Many who walk or drive on or around Fort Hamilton hardly notice them as they, the contractors, go about their daily routines of painting road markings, posting signs, clearing pathways, maintenance or ensuring the installation stays clean and beautified.
What many don't know is that those jobs and many more are award-winning performances. Those contractors work for Fort Hamilton's Re-Engineered Business Solutions Inc., who was selected as the 2012 Installation Management Command's Directorate of Public Works Support Contractor of the Year recently.
"Our staff works really hard and they really deserve the recognition," said Frank Intini, project manager for RBS. "It was a moment of jubilation and I was thrilled for them. They were also thrilled. It's great to get recognized from within, but when you are unknowingly recognized outside the organization, it makes it that much sweeter."
Competing against 75 installations of all sizes within the four IMCOM regions, RBS earned its title with business-as-usual hard work, sweat and dedication. With just over 50 employees, its day-to-day base operations include roads and grounds, maintenance of mechanical systems such as air-conditioning and heat, other electrical repairs, plumbing and much more. During its evaluation period, RBS was evaluated on those tasks and others such as break-down records, turn-around time for repair, scheduling, preventative maintenance, project management, budgeting, building manager meetings, customer satisfaction and much more.
"This base operations contractor is unique," Intini said. "The president of the company, Rob DelRiego, believes in the philosophy of treating the employee right who will in turn treat our customers right. The company receives an award fee every six months which is based on a graded evaluation. As incentive and award, he in turns distributes 25 percent of that award fee among the employees ranging anywhere from $180 to $1,200."
Intini said it helps provide a pride of ownership in what the employees do and builds a sense of eagerness to do things right the first time.
As first times go, this isn't the first time the contractors have proven their worth. In 2005 while under contract with Meridian Inc. with mostly the same staff and personnel, they were selected as Contractor of the Year. The winning contractor can only be nominated and compete every four years, but RBS was awarded the contract in 2008, a year shy of a potential nomination for Meridian.
"We're going to have bragging right for the next four years," Intini said. "That will give us time to grow, improve and to become ever better."
The contractor also has an array of Certificates of Appreciation and Recognition as well as several individual awards. They were notably recognized recently for their participation in the support in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.
"The COTY award was actually unexpected," said Rich Settino, alternate project manager. "This was business as usual and we didn't surge for this nomination. I was floored when I heard because the competition was fierce with a small installation going up against the likes of Fort Bragg and Fort Hood with much larger operations. It was great news."
Andrew Wunsch, RBS branch manager, has been at Fort Hamilton for almost 14 years and was here when Meridian was selected in 2008. He is responsible for scheduling and tasking the employees.
"Most of our staff has been working here for about 14 years or longer, so they really know what they have to do," Wunsch said. "We run a tight ship, which is the way it should be, but it's great to know that we won the award for simply doing the job. It's a great accomplishment for our team."
"The garrison commander talks about Fort Hamilton winning the "Super Bowl." (The Army Community Service Award for best installation). "This is Super Bowl for us, and we hope to continue the streak five years from now," Intini said.
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