In 1873, a craftsman named William Gilbane opened a general carpentry shop in
Providence. Over the next 125 years, Gilbane and his family transformed that small shop
into one of America's largest construction companies. Today, it is run by third- and
fourth-generation Gilbane family members and has 14 offices throughout the country.
Revenues in 1995 exceeded $1.3 billion. The same year, it was awarded more than $1.75
billion in new contracts.
Gilbane Co. has built such national landmarks as the Winter Olympics facilities in Lake
Placid, N.Y.; the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the Smithsonian Institute's National Air
and Space Museum, both in Washington, D.C.; and it did the reconstruction of the Capitol
City's Union Station.
It has built between 18-25 buildings on the Brown University campus, including the
President's House, which was its first commission in 1898. It has built many of the Rhode
Island Hospital buildings, including the administration building, the new Hasbro
Children's Hospital and the Medical Mall.
It is currently building the new $10 million air terminal at T. F. Green Airport in
Warwick.
Gilbane was built on the values that were instilled in it by its founder. As a young boy,
William Gilbane apprenticed himself to a carpenter. Believing strongly in education, he
studied mechanical drawing and attended night classes at Providence Evening School, as
well. He later took course work at Bryant & Stratton's Business College (today's
Bryant College) and the Rhode Island School of Design.
When he started his own business at age 31, he was joined by his younger brother, Thomas,
who served as his apprentice. The two names would become synonymous with the business, as
other Bill and Tom Gilbane joined the company down through the years.
William Gilbane's early emphasis on quality became the company trademark. The brothers
built homes so well that "Built by Gilbane" became a selling point at the time
of resale. Before long, contracts for hospitals, schools, churches and other public
buildings began to flow to the two brothers.
By the early 1900s, the company had more than 200 employees and was one of the most
prominent builders in the state. The Gilbanes attributed the company's early success to
its team spirit. Gilbane workers, expected to work hard and be of good character, became
more than employees. Everyone knew each other by their first names and attended each
other's weddings and funerals. They celebrated births and anniversaries together.
After a period of such success, the company was hit by the industry's doldrums of the
Depression. By the late 1930s construction contracts were at an all-time low and the work
force had been trimmed. The emergence of World War II offered the company an opportunity
and its became totally committed to the war effort.
During the war, the Gilbane work force grew to 4,500 people, working two shifts, seven
days a week. Such aggressive enterprise earned the company the United States Army-Navy
"E" Award for excellence, one of only three such firms in the East. It also gave
it the national recognition it needed to compete for national contracts.
Following the war, one of the company's biggest successes was a 2-million-square-foot
Fisher Body Division plant that General Motors was building in Mansfield, Ohio, a contract
it won over other large, national competitors. GM cited Gilbane's "demonstrated
ability to build major facilities anywhere" and Gilbane proved its worth. Working two
shifts and employing 3,000 men, 10 concrete trucks, and a rail spur with 17 railroad cars,
Gilbane completed the massive project in less than a year.
A pioneer in delivery systems, Gilbane became a major developer of construction
management, an approach which offers a wide range of services from the earliest planning
stages of a project to its completion. In 1995, the company was ranked as the second
largest construction manager in the nation.
The firm is also a leader in program management, most notably with its work on more than
200 projects worth more than $1.5 billion for the U.S. Postal Service. It currently has a
contract with the Federal Bureau of Prisons to support the development of $2 billion of
new prison construction.
Gilbane's current president, Paul Choquette, Jr., believes successful companies are those
that stress core values. Gilbane's core values are: integrity, tough-mindedness, teamwork,
dedication to excellence, loyalty (to and from the company), and discipline. This set of
core values became part of the company's fabric 100 years ago and remains with the firm
today throughout all of its projects.
Choquette also says the company's success depends in large measure upon how dedicated the
employees are in carrying out their responsibilities. "It takes the entire
organization to bring it all together with a lot of team support," he says. "And
our people stay with us for a very long time, so we must be doing something right."