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 Some
things are fairly predictable when it comes to this
Holiday Season. Somewhere in television land, the
movie, “It’s a Wonderful Life,” is being shown. And
one of your neighbors will, once again, way-overdo
his Christmas lighting display! In the movie, we’re
all quite certain that George Bailey, and his Home
Loan Company, have had a positive effect on the
building and housing business in Bedford Falls. We
can speculate that George took pride in his tangible
accomplishments, as did the following generation of
Baileys. And perhaps they felt pride in knowing that
their work helped to avert the glitz and tacky neon
lights that would have surely framed the community
of Pottersville? So, what does any of this have to
do with Trumbull-Nelson Project Manager Jim Odorisio?
Well, George Bailey (eventually) recognized, with
pride, how his daily efforts brought life to his
community, and how his work made a difference to so
many. Question Jim Odorisio, or almost any
Trumbull-Nelson field or management personnel on why
they’re in construction, and you’ll hear talk of the
satisfaction that each achieves in viewing the
tangible results of a job completed by their own
labor. Jim Odorisio admits that his commitment to
building and construction has much to do with this
sense of pride, perhaps instilled by his father, who
was a custom homebuilder and finish carpenter in the
suburbs of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Jim recalls
how his father would drive the family around the
various local neighborhoods at this time of the year
to look at Christmas lights, and how his dad would
point out the homes that he had built or worked on.
Here was something that his children and
grandchildren would see, for years to come. His many
building efforts had really made a difference in the
community.
So, it’s easy to imagine how Jim got his start in
construction. At the age of 14, he was swinging a
hammer in his dad’s business. His interests turned
to Civil Engineering, and he found an excellent
program of study offered at Lehigh University. Upon
graduation, he accepted a position with Turner
Construction in Philadelphia as a Field Engineer,
and later accepted a position with Sordoni as a
Project Superintendent. It was during this time of
his life that he encountered some of his most
challenging work activities. Shortly after assuming
Supervisory duties on a $3 million on site tertiary
treatment facility, he learned that a key Sordoni
manager had resigned his duties as Project
Superintendent on the Pepsico World Headquarters
job. This was work that carried a contract price of
$96 million. Jim was asked to take over
Superintendent duties on this landmark Project. He
readily admits that this work offered an incredible
learning opportunity, but effectively put his life
“on-hold” for the next 2 years, until the project
was complete.
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