Project Manager
Skanska USA Building, Inc. is among the largest and most respected construction project delivery companies in Massachusetts and the U.S. With approximately 6,500 employees nationally, the firm has offices in Springfield, Boston, and 25 other locations around the country. Skanska is widely recognized as the firm that clients hire to manage their largest and most challenging projects.
Although known mainly as a builder, Skanska has a sizeable in-house group dedicated exclusively to providing Owner’s Project Management services. Skanska has served as the Owner’s Project Manager (OPM) for MSBA-funded projects in over 30 school districts in Massachusetts, including Taconic High School, Wahconah Regional High School, East Longmeadow High School, the Brightwood-Lincoln Elementary School and DeBerry-Swan Elementary School projects in Springfield, Auburn Middle School, Nashoba Regional High School, Jabish Brook Middle School, Minuteman Vocational Technical High School, Arlington High School, Attleboro High School, Lowell High School, Somerset Berkley Regional High School, Monomoy Regional High School, the Winchester High School renovation/expansion project, Josiah Quincy Upper School, and Winthrop Middle/High School.
Skanska is thrilled to be assisting BHRSD with the Monument Mountain High School Project. We are confident that the team we have assembled will be able to find a solution that will significantly improve the quality of the built facility, enhance the learning environment for the students while being affordable for the tax payers of the school district.
—John Benzinger, Program Executive, Skanska USA Building Inc.
Many of the strengths of Skanska’s OPM group derive from being an integral part of a construction company that has immense credibility in the local and national design and construction marketplace. Because of their “builder’s expertise,” Skanska’s OPM group understands through first-hand experience when architectural and engineering drawings are complete and coordinated. The benefit is a significant reduction in change orders during construction. They can point to specific ways to economize on systems and materials without compromising quality. They can optimize phasing and logistics to reduce costs, expedite schedules, and minimize disruption to classes and school activities. They have direct experience resolving issues on construction sites to keep projects on schedule. Perhaps most important, Skanska has an excellent safety record and applies its stringent safety standards to ensure that students, teachers, staff, and visitors are kept out of harm’s way during construction.
Skanska’s OPM group can also draw upon the expertise of Skanska’s in-house cost estimators, who have up-to-the minute pricing from current, large-scale construction projects throughout New England. The benefit for the District is that budgets developed during the feasibility study/schematic design phase of the Monument Mountain Regional High School project will remain valid through the completion of construction. Skanska’s OPM group also has ready access to Skanska’s staff resources in sustainability planning, scheduling, Building Information Modeling, safety, and permitting/codes. This means that they can obtain answers to complex technical questions quickly and cost-effectively, saving the Town time and money.
Because Skanska is widely respected in the construction industry, the best construction managers in the region will be attracted to the Monument Mountain Regional High School project because they know that Skanska will manage it with fairness and integrity. This translates directly into higher quality and more competitive pricing.
Finally, Skanska has successfully guided several large and complex K-12 projects through the MSBA’s feasibility study/schematic design process, a key part of which is assisting school districts with building consensus within the community as to the benefits of the project to students and to the future of the town.
Throughout the process, Skanska will use its experience and expertise in MSBA processes, community processes, construction planning, cost estimating, scheduling, safety, quality assurance, and change management to minimize risk, keep costs under control, maintain the schedule, and ensure that the Town and your students receive the greatest possible value for the dollars invested in this project.