Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Diversity starts in Balestrieri’s own house

By: Erika Strebel, [email protected]//November 15, 2018//

Diversity starts in Balestrieri’s own house

By: Erika Strebel, [email protected]//November 15, 2018//

Listen to this article

balestrieri-environmental-group

For Balestrieri Environmental & Development, diversity has been central to its 26-years of success as an environmental-remediation and industrial-services company.

It also does demolition, hazardous-waste removal and preconstruction inspections. Balestrieri Environmental & Development has worked on buildings ranging from the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Memorial Union and the 833 Michigan project.

The family-owned company has a diverse staff. About 47 percent of its workforce is part of a minority group.

“We’re an all-encompassing organization,” said Katrena Virgin, a project coordinator. “We definitely try to be respectful of ourselves and of others.”

The wide range of perspectives and ideas that stems from the firm’s diversity comes in handy, especially on the jobsite, said Rich Heyer, a project manager.

“It’s helped to not only make the workplace more interesting – just sharing each other’s ideas and cultures, learning about each other – but it also brings a different scope of how we want to go about different projects based on how people were raised or what not,” Heyer said. “It brings a variety of ideas, whether it be culturally or geographically.”

The firm also promotes Balestrieri Services Inc., which is Balestrieri’s women-owned sister company – a rare thing in the construction industry.

Virgin said company officials take pride in the fact that they and their employees put family first. It’s not uncommon to find people from different generations of the same family.

For example, the HR manager’s son works in the accounting department.

“We just take pride in our people,” she said. “We’re always helping to make them better.”

Heyer noted that the firm does hire locally for jobs. Although job sites can seem small at first, people often find that once they start working with each other, the world is much bigger than they expected.

“Diversity is within us no matter what,” Heyer said. “All jobs are diverse.”

Polls

Should Steven Avery be granted a new evidentiary hearing?

View Results

Loading ... Loading ...

Legal News

See All Legal News

WLJ People

Sea all WLJ People

Opinion Digests