A guest post from Lisa Perkins, Vice President, Marketing and Communications for Rodgers Builders, Inc.
Steel Signing Event during 2012 Wolfpack Welcome Week. Left to Right: Thomas Daye (’93), B.D. Rodgers (’49), Wes Spurlock (’99), Jeremy McGinnis (’02)
Starting with Rodgers Chairman B.D. Rodgers, Wolfpack pride is rampant on the Talley construction site.
B.D. Rodgers, named the College of Engineering’s Distinguished Alumni in 2009, graduated in 1949 after serving in the European Theater during World War II. In 1963, with $5,000 borrowed from his life insurance policy, a truck and one superintendent, he founded Rodgers Builders, Inc., today one of North Carolina’s largest privately owned companies.
“I’m grateful to NC State for the highly regarded engineering program they offered when I attended, and still do today,” says Rodgers, noting that he often refers to his old textbooks for answers to construction questions.
He joins Jeremy McGinnis, PE (2002), and Wes Spurlock (1999), both of Rodgers; and Thomas Daye (1993) of DayeCo, in fondly calling this campus “home.” Joint Venture Rodgers Russell DayeCo serves as construction manager for the Talley project.
“Being back on campus every day brings back a lot of great memories,” says McGinnis, project manager. “NC State is a very special place for me and I’m proud to be a part of a project that will become a new landmark for our University.”
“It’s great to be back and reminisce about my time on campus as a student, but this project is also giving me a new perspective and appreciation of what it takes to make a successful semester or school year,” says Spurlock, superintendent. “It’s very interesting to see and be involved with the things that go on behind the scenes that allow the campus to function.”
Rodgers actively engages in building the capacity of the minority contracting community. Joint-venture partner DayeCo is one of a number of companies Rodgers is currently mentoring.
“Our approach to mentoring is designed not only to help build increased industry capacity,” says Pat Rodgers, Rodgers’ president and CEO. “Our program also seeks to develop an organization’s internal strengths, systems, and skills. The result is greater mission fulfillment, community impact, and organizational sustainability.”
“As an almost-20-year alum, it’s an honor to come back and do this project with NC State and Rodgers, because you get an opportunity to show the University the skills you learned here,” says Daye, president of DayeCo Construction. “With B.D. being an alum, and the other NC State alums here, this is like coming back home.”
For information about Rodgers Russell DayeCo, visit Rodgers Builders, Inc. , H.J. Russell & Co., and DayeCo Construction.