A NEW DAY A NEW DAY - Toronto Construction Association

BID Competition
First place, Most Professional Bid: Tangent Construction Inc. (Gianluca Caligiuri, Albert
Melchior)
Second Place, Most Professional Bid: JAKS Consulting Inc. (Kayleigh Dobbin,
Scott Chant, Andrew Dingemans, Jordan Spergel)
The fact that entrants doubled in one year demonstrates
that the Bid Competition is an idea whose time has come. The
TCIC has heard from schools across Canada that are interested
in participating. At press time, the TCIC was just ramping up its
outreach efforts to these and other schools to make the 2011
competition an even bigger success. “The exponential growth
of this competition will be enormous,” says John Mollenhauer,
TCIC Vice Chancellor and President. “Everyone involved in
the construction industry in any way, shape or form is better for
having had some estimating experience.”
The companies that contributed prize money and provided
mentors for competitors take the same view. “We have a real
shortage of people in the industry who can do estimates,”
says Deborah Fillippe, HR Director of Kenaidan Contracting.
“When a student applies and we see that they’ve been in the
competition, we see that as a strong plus for that candidate.”
This is the kind of hands-on education that construction
students can really use: it furthers their education but it also
lets them get their feet wet in the real world of bidding and
estimating, which is the heart and soul of the industry. “The
competition is good hands-on experience,” Mollenhauer says.
“When these students go into workforce they’ll have a true
feeling for what it’s really like.”
Most importantly they’ll experience up-close the apparent
paradox that makes construction such a uniquely attractive
career: the fact that competition and a spirit of camaraderie
can co-exist so well. That spirit shows clearly in the faces of the
winning teams.
Craig Lesurf, Senior Vice President of Construction Operations,
Vanbots, probably sums it up best: “This competition is
extremely valuable in shaping our future leaders.”
NOTE: A video of the Bid Competition can be viewed at
the TCIC website (www.tcic.ca) or at the TCIC’s Student Bid
Competition website at www.tcicbidcomp.com. |BD
First place, Closest to Budgeted Price: RockSolid (Jonathan Graf, Pascal Uwajeneza,
Nick Walden, Kegan Buchanan)
18 | Builders' Digest Quarter 3 2010
Second Place, Closest to Budgeted Price: JAKS Consulting Inc. (Scott Chant,
Andrew Dingemans, Kayleigh Dobbin, Jordan Spergel)