Gilbane Building Co. has named Adam R. Jelen, an 18-year veteran of the company, as its new CEO, the contractor announced Monday. Jelen will succeed current CEO Thomas M. Laird Jr. on Jan. 1. At that time, Laird will become chairman of the company.
Jelen has a 30-year-plus career in construction that started with jobs in heavy and highway labor, along with asphalt, concrete, sewer work and excavation. He was hired at the Providence, Rhode Island-based builder in 2005, working his way up through the company as a project manager, project executive and district manager, according to the release. Jelen is currently the company’s chief operating officer.
Jelen is also an executive committee member for National Construction Safety Week and was a founding board member of the ACE Mentor Program in Milwaukee.
“I am deeply humbled and honored to assume the role of CEO of our industry-leading, 153-year-old company. I look forward to working with our teams on the next level of safe world-class project delivery and community impact,” Jelen said in the release.
Jelen’s goals as CEO include harnessing the power of the Gilbane business name and empowering employees on projects, he told Construction Dive in an email.
“We have an exceptional leadership team in place and I’m incredibly lucky to work with them on building the future,” Jelen said.
Thomas F. Gilbane Jr. will continue as chairman and chief executive officer of Gilbane Inc. — the parent entity of Gilbane Building Co. — and its related development arm, Gilbane Development Co., according to the release.
“Adam is a visionary leader who is focused on elevating our clients’ experience and making an impact in the communities in which we build. We look forward to him taking on this leadership role, building on the foundation of Tom Laird’s leadership and continuing to raise the bar on how we build,” Gilbane Jr. said in the release.
The news comes amid a positive climate for the builder — in March, it announced that revenue was up 8% from the previous year while spotlighting its performance with P3 projects. This is in addition to the large projects under its belt, which include the Buffalo Bills’ new stadium and the recently completed first phase of Intel’s semiconductor fabs in Licking County, Ohio.
