Recognizing its portfolio of notable regional projects, commitment to sustainability and its efforts to push construction industry innovation, ENR Southeast has named Skanska USA as this year's "Contractor of the Year." A feature story recognizing the contractor and its regional accomplishments will be included in ENR Southeast's upcoming July issue.
The selection—which was made via a vote of ENR editors from across the country—was based on the firm's accomplishments and business activity in the Southeast. And while there were multiple nominees for the designation this year, Skanska stood out.
First, Skanska USA reported an increase in Southeast business for 2011, a key criteria for our selection of a "Firm of the Year." In today's economy, an increase in revenue is not to be taken lightly, as certainly not all of the firms participating in ENR Southeast's annual Top Contractors survey were able to accomplish this. (The Top Contractors ranking will also be published in July.) Additionally, the company ranked highly on numerous geographic and market subcategories.
Also considered were each firm's portfolio of projects. Here, too, several Skanska jobs were noteworthy. For example, the firm is building a $98-million Innovation, Science and Technology building at University of South Florida Polytechnic in Lakeland. It's the first major building for the university's new campus, which was designed by Santiago Calatrava.
Skanska is targeting January 2013 for final completion of North Carolina State University's James B. Hunt Jr. Library. (Image courtesy NCSU)
At North Carolina State University, Skanska is building the James B. Hunt Jr. Library, designed by Snøhetta. There, the contractor is researching the return on investment for various new technologies that the team is utilizing on the project. The results of this research could prove valuable to industry. Below is a recent video showing NCSU students' impressions of the facility, still under construction.
For more details about Skanska USA's selection as Contractor of the Year, be sure to check out ENR Southeast's July 2 issue.
Editor's Note: The above Youtube video was added after this post's original publishing date of May 23.
