ST. LOUIS – Saint Louis Construction Cooperative (formerly PRIDE of St. Louis Inc.) is honoring leadership in the St. Louis construction industry. At its eighth annual awards luncheon on August 27, 2015, the venerable labor-management organization saluted Monsanto which is currently investing $400 million to expand its research facilities in Chesterfield, Mo. Monsanto received the 2015 Industry Impact Award.
The award luncheon also recognized individual achievement, honoring:
- Otis Williams, executive director, St. Louis Development Corporation, receiving the Joe Rinke Owner Award;
- Thomas Heeger, retired chairman and chief executive officer, ACME Constructors and retired chairman and chief executive officer, ACME Erectors, receiving the Al Fleischer Management Award; and
- Richard “Dick” Kellett, retired business agent, Plumbers & Pipefitters Local 562, receiving the Dick Mantia Labor Award.
Left to right, front row are award recipients Otis Williams, executive director, St. Louis Development Corporation; Robert Conte, Monsanto; Amy Heeger, AME Constructors (who accepted the award for her father Tom Heeger); Richard “Dick” Kellett, Plumbers & Pipefitters Local 562. In the back row, left to right, are award presenters Steve Sobo, Washington University School of Medicine; Jim LaMantia, Saint Louis Construction Cooperative; Tim Wies, TJ Wies Contracting; and Jeff Aboussie, St. Louis Building and Construction Trades Council, AFL-CIO.
At the award luncheon, Saint Louis Construction Cooperative Executive Director Jim LaMantia also announced that he was stepping down at the end of the year from his leadership position, which he has held for the past 10 years. LaMantia has been involved in the Saint Louis Construction Cooperative on various levels since its founding in 1972.
About 200 construction industry leaders attended the awards luncheon at The Cedars at St. Raymond’s at 939 Lebanon Drive. in St. Louis.
The Saint Construction Cooperative is the oldest voluntary local construction labor-management organization in the nation. For more than 40 years, it has pioneered a collaborative approach to sustaining harmony and building cooperation among St. Louis area AFL-CIO construction craft workers, contractors, construction buyers, architects, engineers and suppliers.
