News
Kid & Pop Shop
August 19, 2010
| He says she's committed, experienced, youthful, and energetic. She says he's wise and taught her everything she knows, especially how to treat people. Not the usual father-daughter banter, but Ken and Lisa Wexler are a different sort of family. They own Elaine Construction and while industry employment is down 28% since ?06, they're hiring. |
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| Ken is chairman and Lisa is president and the third generation to help run the company that specializes in complex, niche jobs. ?Our sweet spot is $1M to 4M jobs,? says Lisa, whom we snapped with her dad in their Newton office. Since April, they've added six to their staff of 50 and brought back four laid-off superintendants. Ken says Lisa has made the firm more client-oriented, performance-based, and cutting-edge, introducing BIM in the office and on job sites. In dealing with her colleagues and subcontractors, Lisa says, ?this is just a job for them.? They have a life outside the business: ?If we let them work at home when they have a sick child or a soccer game, they'll go the extra mile for us.? |
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| We snapped Lisa with chief estimator Brian Russo, director of engineering Tom Monroe, and director of project management Bill Morash. She tells us they're a union shop with revenue that grew to $70M in ?08, up from $34M in ?05, and projected to be about $60M this year. ?We don't try to be the largest. We specialize,? she says. They do carpentry, masonry, and a lot of private TI work that is phased and calls for finesse, Lisa explains. For instance, they're converting a 100k SF former school in Brighton?s Oak Square into The Presentation School Foundation?s community center. A year of pre-construction and construction on Phase I that started in December calls for 158 new windows, mechanicals, and updated building envelope. |
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| Bill Morash, estimator Mike Geraigery, and project manager Anthony DiCarlo are working on one of Elaine?s larger jobs, the $5M TI and expansion for InterSystems at One Memorial Dr. in Cambridge. Like many of the company's assignments, the work is for a long-term client. Elaine did InterSystems? initial fit-up 10 years ago. Now, they're refashioning 40k SF into ?image space? focusing on the reception area, conference rooms, caf , and training facility. Construction, stared in May, will be complete in September. In October, they'll start renovating Exhale Mind Body Spa at the Fairmont Hotel and Residences on Battery Wharf. |
