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Walbridge
General Manager
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Owners, Principals & Senior Executives
John Rakolta lll's Bio
While safety is a priority for John, as exhibited through Walbridge’s exemplary record, his forward-thinking and disciplined approach also applies to every aspect of the vast Walbridge enterprise; most notably in the areas of emerging markets and real estate development.
As the first family member to serve as president of Walbridge in nearly three decades, John is proud of his third-generation status. Following in the footsteps of his grandfather and father, the family’s achievements motivate him to expand upon Walbridge’s legacy. Throughout John’s tenure, he has played a major role in the company’s market diversity, growth and financial performance by leading the expansion into the hyperscale data center market and brownfield redevelopment projects. John led the organization’s expansion into West Michigan and the revitalization of the Florida operations. In addition, John is advancing his father’s lifelong commitment of promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion by championing distinct initiatives within Walbridge and the community.
With transparency being integral to John’s leadership, he promotes a culture of collaboration and innovation for his teammates. This empowering environment has created an energy that resonates with employees, suppliers and customers alike.
John is dedicated to serving his community and routinely volunteers at the United Way for Southeastern Michigan, where he serves on the Board of Directors. In addition, John is on the Board of Directors of MI-Community Bancorp, and serves on the Advisory Board of Weatherford Capital, a private equity firm based in Florida.
Prior to his time at Walbridge, John worked for the Athena Group; a New York based real estate development firm. He holds a B.S. in Building Construction Management from Purdue University, an M.S. in Real Estate Finance and Investment from New York University and is a graduate of Harvard Business School’s Executive Leadership Development program.
Mike Heller P.E's Bio
Mike Haller joined Walbridge in 1973 as a co-op intern while pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Detroit. For more than 40 years, Mike has worked his way up through the ranks to become the operational head of Walbridge, the nation’s leader in construction of manufacturing facilities for the automotive industry. He serves as President of Walbridge Group and President of the Industrial Facilities mega-business unit.
Few individuals working in construction today know as much as Mike does about building auto facilities. No one knows more. Mike has been directly involved in management of more than 200 major projects in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Brazil.
A hallmark achievement during his tenure occurred from 2012-2015 when Mike and a team of Walbridge personnel led the effort in Goiana, Brazil to construct one of the world’s largest automotive manufacturing complexes in within a highly compressed timeframe.
With its Brazilian construction partner, Walbridge developed a hybrid design-build approach to meet the fast-track schedule of owner Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. In little more than 26 months, Walbridge constructed 6 million square feet of total space, including: a) 2.3 million square feet of assembly plant, body shop, stamping facility, paint shop and a communications center; b) 1 million square feet of support buildings, and c) a 2.7-million-square-foot tier-1 supplier park made up of 12 buildings.
Randy Abdallah's Bio
Every leadership team needs a “glass half full” guy, and the eternal optimist role suits Randy Abdallah to a tee. Randy is the head of Walbridge’s Get Work unit, which means exactly what it says. He gets work (or directs business development if you prefer something a bit more formal) and does so to the tune of about $1.5 billion in sales commitments from clients every year.
Randy has more than 40 years of construction industry experience, and he’s been bringing it to bear with us since 1997, during which time he’s overseen Walbridge office openings in São Paolo, Brazil; Dubai and Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; and Doha, Qatar.
Randy is a graduate of the Construction Engineering Technology program at Fanshawe College in London, Ontario, Canada and the University of Texas’s Macomb School of Business Executive Training Program, and his knowledge of the industry is constantly growing as a member of the Construction Users Round Table, Engineering & Construction Contracting, and the Engineering Society of Detroit. In 2012, he served as Chairman of the Research Committee of the Construction Industry Institute and is a recipient of the organization’s Distinguished Service Award.
Beyond being of service to the construction community, Randy believes it’s equally important to serve the greater community, as evidenced by the work he does with the United Way.
He even likes to ply his trade at home, where he often spends his free time (not that he has much) working on home improvement projects.
Tom Dyze's Bio
A certain level of risk is inherent in any construction project. Minimizing the level of risk is Tom Dyze’s job.
Tom and his group are responsible for bonding, risk management, contracts, legal services, outside vendors, procurement and trademarks.
In 2013, Tom was named a Top Corporate Counsel in metropolitan Detroit by DBusiness magazine. The magazine polled more than 15,000 private attorneys in the Detroit area.
Tom joined Walbridge in 1995 as corporate attorney and was promoted in 2000 to Vice President and General Counsel. He earned a JD degree from the University of Detroit and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Michigan.