AWT Construction Group Inc.

Brian joins the AWT Team with a passion for overseeing the production of large-scale projects that span many different arenas. Since graduating from California State University-Chico with a degree in Construction Management, Brian has worked diligently to become a seasoned and well-respected construction management professional. With over 20 years of experience building and managing major capital improvement projects, Brian’s skillsets are multifaceted. He has a unique ability to work through both the conceptual design process and the practical implementation and construction process with ease and understanding few can match. Having worked on multimillion-dollar budgets on the construction of new buildings, tenant improvements, seismic/structural upgrades, and renovations, in both the public and private sectors, he brings a wealth of knowledge to our crews in the field and our estimating and production teams in the office. Brian’s background includes not only new construction but also renovations and improvements of office buildings, hotels, universities, labs and sports/stadium facilities.

We are beyond excited to announce that Carlo Baldacchino has joined AWT Construction Group Inc., as a Senior Estimator with over thirteen years in the multifamily industry, and a lifetime in construction. As the middle son of eight children, Carlo was raised on construction sites, as his father was a real estate developer and general contractor. Learning everything in the field from the ground up, served him well in his youth and was an easy transition into his college of choice at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. He graduated with a B.S. degree in Industrial Technology and minored in Construction Management.

Born and raised in Southern California, Dave found a love for construction at an early age to get him through the low winter temperatures that the beaches of SoCal are notorious for. All kidding aside, Dave started his career building custom homes throughout Santa Barbara, Montecito, Ventura and Malibu, where he remained for almost 15 years. After moving to NorCal in 1997, Dave moved into common interest development reconstruction and never looked back. Specializing in all areas of the multifamily and occupied housing space, Dave handles all of our largescale reconstruction projects. Dave is a specialist in all phases of Construction Defect process, from the initial inspections and cost estimating to the destructive testing and the post litigation repairs. His expertise has transitioned well to the Capital Expenditure market, where he serves apartment owners and ownership groups on everything from TI’s to full property rebrand. Dave consulted for many years prior to joining AWT in 2017 and became a Partner in 2021.

Having developed a passion for construction in his youth, while working in his family’s spec home building business, James has continued his family’s legacy over the past thirty five years.

James’s ability carry on his family’s traditions were evident from the time he started working for his uncle installing roofs. Holding both a C-39 Roofing and a General B Contractors license was something James achieved early on in his career and something he prides himself on to this day. Moving from roofing to constructing custom and spec homes, James broadened both his love of the building process and expanded his construction knowledge base.

Building AWT for the past two decades, James has created a new version of family in his professional life. Expanding the business to include HVAC, Electrical, Landscaping and Painting has allowed James to expose the next generation of craftsmen in a variety of trades.

In addition to establishing separate divisions and a multitude of trades, AWT has its own sheet metal shop, with a specialized team dedicated to customized metal fabrication, details and gutterwork. James approaches each project and client relationship with the same personalized attention and care that he did when AWT first opened its doors and he landed his first project. James’s leadership goal is to extend this same level of pride and care to his office staff, leadership team and crews in the field.

Mark joined AWT with an entire career of construction industry experience behind him. From his early days working alongside his father in Western New York to forging his career on the building material supply side of the business, Mark developed a specialty in the roofing and waterproofing world. During his role at a one of the nation’s leading supply houses, Mark accepted a position in the Bay Area to lead a team of 30 employees. In this role, Mark focused primarily on the building envelope products that his team was offering. Mark’s depth of knowledge for waterproofing systems ultimately developed into a passion for mentoring construction professionals and he began providing seminars for his customers and colleagues, alike. Along the course of his career, Mark became a certified applicator and instructor for multiple product lines, as well as remaining active in numerous industry associations. After close to 20 years servicing his customer’s needs, Mark had the opportunity to merge his knowledge and expertise on the manufacturing and installation side to the trade side of things as he found his niche in Construction Management focusing on common interest developments. As a roofing and waterproofing consultant, he founded DanMark Inc., and oversaw a wide variety of construction projects. In 2015, an opportunity to move from the CM world into the contractor world came to Mark and he embraced it, accepting the role as Vice President with a prominent long-standing Sacramento-based contractor. Pulling all his years of management, product knowledge and building envelope experience together, Mark grew this company over the course of his five years with them in the multifamily arena, as well as the HOA industry. Mark’s decision to join AWT was influenced, in part, by his belief in the business model, but also by his belief in his long time friend and owner of the company, James Kint.

Born into the multi-family industry as the daughter of a management company owner, Wendy Benner has spent a lifetime learning the property management and construction industry inside and out focusing her entire career in the multifamily space.

Transitioning from the management side of our industry into the construction world a few years after graduating college, Wendy found her passion specializing in post defect reconstruction, working alongside both the estimating and production teams. Over the past two decades, Wendy has expanded her knowledge in our industry by becoming OSHA certified to develop enhanced safety protocols, become a coatings expert after working for a large painting manufacturer at the national level and assisted on construction defect cases as an internal construction expert for Angius & Terry LLP.

Joining the AWT family has allowed her to utilize her varied background and expansive knowledge in every division within our company. In addition, Wendy continues to be very active in industry trade organizations. She is a current board member for Westcon, a nonprofit trade organization for construction consultants; is a proud member of CREW Silicon Valley (Commercial Real Estate for Women); and actively involved on several committees for both the Bay Area and California North Chapters of CAI (California Associations Institute), after serving on the Board for six years in the Cal North Chapter, two of which were in the role of Chapter President.

We could not be more proud to annoucne that Rob Elliott joined the AWT family and rounded our our team! While Rob became our co-worker last month, he was a dear friend, respected industry expert, and fierce competitor for yeatrs. To complete our Executive Team with Rob is a blessing to our company and to the clients we serve.

Born and raised in Northern California, where he still resides today, Rob has spent his entire life in the family industry. As a fourth-generation roofer, Rob grew up in the family business that his great grandparents founded in 1918. With ties that strong to the trades, it is no wonder that Rob is regarded as one of the best in the business, and we are so grateful that he has gone from respected colleague and competitor to an integral piece of our AWT Roofing Division. Rob’s depth of knowledge seems limitless, however it is his specialty of occupied spaces, whether residential or commercial, that sets him apart. His long-standing vendor and supplier relationships, combined with his professionalism, commitment to communication and professionalism, has fostered many referrals and incredibly strong client relationships. In addition to everything that Rob brings as an individual, it is his team-centric approach, collaborative style, and passion to mentor that makes him the perfect partner for the AWTeam.

In his downtime, Rob loves to be active in the ourdoors. Hiking, snowboarding, and gold are just a few of his pastimes, which is no wonder he still bounces up and down a ladder like he did twenty years ago. Feel free to send him a text at 510-772-1035… so tease him, congratulate him, or just say hello. We hope you are as happy to recieve this news are we are to send it!!

Martin bring over 35 years of painting expertise to our company. His knowledge of paint processes, specialty coatings, estimating and budgeting, supervision and crew management is unsurpassed. Martin is a certified applicator in almost a dozen specialty waterproofing systems and has overseen almost $100 million coatings projects during his professional lifetime.

Spending the last three decades in the multifamily, HOA and commercial paint industries, Martin is one of the most knowledgeable and respected specialists in Northern California. Martin pursued his passion of the trades since graduating high school and very quickly found his calling in the world of paint. Martin was driven professionally to provide for his beautiful wife, Maricella, and their two now-adult children, Aaron and Stephanie. While growing his family and establishing his career, Martin became a beloved contributor to the occupied housing industry. This niche space has allowed Martin the comfort of having worked alongside, or in collaboration with, several of the AWT executive team over most of his career. We are so thankful that these connections provided Martin a confidence that only the history of trust can offer when choosing to finish his career with AWT. His team- centric and client-focused approach provided the perfect fit for the long-standing vision that our founder, James Kent, built the company’s foundation upon.

Martin has already integrated seamlessly and will be working at closely with both Carlo Baldacchino and Wendy Benner on existing paint projects and deck coating installations. From the moment Martin set foot in the AWT office, the camaraderie with staff members, and clients alike, was clear; we are looking forward to the continued growth, expansion and connections with valued clients and industry partners.

Growing up with a long lineage of family in the construction business, Shannon spent his youth accompanying his father, uncles and both grandfathers to various job sites. Learning the family business from such a young age created a desire to join the trades as soon as he was old enough. Working in that tight-knit environment, Shannon was able to learn everything from custom drywall and interior finishes to complete residential restoration. He built upon his skill set by working for larger construction companies performing fire and flood damage repairs and insurance-related restoration. Working in the insurance field allowed Shannon to broaden his focus and he quickly learned to involve himself, and excel, in all aspects of the multiple trades involved. As his knowledge expanded, so did his goals. Shannon independently obtained his General Contractors License while working in the trades, which provided him more opportunities in diversified fields. Shannon was selected by a nationally known retailer to perform custom one of a kind kitchen and bathroom remodels, which allowed him to utilize both his creativity and extensive building skills. This varied skill set, attention to detail and passion for our craft is why we are so thankful that after over 20 years in the field, Shannon joined the AWT family in 2015 and has never looked back.