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Daily Special Commercial Advertising News Xxxxxxday, Supplement Xxxxxxxxber XX, 2005 Page RCD Page 2 7
“I
t’s like a family,” says John DiCostanzo,
director of Verdi Inc.
“No, it’s like a brotherhood,” says
Tony Paglia, director of Alliance
Restoration Ltd. “No, it’s like a marriage,” counters
Denis Furlan, director of Alliance Forming and Alliance
Floor Finishing Ltd. “A good one.”
Whatever you call it, the construction business
partnership that makes up Toronto’s Verdi Alliance is
a successful one. Three separate companies, the partners
decided last spring, joining forces while maintaining
their own identities. The result: a company
with 500 employees and a healthy bottom line.
Verdi was founded in 1965, when the brothers
Verrilli—Rocco, Guerino, Mario, Jimmy and Dionigi—emigrated
from Italy to Toronto, founding a
residential concrete forming company as Rilli Forms
Ltd. The five brothers lived by four rules: work
hard, provide a good product, save the client money
and finish on time. In Canada’s centennial year, the
company’s name was changed to the Verdi Group of
Companies, building more then 200 high-rises, primarily
residential, across Southern Ontario over the
next four decades.
“The one thing that set them apart, was that they
were very hands-on guys,” says DiCostanzo. “They
were always on the job site and getting their hands
dirty — very much involved in actually slugging the
hammer — whatever it took to get the job done.”
The company continued to grow, with major
recent contracts including Toronto’s Pantages Condominium
tower and Toronto’s lake front King’s
Landing condominium complex. Verdi was also a
major contractor for Casino Niagara.
In 2004, Paglia and his partner Vito Nardi, Furlan
and his partner Dario Favot, formed the first pillars
of the future Alliance.
“When Dario and I set out to form our own
company, we also talked to Tony about the idea of
setting up companies under the Alliance banner,”
says Furlan.
“We found each other’s ideas were refreshing and
we were part of the same mind set.” The two had
known each other for years and the alliance seemed
like a natural progression. Natural and lucrative.
Under their new banner, the Alliance companies
began to take a healthy bite out of the Toronto and
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REED CONSTRUCTION DATA
area construction pie, including a hefty contract with
AECON Building on Pearson International Airport’s
Terminal 3. Other major contracts soon followed,
including the Peterborough Regional Health Centre,
State Farm Canada’s operations centre in Aurora,
The Children’s Aid Society of Toronto building, and
the Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts head office in
Toronto.
“At one point, Danny Verrilli, one of the directors
at Verdi, started a discussion about the way we
approached business,” says Furlan. “The more we
talked, the more we noticed how our businesses each
had unique strengths that could benefit each other.”
“Alliance is very strong in commercial forming
and Danny felt it would be a real asset to the company,”
says DiCostanzo.
The Verdi group suggested a merger, but Furlan
countered with a unique proposal. “I said, I didn’t
want to join the company but would consider running
my own company under the same roof. We were
already friends, even though they were competition,
and that friendship was based on mutual respect.”
Verdi liked the idea, and offered to extend its
bonding to Alliance Forming and provide office and
construction yard space at its Toronto headquarters.
The Alliance companies would share equipment and
overhead costs, merging office services and taking
advantage of a single, comprehensive safety department.
“I approached Tony and told him what was on
the table,” says Furlan. “We went back to Danny and
he agreed to get Tony involved on the same terms
— taking a family business and transforming it into
a corporation based on the same values we’ve always
lived by.”
The newly christened Verdi Alliance moved into
a completely renovated and revitalized headquarters
and construction yard last year. The move is already
paying off; Verdi Alliance is generating twice as much
revenue as Verdi alone. “A lot of the developers
we work for have both commercial and residential
operations,” says DiCostanzo. “Our aim is to be a
one-stop shop for them.”
Furlan agrees. “The future of the construction
industry is ‘bigger.’ In this business, a small company
doesn’t get the same respect as an established corporation.
For example, we were instantly able to take
advantage of bulk purchases — lumber, plywood,
concrete. A big group gets bigger discounts,
which we pass on to the customer.”
Being big also leads to other synergies and
cost-efficiencies. A large, flexible work force
and a sizeable construction yard means job
sites are never short of construction equipment,
material or labour. Workers, bobcats,
cranes and compressors move between the
partner companies as the need arises.
But size hasn’t dulled the partners’ competitive
edge. They still bid individually on
each contract. “We beat each other up on
price,” says Furlan. “Squeezing each other
for a better price keeps us competitive.
We also have some of the youngest, most
energetic crews in the city to help us back up
our bids.”
That bucks a trend, adds Paglia. con-
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W
hen AECON Buildings
accepted a contract to
expand and refurbish a
parking structure at IBM
Canada’s Markham, ON headquarters, sub-con-
tracts were tendered on a job-by-job basis. Verdi
Alliance took three of those sub-contracts, each
quoted separately by the three member companies,
with each component tackling its own specialties:
demolishing part of the existing parking
structure and stairwells, concrete forming for the
150,000-sq.-ft. expansion, and application of the
thin traffic topping and expansion joints.
“Bidding separately keeps
us lean and mean,” says Tony
Paglia, director of Alliance
Restoration Ltd. “There’s no
fudging the different tasks in a
larger project, or underquoting
in one part of a job to make it
up somewhere else.”
The two Alliance companies
— Alliance Restoration
and Alliance Forming and Alliance
Floor Finishing — had
recently worked with AECON
on Pearson International Airport’s
Terminal Three, but the
relationship with the principles
goes back even further.
“I’ve been in the business
for 34 years, and I’ve worked
with these guys for 25 years,”
says Paul Loder, senior construction
superintendent with
AECON. “We’ve developed a
close working relationship and
I know what they’re capable of.
There are a lot of good people
out there, but these are some
of the best. At the beginning,
the intent wasn’t to get all three
companies on the project. They
just happened to come in with the most competitive
bids for quality work.”
Once all three Verdi Alliance companies
came on board, however, they relied on synergies
to benefit the entire project. Tools and
equipment could be pooled or moved from one
part of the site to another, and workers could
assist each other when jobs required a little extra
horsepower.
“The advantage of having three united companies
on the same project is that they really do
work together,” says Loder. “It’s not like a situation
where one company is telling you that they
can’t begin construction, because another company
is holding you up in demolition.
“With Verdi Alliance, one guy knows exactly
what the other guy is doing, and they make sure
to support each other right through the schedule.
It makes life easier for the project manager
and ultimately benefits the entire project.”
One reason the Verdi Alliance group is so
closely associated with the people who run it is
the degree of personal interaction demonstrated
by the owners, says Mike Barber, a project manager
with AECON.
“They’re always checking out the contracts
and visiting the site. Whenever I need them,
they’re a quick phone call away — short and
sweet.”
Denis Furlan, director of Alliance Forming,
says that’s the way he likes it. “I want to see what
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“I
t’s like a family,” says John DiCostanzo,
director of Verdi Inc.
“No, it’s like a brotherhood,” says
Tony Paglia, director of Alliance
Restoration Ltd. “No, it’s like a marriage,” counters
Denis Furlan, director of Alliance Forming and Alliance
Floor Finishing Ltd. “A good one.”
Whatever you call it, the construction business
partnership that makes up Toronto’s Verdi Alliance is
a successful one. Three separate companies, the partners
decided last spring, joining forces while maintaining
their own identities. The result: a company
with 500 employees and a healthy bottom line.
Verdi was founded in 1965, when the brothers
Verrilli—Rocco, Guerino, Mario, Jimmy and Dionigi—emigrated
from Italy to Toronto, founding a
residential concrete forming company as Rilli Forms
Ltd. The five brothers lived by four rules: work
hard, provide a good product, save the client money
and finish on time. In Canada’s centennial year, the
company’s name was changed to the Verdi Group of
Companies, building more then 200 high-rises, primarily
residential, across Southern Ontario over the
next four decades.
“The one thing that set them apart, was that they
were very hands-on guys,” says DiCostanzo. “They
were always on the job site and getting their hands
C O R P O R A T E P R O F I L E
REED CONSTRUCTION DATA
dirty — very much involved in actually slugging the
hammer — whatever it took to get the job done.”
The company continued to grow, with major
recent contracts including Toronto’s Pantages Condominium
tower and Toronto’s lake front King’s
Landing condominium complex. Verdi was also a
major contractor for Casino Niagara.
In 2004, Paglia and his partner Vito Nardi, Furlan
and his partner Dario Favot, formed the first pillars
of the future Alliance.
“When Dario and I set out to form our own
company, we also talked to Tony about the idea of
setting up companies under the Alliance banner,”
says Furlan.
“We found each other’s ideas were refreshing and
we were part of the same mind set.” The two had
known each other for years and the alliance seemed
like a natural progression. Natural and lucrative.
Under their new banner, the Alliance companies
began to take a healthy bite out of the Toronto and
area construction pie, including a hefty contract with
AECON Building on Pearson International Airport’s
Terminal 3. Other major contracts soon followed,
including the Peterborough Regional Health Centre,
State Farm Canada’s operations centre in Aurora,
The Children’s Aid Society of Toronto building, and
the Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts head office in
Toronto.
“At one point, Danny Verrilli,
one of the directors at Verdi, started
a discussion about the way we
approached business,” says Furlan.
“The more we talked, the more we
noticed how our businesses each
had unique strengths that could
benefit each other.”
“Alliance is very strong in commercial
forming and Danny felt it
would be a real asset to the company,”
says DiCostanzo.
The Verdi group suggested a
merger, but Furlan countered with
a unique proposal. “I said, I didn’t
want to join the company but
would consider running my own
company under the same roof. We
were already friends, even though
they were competition, and that
friendship was based on mutual
respect.”
Verdi liked the idea, and offered
to extend its bonding to Alliance
Forming and provide office
and construction yard space at its
Toronto headquarters. The Alliance
companies would share equipment
and overhead costs, merging office
services and taking advantage of a
single, comprehensive safety department.
“I approached Tony and told him
what was on the table,” says Furlan.
“We went back to Danny and he
agreed to get Tony involved on the
same terms — taking a family business
and transforming it into a corporation
based on the same values
“N
t’s like a family,” says
John DiCostanzo, director
of Verdi Inc. “No,
it’s like a brotherhood,”
says Tony Paglia, director of Alliance Restoration
Ltd. “No, it’s like a marriage,” counters Denis Furlan,
director of Alliance Forming and Alliance Floor Finishing
Ltd. “A good one.”
Whatever you call it, the construction business
partnership that makes up Toronto’s Verdi Alliance is
a successful one. Three separate companies, the partners
decided last spring, joining forces while maintaining
their own identities. The result: a company
with 500 employees and a healthy bottom line.
Verdi was founded in 1965, when the brothers
Verrilli—Rocco, Guerino, Mario, Jimmy and Dionigi—emigrated
from Italy to Toronto, founding a
residential concrete forming company as Rilli Forms
Ltd. The five brothers lived by four rules: work
hard, provide a good product, save the client money
and finish on time. In Canada’s centennial year, the
company’s name was changed to the Verdi Group of
Companies, building more then 200 high-rises, primarily
residential, across Southern Ontario over the
next four decades.
“The one thing that set them apart, was that they
were very hands-on guys,” says DiCostanzo. “They
were always on the job site and getting their hands
dirty — very much involved in actually slugging the
hammer — whatever it took to get the job done.”
The company continued to grow, with major
recent contracts including Toronto’s Pantages Condominium
tower and Toronto’s lake front King’s
Landing condominium complex. Verdi was also a
major contractor for Casino Niagara.
In 2004, Paglia and his partner Vito Nardi, Furlan
and his partner Dario Favot, formed the first pillars
of the future Alliance.
“When Dario and I set out to form our own
company, we also talked to Tony about the idea of
setting up companies under the Alliance banner,”
says Furlan.
“We found each other’s ideas were refreshing and
we were part of the same mind set.” The two had
known each other for years and the alliance seemed
like a natural progression. Natural and lucrative.
Under their new banner, the Alliance companies
began to take a healthy bite out of the Toronto and
area construction pie, including a hefty contract with
AECON Building on Pearson International Airport’s
Terminal 3. Other major contracts soon followed,
including the Peterborough Regional Health Centre,
State Farm Canada’s operations centre in Aurora,
The Children’s Aid Society of Toronto building, and
the Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts head office in
Toronto.
“At one point, Danny Verrilli, one of the directors
at Verdi, started a discussion about the way we
approached business,” says Furlan. “The more we
talked, the more we noticed how our businesses each
had unique strengths that could benefit each other.”
“Alliance is very strong in commercial forming
and Danny felt it would be a real asset to the company,”
says DiCostanzo.
The Verdi group suggested a merger, but Furlan
countered with a unique proposal. “I said, I didn’t
want to join the company but would consider run-
ning my own company under the same roof. We were
already friends,
even though
they were competition,
and
that friendship
was based
on mutual
respect.”
V e r d i
liked the idea,
and offered
to extend its
bonding to
Alliance Forming
and provide
office and
“Bidding
separately
keeps us
lean and mean.”
Tony Paglia,
director of Alliance
Restoration Ltd.
construction yard space at its Toronto headquarters.
The Alliance companies would share equipment and
overhead costs, merging office services and taking
advantage of a single, comprehensive safety department.
“I approached Tony and told him what was on
the table,” says Furlan. “We went back to Danny and
he agreed to get Tony involved on the same terms
— taking a family business and transforming it into
a corporation based on the same values we’ve always
lived by.”
The newly christened Verdi Alliance moved into
a completely renovated and revitalized headquarters
and construction yard last year. The move is already
paying off; Verdi Alliance is generating twice as much
revenue as Verdi alone. “A lot of the developers
we work for have both commercial and residential
operations,” says DiCostanzo. “Our aim is to be a
one-stop shop for them.”
Furlan agrees. “The future of the construction
industry is ‘bigger.’ In this business, a small company
doesn’t get the same respect as an established corporation.
For example, we were instantly able to take
advantage of bulk purchases — lumber, plywood,
concrete. A big group gets bigger discounts, which
we pass on to the customer.”
Being big also leads to other synergies and costefficiencies.
A
large, flexible work
force and a sizeable
construction yard
means job sites
are never short
of construction
equipment, material
or labour. Workers,
bobcats, cranes
and compressors
move between the
partner companies
as the need arises.
But size hasn’t
dulled the partners’
competitive edge.
They still bid individually
on each
contract. “We beat
each other up on
price,” says Furlan.
“Squeezing each