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BROCCOLINI CONSTRUCTION

FAMILY ORIENTED BUSINESS BEGINS PANCANADIAN EXPANSION

by : Claude Huart
(Translated to english by Broccolini Construction)

http://www.industriecommerce.com/archives_contenu8.asp?ref_contenu_client=128

It’s not too soon to say it, Broccolini Construction is currently expanding its activities outside of Quebec. The opening of it’s first regional office in Ottawa this year and the start of two new contracts in the area of Canada’s capital brought the shareholders to consider opening locations in other provinces to better serve their national clients.

Started in 1949 by Mr. Donato Broccolini, the construction company engaged itself since the very beginning to answer to its clients wishes in a personalized way. Exclusively active in the residential sector until the 70s, Broccolini Construction modified its mission to serve an industrial, commercial and institutional clientele.

25 years ago, the four sons of the founder officially joined the organisation to gradually take over the company in the 80s. Today, the team of directors is as follows : John Broccolini, president and his three brothers Joseph, Paul & Peter are vice presidents. As shareholder, Nick Iwanowski, engineer, who joined the team as project manager in 1989.

A RELATIONSHIP OF TRUST
One of the main characteristics of the company is the stability of it’s relationships with its clients. A large number of these clients repeatedly gave contracts to manage the construction of their buildings in many areas of the province of Quebec. For example, the Montreal firm proceeded to the construction of 30 Canadian Tire stores and 12 Best Buy stores in the last few years. The link of trust that gets established between Broccolini and their clients relies on quality of communication, within the organization, as well as between the company and its sub-trades.

Broccolini Construction’s values were established by it’s founder and passed on to his four sons. At the age of 15 or 16, John, Joseph, Paul and Peter learned the basics of the trade on site. This experience enabled them to acquire the taste for well done work, the search for excellence and a great empathy for the employees. " It’s a small family, we're very close here", explains Mr. Iwanowski. "We employ about 40 people, mainly senior engineers who take care of forming junior engineers according to the criterias instated by the company. " This internal formation contributes to the stability of the organisation and to the solidity of it’s binds between the individuals. Furthermore, the company employs about 40 people on sites, supervisors and various tasks.

THE MAIN MARKETS
Since the company decided to orient its activities towards institutional and commercial sectors, it has realized many different projects, including schools, churches, synagogues, hospitals, office buildings, large surface retail stores, industrial complexes and commercial centres.

Broccolini Construction offers different services to its clients, including supervision of operations as general contractor, the complete project management that leads to a turn-key project, project management and participation to financial aspects for real estate development. In fact, a few years ago, Broccolini shareholders proceeded to the acquisition of millions of square feet of land bordering highway 40 in Kirkland. When a large scale company is interested in investing in building an office fronting one of the busiest highways in Quebec, the builder is able to present different options according to their needs.

A good example to illustrate the builder’s flexibility to offer solutions that suit their clients would be the construction of IMS’s office. " Since we already had available land to build on and ourselves were quite tight in our own offices located near Decarie and the 40, we decided to jump on the occasion to relocate and build something that would suit both companies at once.", explains Mr. Iwanowski.

IMS had a few specific requests : necessary space to accommodate 300 employees, a full kitchen, indoor parking, a gym and a sophisticated security system. Despite the complexity of the project, Broccolini managed to complete the project in less than 8 months. Besides these particular cases which necessitates research in finding new solutions adapted to the needs of the clients, the company serves with great effectiveness large corporations that are located around Quebec and Canada.

LARGE CORPORATIONS
The construction in Quebec and Ontario of 30 stores for Canadian Tire Society for the past 10 years constitutes a beautiful example of the partnership between client and builder. In the nutrition industry, the company excelled in building many locations for Sobeys and Loblaws. The construction within 6 months during winter of an IGA Extra presented many particularities in the architecture as well as the exterior and flooring finishes which represented a very exciting project for the Broccolini team.

In the commercial sector, the company built many Brault & Martineau stores, electronics stores such as Future Shop or Best Buy Canada as well as many car dealerships, as the exquisite Volkswagen des Sources show room and the Silverstar Mercedes Benz garage.

Occasionally, the projects presented to Broccolini needed the intervention of teams of professionals who master the most advanced technologies in energy efficiency and environmental protection. The construction of the first retail store to obtain the C-2000 norm from Natural Resources Canada for the Mountain Equipment Coop (MEC) building which has become a pride for the whole organization. The building’s materials consists of recycled wood and steel and is heated by geothermal wells. It is vented naturally and benefits from R40 roof and Cellulose (recycled newspaper) insulated R-35 walls. In fact, the store uses at least 50 percent less energy to operate than a conventional store and used less energy in its construction.

Difficult not to mention the impact that the construction of three Wal-Mart stores has done on the development of the company. " The completion of these contracts allowed us to reach new markets in the commercial sector. ", mentions engineer Nick Iwanowski.

The participation of Broccolini Construction in the many phases of the Marché Central since the beginning of the project in 2002 allowed the company to demonstrate it’s efficiency in managing this particular kind of project. " The construction of an underground parking of 240 000 sq.ft. marks the first of it’s kind in Quebec…if not Canada ", ads the project manager. In the commercial sector, the company has also built many corporate office buildings, such as the new head offices for the insurance society Wawanesa, founded in 1896.

INDUSTRIAL SECTOR
The construction of manufacturing & transformation plants, evolving in many different industry sectors, constitutes a large portion of Broccolini’s market. Among these, the construction of one particularly complex project was for NORDX/CDT, specialized in the fabrication of copper wires for the telecommunications industry. In this case, the client wanted to group under one roof a research & development laboratory, a manufacturing plant, a warehouse and administrative offices.

Other sophisticated industrial projects were completed for important companies in their respective fields. For example, the construction of a building in the shape of a wave for the pharmaceutical company Phytoderm. In the printing sector, the builder had to come up with a concept, had to build and also install equipment for the production line of Excel-Pac.

Other projects were completed with success in the fields of distribution and warehousing including the construction of a refrigerated warehouse of 175 000 sq.ft. which included a freezer of 70 000 sq.ft. for Atlas Cold Storage. On the other hand, the field of entertainment is no stranger to this company. The construction of Mel’s Cité du Cinéma in Montreal’s Technoparc and the entrances of La Ronde are remarkable examples.

Construction Broccolini 16 740, Transcanada, 3rd floor Kirkland (Quebec) H9H 4M7 Tél. : (514) 737-0076 Website : www.broccolini.com