It started with two brothers, both carpenters, who got their business off the ground by building window and door frames on Providence’s East Side.
Through economic depressions, world wars, even two deadly pandemics – one in 1918 and another now – that two-man startup has grown into a multibillion-dollar company with 3,000 employees that ranks as one of the largest commercial builders in the U.S.
The name of the two carpenters? William and Thomas Gilbane.
Providence-based Gilbane Inc. is now marking its 150th anniversary, and with its history of survival and growth, its executives say they see reasons for optimism beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.
Thomas F. Gilbane Jr., CEO and chairman of Gilbane Inc., said its volume of prospects – the running list of projects that are going to be built – is now about the same as it was before the pandemic. The company is tracking about 1,000 potential contracts across the country.
And the company, which remains family-owned, is getting creative to keep the growth going. One of its relatively recent efforts – providing the financing for projects, which are then built and leased back to the client through a public-private partnership – is bringing in business. The company recently completed two high schools in Houston using a lease-to-purchase format that allowed the school district to finance the buildings and open them quickly.
‘We’re constantly working on this legacy that we’ve shared.’
PAUL J. CHOQUETTE JR., former Gilbane Inc. CEO
Those types of solutions are paying off.
In 2019, its revenue was stated at $6.4 billion, an increase from about $5 billion two years prior. Gilbane has more than 400 employees based in Rhode Island.
The pandemic impacted its operations, including a shutdown of some projects. But others moved ahead.
In Rhode Island, the list of projects that have continued includes the $190 million East Providence High School that is slated to be finished by September 2021. The four-story, 300,000-square-foot building is the largest K-12 project in state history.
Massive projects such as this are a far cry from how the company started.
Gilbane’s origins can be traced back to 1870, when William Gilbane, a son of Irish immigrants, founded the carpentry business and was soon joined by his younger brother Thomas. The company grew through the turn of the century and was responsible for building many of the finer homes on College Hill in Providence.
Among its notable structures, the company built the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in 1976 and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in 1984, both in Washington, D.C.
Through it all, it has retained its headquarters in Providence and its family-owned structure. The company is now into its sixth generation of Gilbanes. In some decades, including the Great Depression, the company merely survived, performing smaller, skilled-carpentry jobs.
At other times, notably the years during and following World War II, it expanded rapidly, building barracks at the Goat Island Naval Torpedo Station in Newport, and constructing supply depots and training facilities elsewhere. After the war, it built large General Motors assembly plants in Ohio and Massachusetts.
“Really, it was the history of Rhode Island,” said Paul J. Choquette Jr., the former CEO. “Through the turn of the century, the [1920s], we were a humming company. During the Depression, we basically didn’t go out of business. But in World War II, we sprang forward. That was really the rebirth of the company.”
One of the greatest strengths the company has, Choquette said, is its breadth. That helps insulate it from downturns in various sectors. The company manages the construction of high-rise condominiums, a segment that’s taken a hit in the pandemic. But it’s also building pharmaceutical plants and labs, a growth sector.
“It’s an interesting business that we’re in,” Choquette said. “It’s ebb and flow. You’ve got to be in most markets if you can be, so that as the ebb and flow makes work available, you’re in a position with the experienced people, that’s the key.”
Gilbane’s staying power is respected in the industry, even among competitors.
“It was always Red Sox-Yankees with them,” said Michael McNally, a former executive at Skanska USA. “I was always competing with them.”
McNally, who is an R.I. Commerce Corp. board member, said Gilbane has developed a reputation for treating its employees well and for its commitment to safety.
The company has the support of unions, as well, according to Michael F. Sabitoni, president of the Rhode Island Building & Construction Trades Council. It has consistently hired union laborers on its buildings, he noted.
Although still family-owned, the company has adapted to meet its needs. Five years ago, a nonfamily member, Michael McKelvy, was named CEO and president of Gilbane Building Co., the construction management arm of Gilbane Inc. Gilbane executives also have reached out to governance experts when they needed more guidance in how to foster growth.
The company worked with John Davis, a professor at Harvard Business School, who has researched and written about family businesses.
“You have to share information with the family, so no one is being shut out,” Choquette said. “It’s the concept of being a steward. We’re constantly working on this legacy that we’ve shared.”
Mary MacDonald is a PBN staff writer. Contact her at Macdonald@PBN.com.
