“We Built Chicago” Panel Discussion

Friday, June 5 - 5:00pm to 8:00pm

Ballroom of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, 112 S. Michigan Avenue, Chicago

A Joint Event organized in conjunction with the 5th International Congress on Construction History and sponsored by the Builder’s Association of Chicago

Like many American cities, Chicago witnessed a burst of construction activity following the end of the Civil War. This activity saw the creation of numerous firms devoted to building of all kinds. Most of these began as family entities and many have survived to this day. We Built Chicago honors these pioneers by reviewing their history, how they survived events such as the Great Depression and the changes their companies have witnessed in building practices.

Welcome and a brief history of contracting in Chicago

Dan McLaughlin, Executive Director, The Builder’s Association of Chicago.

Dan spent twenty one years as Executive Director of the Plumbing Contractors Association of Chicago and prior to that he co-owned and operated a small family paving company. In addition, Dan has served as Mayor of southwest suburban Orland Park since 1993.

General Comments

Dave Pepper, Chairman and CEO, The Pepper Companies. (1927)

Pepper Construction Group provides general contracting and construction management services for commercial office, education, entertainment, health care, and institutional clients, as well as waterworks projects. (Health care projects account for about 50% of Pepper’s revenue.) Its client list includes UBS, Northwestern University, University of Notre Dame, Texas Heart Institute, Loyola University Medical Center, and NASA. Pepper Construction Group has divisions in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Texas. Stanley F. Pepper founded the company in Chicago in 1927.

Building in Chicago: The Story of Builders and Contractors over the Last 100 years

Presentation highlighting multigenerational Chicago companies Avondale Electric, Bulley & Andrews, Crane Construction Co., James McHugh Construction, Fred Teitelbaum Construction Co., and Harry Zisook & Sons

Marvin Levine, Levine Companies, Winnetka, IL

After completing his undergraduate degree in Civil Engineering in 1970, Mr. Levine served and was honorably discharged from the United States Marine Corps in 1972. Over the course of his forty plus years in the construction industry, Mr. Levine has served in many capacities: surveyor, field engineer, estimator, project manager, general contractor, and consultant. He is a licensed Professional Engineer in the states of Illinois and California, was elected a Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers in 2005 (F.ASCE), and has served on the Builders Association of Greater Chicago’s Legal Affairs Committee as well as participated in seminars and lectured throughout his career. For each project he undertakes, Mr. Levine brings his technical expertise, ingenuity, and practical, hands-on approach.

Panel Discussion

Moderated by Mary Brush, Brush Architects

Mary Brush has 18 years of experience as a preservation leader and building envelope specialist and is the Principal of Brush Architects, LLC. Her professional evolution includes creating and leading the preservation and building envelope departments of several leading architecture and engineering firms in Chicago, and she is well known for rappelling down the outside of skyscrapers to inspect building conditions. Of interest to the ‘We Built Chicago’ panel and ICCHSV, Mary comes from a long line of architects, including her great-grand uncles who were George and C.W. Rapp and her grandfather, Dan’l Brush, who managed the second generation of the Rapp & Rapp architects firm. She was chosen as the 2005 laureate of the Richard Morris Hunt fellowship, which facilitates licensed architects to work with leading French preservation architects.

Fred Berglund, President, Berglund Construction (1911)

Berglund Construction is a 104 yr. old Chicago based firm with expertise in new construction, renovation and historical preservation. Fred has been with the company for over 30 years and is responsible for the overall strategy and operations of the firm. The company has been recognized with numerous awards for its efforts in new construction and preservation. Berglund Construction is a Top 400 National Firm as recognized by Engineering News Record (ENR).

Martin Ozinga IV, Ozinga Concrete Company (1928)

Ozinga Bros, Inc, a fourth generation family business, is best known for its red and white striped concrete mixer trucks. With over 1,200 employees, Ozinga Bros. has operations in Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin and Michigan. Ozinga was recently named a Chicago Tribune Top Workplace. Marty took the reins of running the family business from his father, Marty Ozinga III in 2012, who continues to serve as Chairman of the Board. Marty is joined by his five brothers and one cousin in the fourth generation of ownership. Marty has a BA in Economics and Business from Westmont College in Santa Barbara, CA and an MS in Communications from Northwestern University. He has served on numerous boards of not-for-profit organizations, in particular Daystar School where he served as President of the Board from 2008-2014. Marty and his wife Amy have five children who they have committed to raising in the City of Chicago. They currently reside in the Little Italy neighborhood of Chicago.

Bruce Lake, James McHugh Consttruction Company (1897)

President of Chicago-based James McHugh Construction Co since 1997, Bruce E. Lake has demonstrated leadership in engineering, community involvement and business management. As an engineer, Mr. Lake has earned the respect of the industry with innovative designs and solutions for projects such as the much-lauded Battle Stations 21 training simulator at Great Lakes Naval Station; Park Tower on the Magnificent Mile; the Chicago Board of Trade expansion, Arlington Park, and the segments of the Deep Tunnel.  He has led McHugh to its greatest revenues ever while improving construction practices and owner service by spearheading an industry-leading quality control program and a far-reaching estimating cost data bank. McHugh completed a new headquarters for the Chicago Youth Program, working as pro bono general contractor and leading efforts to have subcontractors donate their goods and services as well.  Mr. Lake has been the recipient of the Majority Contractor of the Year award by the Coalition for United Community Labor Force, and the Coalition for Community Action (CUCA) named McHugh Chicago contractor of the year.

Phil Stupp, Stupp Brothers Inc (1856)

Philip Stupp, Jr. is the President of the Fabrication Segment of Stupp Bros., Inc and President of Hammert’s Iron Works, Inc., a subsidiary of Stupp Brothers. Family owned and managed since its founding in 1856, Stupp Bros. is a leader in the application, fabrication and production of structural steel components and steel piping for the transportation, commercial, manufacturing and energy sectors. The firm’s mission is to support America’s goal of energy independence by responsibly producing high integrity pipe and services for the safe transportation of oil, gas and associated products.  R. Philip Stupp has a degree in Engineering Construction Management, serves as a Board member of many civic and professional organizations. He and his wife Judith reside in Webster Groves, MO and have three children.

This event is free and open to the public.

5ICCH thanks the Builders Association of Chicago for sponsoring the event and the School of the Art Institute’s Historic Preservation Program for donating space.