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Bridges & Co., Inc.
Founder/Principal
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Owners, Principals & Senior Executives
Mark A. Davis's Bio
The son of an engineer, Mark Davis always wanted to be an engineer himself. “My earliest toy was a plastic version of an erector set,” he says now. “I built little buildings with it.”
Mark received a BS in Civil Engineering at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, then worked for The Chester Engineers and the Navarro and Dick Corporations. In 1983, he noticed Paul Bridges’ ad in the paper.
“Paul was getting a lot of work,” Mark remembers, “but had no employees.”
Mark answered the ad and the two met in BRIDGES’ first office. Paul explained that Merit Shops were responsible for more than 75 percent of the tri-state area’s construction, and he wanted his own company to be a Merit Shop.
“Do you want to become my first employee?” Paul asked. “If it works out, someday I’ll sell you stock in the company.” Mark agreed. He became a BRIDGES principal in 1989.
The company grew, as Mark and his wife, Jan, raised their two children. Mark attributes his own success at BRIDGES to his willingness to do ‘whatever it takes’ to get the job done, from running the estimating department to superintending to working with his hands in the field.
Once, in 1993, as they were renovating a big Walmart store, Mark and the general superintendent stopped by after dinner to check on the work. They found water from a freak storm gushing into the empty store. They stopped the leak and grabbed buckets and mops to prevent the water from ruining the carpet. They saved the entire job.
He grins. “We’re a hands-on company,” he says.
Beyond work, Mark has consistently been active on volunteer boards. He served as president for the ABC of Western PA, and also for his community’s recreational development organization. He has always been active in his church and other professional organizations such as the National Association of Industrial Office Parks.
An avid skier, he golfs whenever he can. “I have a high handicap, but I just got my second hole in one.” At the time, Mark was playing in a 2015 Pittsburgh Builders Exchange Golf Outing.
His son Nathan’s first question was, “Did you win a car?”
He did not. But his sense of accomplishment remained.
EDUCATION
B.S. Civil Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
Board of Directors - Associated Builders & Contractors of Western PA, President 1992
Board of Directors - Avonworth Community Organization for Recreational Development, President 1999-2000
Member of Session - Community Presbyterian Church of Ben Avon
Membership Committee - National Association of Industrial Office Parks
Paul A. Marquart's Bio
Gus Marquart has always built buildings. While earning his B.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of West Virginia, he worked as a laborer for his father. “I worked twice as hard as anyone else,” he remembers now. During his junior year, Gus began to work for Turner Construction on holiday weekends and during two summers, helping them build a hospital while he studied.
After graduating from WVU in 1980, Gus accepted a job with The Dravo Corporation, where he remained for four years. During that time, he married his wife, Charlene, with whom he has two children. He moved them all to Philadelphia when he entered the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.
In 1986, he received his MBA from Wharton. During that time, Gus also worked as an owner’s rep for Toombs Development Company in Philadelphia, frequently traveling to Baltimore to monitor construction on the days there were no classes.
After finishing his MBA, he accepted a job as project manager for the Matrix Development Company in New Jersey. After five years there, he took another position as project manager, this time for Eichleay Engineers, Inc. in Pittsburgh. In 1997, he went to work with BRIDGES & Company, Inc., with the possibility of someday buying into the company as a full partner with Paul Bridges.
“Paul Bridges was my second mentor,” Gus has said, “after my father.”
In 2000 Gus became a principal at BRIDGES & Company, Inc. and is now a managing partner. He still expresses pride in their growing company. “We’ve received prestigious national awards in Excellence in Construction from the Associated Builders and Contractors [ABC],” he says, “and multiple ABC chapter awards during the past 30 years."
On the side, Gus restores automobiles with his son. He has traveled with him to Moab, Utah for off-road driving in the desert and over rock formations. He occasionally plays golf. He is always happy to get back to work.
“I like the creativity of building buildings,” he says, “partly because of their physical presence. You can look at them and think, ‘I played a small part in building that.’”
EDUCATION
1986 MBA, University of Pennsylvania - The Wharton School
1980 B.S. Civil Engineering, West Virginia University
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
Registered Professional Engineer in Pennsylvania and West Virginia
American Society of Civil Engineers
Pittsburgh Rotary Club
Association for Corporate Growth
Paul R. Bridges's Bio
A 1959 University of Pittsburgh graduate, Paul Bridges earned degrees in Civil Engineering and Business and has been in the construction industry ever since. Joining the Mellon-Stuart Company upon graduation, Bridges worked his way to Executive Vice President and ultimately, President of company subsidiaries and divisions. Under his direction, U.S. sales volumes soared from $10 million to $800 million.
A registered professional engineer in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, Bridges left Mellon-Stuart in 1982 to form BRIDGES and Company; he incorporated the company the next year. Pioneering the merit shop concept for the commercial, institutional and light industrial construction markets in Pittsburgh and the tri-state area, the merit shop concept now accounts for 75% of the tri-state area industry’s construction.
After only five years in business, in 1988, BRIDGES and Company was named the 28th fastest growing new company in the U.S. by INC magazine. That same year, Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) chose BRIDGES and Company as Contractor of the Year.
In 1989, Bridges was selected as a Greater Pittsburgh area Entrepreneur of the Year finalist by Arthur Young, Pittsburgh High Technology Council and INC magazine.
Robert J. Fitzgerald's Bio
Bob Fitzgerald enjoys working for himself. A native Pittsburgher, he spent three years studying at the University of Pittsburgh while working on roofing projects during the summers. He began his career in 1979 with his own construction company, renovating homes for clients and building new ones. In 1985, he founded Dicar Corporation, focusing on commercial interior construction, while he broadened his learning base. In 1995, he accepted a job as estimator and project manager for the Magnum Construction Company.
Bob claims that his grandfather inspired him to work for himself. “I spent a lot of time as a teenager with my grandfather,” he says. “He was an anesthesiologist and chief of staff at St. Francis Hospital, but he was an inventor too. He invented anti-static products and procedures to prevent fires that often sparked in operating rooms, even from static electricity or the use of ether and oxygen in patients. He also worked with 3M in developing new kinds of bandages. He liked working for himself.”
In 1999, Bob learned that BRIDGES, swamped with work, had an opening for an estimator. He left Magnum Construction to take the job, with the possibility of one day becoming a principal. He went on to become a project manager for BRIDGES and, in 2010, became one of the five principals at Bridges & Company.
He was again working for himself.
As part of BRIDGES, Bob oversees operations, and does occasional estimating. He has initiated various training programs for field employees. To keep ahead of the competition,” he says, “we need trained personnel, especially in safety and areas such as electronic communications.”
Bob notes that twenty years ago, BRIDGES would get bids from 50 contractors. “We’d have to send everyone a drawing. Rolls of drawings filled the room, and then we’d have to mail them all. Today,” he says, “we send a link to an FTP site and contractors get the drawings in seconds.”
Yet BRIDGES’ core values remain. “No matter how much the forms of communications change,” Bob says, “we’re still the same company. We keep in touch with our clients. We do what we say we’ll do, and we do it well.”
When Bob’s first wife died in 1986, their daughter, Caitlin, was only three years old, and Bob spent the next 20 years raising her. In 2008, he married his current wife, Peggy, with whom he has two stepchildren. He likes the outdoors, and golfs, bikes and canoes when possible. He and Peggy take camping trips to West Virginia and the Shenandoah National Forest.
“But,” Bob notes, “there’s not always time for camping trips when you work for yourself.”
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS /CERTIFICATIONS
Associated Builders and Contractors , Member of the Board of Directors Pittsburgh Builders Exchange Member Allegheny Business Network Member Braddock Historical Preservation Society Member MCCI – Estimating and Administration Certification FMI Corp – Estimating Certification
Estimating, Purchasing & Preconstruction
Jake Priest's Bio
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225 West Station Square Drive Suite #300
Pittsburgh, PA 15219
412-392-3782
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Nate J. Hosley's Bio
Nate Hosley began his journey in the construction industry as a laborer building log homes in between college semesters. His hometown of Lock Haven has no shortage of opportunities to work and learn the trade. He has always enjoyed the hard work and camaraderie on the construction site.
Nate completed his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a Management concentration. Upon graduating from Lock Haven University in 2009, Nate branched into the Pittsburgh construction scene as an assistant carpenter with general contractor, The Healey Company, known around Pittsburgh for its high end residential remodels.. In no time he was applying his business degree to his work as an operations manager and controller of projects.
After committing 5 years to The Healey Company, Nate joined Rossman Hensley, Inc. as an estimator and project manager. In January 2017, he transitioned to BRIDGES as an estimator and found the same camaraderie that drew him to the industry in college.
Nate treasures all that Western Pennsylvania has to offer; he especially enjoys hiking with his wife Christine and three daughters Amelia, Madeline and Julia. Some of his hobbies include fly fishing and hunting in the Appalachian Region. He recognizes BRIDGES’ commitment to the work life and family life balance and is hopeful to recruit young talent with those same values.
Tyler M. Krukar's Bio
Tyler Krukar is from Kittanning PA, where he learned the construction business working with his father, the owner of J. Krukar Construction. At the age of 14, Tyler began working in construction, learning the trade of building custom homes and commercial buildings. Tyler’s extensive construction knowledge and natural ability for problem solving, is an advantageous trait for the diverse challenges that can arise between concept and completion of projects.
A 2007 graduate of Penn State University, Tyler received a Bachelor of Science degree in Structural Design and Construction Engineering. Upon graduation, he began his career as a Project Engineer for BRIDGES. From 2009 to 2015 Tyler engaged in different construction opportunities with Brayman Construction Corp. and MDS Energy. He found his way back to BRIDGES in June of 2015 as a Project Manager and Estimator. Since then, he has contributed to numerous commercial projects of various complexities.
Tyler values hard work, determination, and sacrifice as he represents the “hands-on” team approach throughout his daily life of work and family. Spending time with his wife, Brittany and their three children, Sydney, Wyatt and Rylee are of most importance to him. When he isn’t running to their children’s different sporting events, he enjoys spending his free time on the Golf Course or at their family river lot; where they enjoy long days of boating and relaxing by the campfire. When reflecting on his passion for construction he expresses,” I am thankful for my family for helping to shape me to be the person I am today.”