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The following interview was originally published in the Summer 2000 Issue of Zen Bow.
Joe Condidorio, a partner in Whitney East Inc., is the contractor the Zen
Center has hired to build the shell of Phase One at Chapin Mill. We
interviewed him in his office as he was scaling drawings for Chapin Mill.
ZB: Are you from around here?
Joe: I've lived in Genesee County, in LeRoy, all my life. I'm just ten minutes
from Chapin Mill. My partner Doug and I are in our fifteenth year together
at Whitney East. We worked for another contractor before we started our
business.
ZB: Did you always want to be a contractor?
Joe: I knew pretty early what I wanted to do. I had two years of carpentry
classes in high school and went into construction right out of high school.
After a few years in the field, I decided to go to Alfred University. At
Alfred I received an Associate's Degree in construction. It's a good
program - at Alfred you actually build houses. You have a few hours of
theory in the morning, then spend all afternoon working
on the job.
ZB: What kind of work does Whitney East do? And what's the story
behind your company name?
Joe: Doug and I started small with [building] houses, working our way up to
commercial jobs. Once we had some assets, we could do municipal work - you
need to supply a bond for that. We're middle- sized for Rochester. The one
thing we have going for us is that we're a small company that competes with
lots of larger companies. We have grown in terms of the size of the jobs,
but we keep tight control of them. For instance, I bid a job, run the job,
and have all the communication with the owner. With the bigger guys, they
have estimators, project managers, foremen, etc. - lots more levels of
administration. That way, things can get missed. Oh, and my partner Doug
lives on East Whitney Road in Fairport - that's where our name comes from.
Zen Bow: What else have you built around here?
Joe: We built the RIT boathouse, did the Allendale Columbia conversion of an old
gym to a new auditorium, and renovated two dorms at Fisher. We still do
residential [projects], but not as much.
ZB: What interested you in the Chapin Mill project?
Joe: We were interested when we first heard about the project. Size was
important, but once we got our hands on the plans and saw the design, we
wanted to build it. It's a fun project. Unlike dormitories, it's not a
boring job. It's interesting, complex, and has lots of character - that
keeps interest high.
ZB: Who's going to actually work on the job? And what do you think of
working with volunteers?
Joe: We use local [Genesee County] subcontractors a lot. That's a big plus for
the area. We have no problem with volunteers - we can work with anybody. Our
business on a project this size is really managing subcontractors. We have
our own carpenters, but we'll use a lot of subcontractors on a project like
Chapin Mill.
ZB: So a lot of different people will be involved.
Joe: Our business is really managing people. We try to work with the same
subcontractors [consistently]. They become part of our team and go with us
from project to project. I'd describe us as team players. We want it to be a
fun experience for the whole team: the architect, the owner, the contractor,
and the subcontractors. The quality of a project suffers if you're not a
team player. A good team means a good project.
ZB: Sounds like you really enjoy what you do.
Joe: If you're going to do something all your life, work a lot of extra hours,
you better love what you're doing!
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