Three Projects, One Unwavering Pursuit of Excellence Building Beyond Boundaries: CCI’s Award-Winning Projects In January, Corporate Contractors Inc. (CCI) was honored with three Gold Projects of Distinction (POD) Awards from ABC of Wisconsin, the organization’s highest honor for construction excellence. These awards showcase projects that demonstrate excellence in skill, teamwork, safety, and creative problem-solving. Winning three Gold PODs in this year highlights CCI’s strong leadership, expert skills, and the strength of its teams working together. The winning projects include new construction of a modern manufacturing facility, adaptive-reuse of an old industrial building, and construction of an advanced learning and training center, each with its own unique requirements, challenges, and opportunities. Gold POD: ABC Supply Learning Center | Beloit, WI The 43,000-square-foot ABC Supply Learning Center is a vibrant and dynamic training center for employees in the more than 970 branch locations across the nation. The state-of-the-art facility was designed to encourage growth, flexibility, and new ideas. Working closely with ABC Supply and EUA, CCI led the project from preconstruction to final completion, with a focus on safety, flexibility, collaboration, and performance. The design-build project features full below-grade basement for utilities, maintenance, and storage, flexible 4,000-square-foot training rooms with movable partitions, 130-seat auditorium, media studio, podcast area, and IT hub, and an impressive open area with terrazzo floors and a large steel staircase. When unexpected challenges, such as underground tunnels, were discovered, the team quickly revised the building plan sequence into two sections, ensuring the project finished safely, ahead of schedule, and under budget. Corporate Contractors, Inc. main office: 3800 Milwaukee Road, Suite 200 | Beloit, Wisconsin 53511 phone: 608.362.2912 | fax: 608.362.8970 | email: info@cciwi.com | website: cciwi.com Winter 2026 Gold POD: ABC Supply Learning Center | Beloit, WI Built on Collaboration, Forging a Lasting Learning Legacy continued on page 2
Three Projects… Gold POD: Henry Dorrbaker’s Pub & Play | Beloit, WI CCI and an incredible buildteam meticulously transformed Henry Dorrbaker’s Pub & Play, former abandoned factory warehouse space into a 15,900-square-foot entertainment venue that celebrates Beloit’s industrial history. Working in collaboration with Geronimo Hospitality Group, Hendricks Commercial Properties, and Angus-Young, CCI and the team worked efficiently and with great attention to detail to complete the project in five months. Highlights from the adaptive-reuse project include 12 duckpin bowling lanes and 9-hole indoor mini golf course and more, full commercial kitchen and 40-seat bar, extensive use of reclaimed materials and historic artifacts, and an outdoor patio with live music stage and fire pits. While overcoming a number of challenges associated with the adaptive-reuse of an old building, CCI achieved success through meticulous planning, effective teamwork, and clear communication. Gold POD: Stainless Tank & Equipment Manufacturing Facility | Beloit, WI The STE manufacturing plant is one of the area’s largest industrial projects: a world-class 400,000-square-foot facility, designed and constructed to produce stainless steel tank trailers utilizing advanced infrastructure and modern technology. Schlosser Steel Buildings designed the facility to expand STE’s production capabilities while showcasing American manufacturing excellence. CCI carefully managed all phases of construction, including coordination of the crane, highly specialized equipment, and utility installations, while maintaining confidentiality and safeguarding proprietary details to ensure project success. The design-build project features highly coordinated structural and MEP systems designed to support heavy manufacturing loads, overhead cranes, and future operational expansion, 38-ft ceilings and 65-ft-wide assembly lines, several crane tracks and five different floor thicknesses (7 to 20 inches), nearly 500 utility drops and over 2,000-ft of floor drains, and a modern two-story office with showroom, fitness center, and breakroom. Celebrating Our Teams and Partners We proudly share this milestone with every associate, architect, engineer, subcontractor, supplier, and client who made it possible. Our heartfelt thanks to ABC of Wisconsin for honoring our team and achievements. Gold POD: Henry Dorrbaker’s Pub & Play | Beloit, WI Timeless Charm Meets Modern Fun, All Delivered in Just Five Months Gold POD: Stainless Tank & Equipment (STE) Manufacturing Facility | Beloit, WI Building a World-Class Manufacturing Powerhouse
Trivial Pursuits 1. What is the world’s most spoken language by number of native speakers? a) English b) Spanish c) Mandarin Chinese d) Hindi 2. Which planet has the most moons? a) Jupiter b) Saturn c) Uranus d) Neptune 3. What is the smallest unit of life? a) Atom b) Cell c) Molecule d) Organelle 4. Which element is liquid at room temperature? a) Mercury b) Bromine c) Both a and b d) Gallium 5. How many bones are in the adult human body? a) 206 b) 196 c) 216 d) 226 Answers: 1) c; 2) b; 3) b; 4) c; 5) a The Future of Leadership: Moving From Management to Mentorship The role of a leader is undergoing a profound transformation. Gone are the days when leadership was synonymous with top-down decision-making and rigid hierarchies. Leaders who will thrive in the coming decade are those who embrace a new paradigm: shifting from managers to mentors, from directors to developers of people. Mentorship matters now more than ever. The rise of remote and hybrid work, generational shifts in the workforce, and the increasing pace of technological change have created an environment where employees seek more than just a paycheck. They seek purpose, growth, and connection. A 2024 Gallup Poll revealed that employees who feel their leader is invested in their development are 3.5 times more likely to be engaged at work. Furthermore, companies with strong mentorship cultures report 20% lower turnover rates and 30% higher innovation output. Mentorship-driven leadership is not about being soft; it’s about being strategic. It’s about unlocking the latent potential within your team, fostering resilience, and building a pipeline of future leaders from within. How do you cultivate a mentorship mindset? • Practice active coaching. Replace the annual review with ongoing, forward-looking conversations. Use a framework like GROW (Goal, Reality, Options, Will) to structure discussions that empower employees to find their own solutions. • Embrace vulnerability. Share your own failures and learning moments. This psychological safety is the bedrock of trust and encourages risk-taking and honest dialogue. • Delegate for development. Instead of delegating only simple tasks, delegate challenging projects that stretch capabilities. Provide the “why” behind the work and act as a safety net, not a micromanager. • Invest in structured programs. Pair junior and senior employees in formal mentorship programs, but leave room for organic, peer-to-peer mentoring relationships to flourish. Provide training for mentors to ensure effectiveness. The ultimate return on investment in mentorship leadership is a self-sustaining, adaptable, and deeply loyal organization. By focusing on developing people, you’re not just building a stronger team for today—you’re future-proofing your entire business. What is the world’s most spoken language by number of native speakers? “The power of positive thinking is the ability to generate a feeling of certainty in yourself when nothing in the environment supports you.” — Tony Robbins Feel The Breeze Wind chill is the “feels like” temperature we get when wind speed is factored in with the actual air temperature. The modern formula—adopted by the U.S. and Canada in 2001—is based on a model of how quickly a human face loses heat in the wind. Essentially, as wind speed increases, it accelerates the rate of heat loss, making the effective temperature feel colder than the thermometer reads. For example, if the air temperature is 20°F (-6.7°C) with a 20 mph (32 km/h) wind, the wind chill index would be approximately 4°F (-15.6°C), indicating a significantly heightened risk of frostbite. Importantly, wind chill only applies to living things. Inanimate objects like car engines or water pipes cannot be cooled below the actual air temperature.
SPEED BUMP Dave Coverly The Soft Skills Renaissance As AI and automation rapidly advance, handling routine analytical and operational tasks, a profound rebalancing of workplace value is occurring. Technical skills have a shorter half-life, while the enduringly human capabilities—empathy, creativity, collaboration, and adaptability—are surging in demand. We are witnessing a fullblown renaissance for soft skills, or more accurately, essential human skills. LinkedIn’s 2024 Workplace Learning Report identified communication, leadership, and problem-solving as the most in-demand skills across all industries. A World Economic Forum report stated that 50% of all employees need reskilling by 2025, with critical thinking and creativity topping the list. These skills are precisely what AI cannot replicate; they are the complement to technology, not a competitor. For businesses to thrive, they must systematically develop these workforce competencies: • Empathetic Communication: This is about active listening, reading non-verbal cues (even in virtual settings), and navigating difficult conversations with compassion. Training should focus on non-violent communication frameworks and conducting feedback conversations that build people up rather than shut them down. • Collaborative Problem-Solving: The complex problems businesses face cannot be solved in silos. Foster skills in facilitation, conflict resolution, and consensusbuilding. Use cross-functional projects as live training grounds, rewarding teams for process and unity as much as for the end result. • Adaptive Agility: The ability to pivot, learn quickly, and manage ambiguity is key. Develop this by creating “safe-to-fail” environments where employees can experiment with new processes or pilot projects. Encourage job rotations and “stretch assignments” that push people outside their comfort zones. • Creative Synthesis: This is the human superpower of connecting disparate ideas to generate novel solutions. Encourage “oblique thinking” time, where teams explore inspirations from entirely different industries or fields. Investing in the soft skills renaissance is not a “nice-to-have” HR initiative. It is a strategic imperative for innovation, employee retention, and customer satisfaction. The organizations that will lead are those that recognize their greatest asset is not their technology stack, but the uniquely human potential of their people. Impressive Feats The Empire State Building was built in just 410 days—one of the most impressive feats in construction history. From the start of construction on March 17, 1930, to its completion on April 11, 1931, the 102-story skyscraper rose at an average rate of 4.5 floors per week. At its peak, workers installed 14 floors in just 10 days. The building’s steel frame was so precisely pre-fabricated that workers often bolted pieces together without needing to drill new holes. The project also had an exceptional safety record for its time, with only five fatalities. The world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, left, uses a unique Y-shaped floor plan and a “buttressed core” structural system inspired by the geometry of the Hymenocallis (spider lily) desert flower. This design helps stabilize the building against wind forces and distributes weight efficiently, allowing it to reach 2,722 feet. During construction, workers poured concrete only at night and added ice to the mix to prevent it from curing too quickly in Dubai’s extreme heat. Now You Know… • Octopuses have three hearts, and two of them stop beating when they swim. • A single teaspoon of soil contains more microorganisms than there are people on Earth. • If you removed all the empty space from the atoms in every human on Earth, the entire population would fit into the volume of a sugar cube. • The pistol shrimp can snap its claw so fast it creates a bubble that, when it collapses, produces a flash of light hotter than the Sun’s surface. • Humans share about 60% of their DNA with bananas.
Visit us online at cciwi.com for more information about Corporate Contractors, Inc., our people, our services and our projects. Visit us online at cciwi.com Considering A Project? Discover The CCI Difference! CCI is a leading commercial, institutional, and industrial general contractor with design-build, construction management, and renovation and adaptive re-use capabilities. Our team is focused on making every project we undertake an eample of inspired design realized by purposeful construction that reflects our clients’ vision. We are proud to be your trusted, singlesource provider for all your building needs. Whether expanding, renovating, or creating new, the dedicated and hardworking professionals at CCI are uniquely qualified to provide a full range of innovative solutions. Contact us today! Empowering Future Construction Professionals CCI is proud to once again participate in the Craftsmen with Character program, an initiative dedicated to helping young people explore meaningful career opportunities. The program connects students with industry professionals to build real-world skills, confidence, and an understanding of the values that shape successful careers in the trades. This year, CCI is honored to serve as a Craftsmen with Character champion site for both The Lincoln Academy and South Beloit High School. In this role, we support students through the program’s classroom instruction while also serving as a mentor site. Ten students are participating in the program this year. A nearby commercial office building project has been selected as the mentor site, giving students a firsthand look at how construction projects take shape. Under the guidance of CCI Senior Superintendent Don R., students will learn how blueprints translate into real-world results and how a project comes to life from the ground up. CCI is excited to have the opportunity to make a meaningful impact on these students’ lives and to support them as they explore potential career paths. From 2025 Milestones to Future Possibilities CCI’s annual meeting offered a rare opportunity to bring together all our remarkable associates from CCI and Lowell Custom Homes for an amazing day filled with learning, camaraderie, team building and celebration! A few highlights: • Acknowledged and honored our fantastic CCI veterans • Applauded outstanding company and team achievements • Reflected on a powerful message from our Founder, Diane Hendricks • Learned from keynote speaker, Quint Studer, who delivered incredible insights • Laughed and celebrated with CCI trivia and shout-outs • Congratulated our Workforce Development awardees and Apprentice graduates • Honored our dedicated team members with the Bradly Awards, Years of Service Awards, and CCI’s Quarter Century Club • Enjoyed a rewarding team-building experience that included building 26 youth bicycles that were donated to a local school. With great pride and gratitude for the opportunities 2025 provided, we look ahead to continuing our pledge of “Delivering the Promise.” We are grateful for our amazing associates, exceptional clients and business partners, talented build-team members, and the communities we serve. With the start of 2026, we want to thank everyone who stands by us for their continued trust, support, and friendship. We are excited about what’s ahead and remain committed to making a positive impact in everything we do.
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