Saint Louis Construction Cooperative (formerly PRIDE of St. Louis Inc.) is honoring a community of entrepreneurial idea generation and enduring leadership in the local construction industry. The Cortex Innovation Community will be awarded the labor-management organization’s 2016 Joe Rinke Impact Award at its ninth annual awards luncheon on October 27, 2016. Dennis Corrigan, CEO of Corrigan Co., the mechanical contracting firm celebrating its 120th anniversary this year, will be honored with the Al Fleischer Management Award. Dr. John Gaal, director of training and workforce development for the St. Louis-Kansas City Carpenters Regional Council will be saluted with the Dick Mantia Labor Award. The awards will be presented at luncheon at the Cedars at St. Raymond’s at 939 Lebanon Dr. in St. Louis.
“We are honoring a legacy of entrepreneurial excellence in the construction industry while also saluting champions of strengthening St. Louis’ entrepreneurial and workforce development future,” said John Stiffler, executive secretary-treasurer of the St. Louis Building & Construction Trades Council, AFL-CIO and Saint Louis Construction Cooperative board member.
Founded in 2002, the Cortex Innovation Community is a vibrant 200-acre innovation hub and technology district integrated into St. Louis’ historic Central West End and Forest Park Southeast residential neighborhoods. It is surrounded by nationally ranked universities and medical centers and abundant cultural and recreational assets. Since its inception, Cortex has completed or has under construction one million square feet of new and rehabilitated space totaling $350 million of investment and generating 2,500 technology-related jobs. When fully implemented, the Cortex master plan projects $2.1 billion of construction, more than 4.5 million square feet of mixed-use development (research, office, clinical, residential, hotel, and retail), a new MetroLink light-rail station and 13,000 permanent technology-related jobs. For more information, visit www.cortexstl.com.
Dennis Corrigan is the third generation of his family to lead Corrigan Co. Founded in 1896 at the dawn of indoor plumbing, Corrigan has grown to serve the complex mechanical engineering and construction needs for a variety of industries. For more than 25 years, Corrigan has guided the firm’s award-winning and customer-focused approach serving energy and nuclear power, healthcare, advanced manufacturing, data centers, public works, commercial and other industries. Today, 16 of the 20 largest high rises in St. Louis have Corrigan installed HVAC systems.
Corrigan has been highly active in improving the mechanical and construction industry locally and nationally. He is past president and current board member of the Mechanical Contractors Association, Eastern Missouri. As a board member of the Mechanical Contractors Association of America, Corrigan serves its government affairs committee. He is also a mentor for the AGC of Missouri Stempel Mentor-Protégé Program. His enduring commitment to the Saint Louis Construction Cooperative includes current service on its executive committee.
As director of training for the Carpenters Regional Council, Dr. John Gaal oversees five federally-approved joint apprenticeship training programs and three full service training facilities. He has an associate’s degree in construction management, a bachelor’s degree architecture, a masters in international business and a doctorate in organizational leadership. In addition, Dr. Gaal has completed a post-doctoral project on trade union leadership at Harvard University. As a labor representative, he has served on the Missouri and St. Louis County Workforce Investment Boards and the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans committee on training and education. Dr. Gaal has been honored with the 2004 Missouri Trade and Technical Outstanding Leadership Award, the 2007 Missouri NEA’s Horace Mann Award, the 2007 NAACP Labor Diversity Advocate Award and the St. Louis Council of Construction Consumers 2008 Diversity Champion Award.
The Saint Construction Cooperative was founded in 1972 and 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. For more information, visit www.stlouisconstructioncooperative.org.
