPs. As education is also extremely important to Chuck Pennoni, he asked an expert on the subject to explain how an ESOP works and how the ownership of the company would transition to the employees. It was the right choice as the culture of the company remained unchanged as the ownership transitioned. This is often not the case if an owner decides to sell to another owner or outside investors. Equally important, the ESOP allowed the company to continue to successfully grow. This growth provided opportunity for employees who remained with the firm. The growth of the company has benefitted the employee owners who have seen their ESOP retirement accounts increase in value. The Philadelphia community has also
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THE ZWEIG LETTER May 6, 2019, ISSUE 1295
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