1 00:00:01,235 --> 00:00:03,437 Announcer: ComEd has started a three-year project 2 00:00:03,437 --> 00:00:07,341 to construct a new office complex for over 600 field employees, 3 00:00:07,341 --> 00:00:09,476 engineering and administrative groups, 4 00:00:09,476 --> 00:00:12,579 serving customers on Chicago’s North side. 5 00:00:12,579 --> 00:00:16,850 It will be LEED Platinum certified, reflecting the highest rating awarded 6 00:00:16,850 --> 00:00:20,787 for energy efficiency by the U.S. Green Building Council. 7 00:00:20,787 --> 00:00:22,422 It will replace the ComEd facility 8 00:00:22,422 --> 00:00:26,627 that opened at California and Addison streets in 1930, 9 00:00:26,627 --> 00:00:31,565 on a lot where ComEd operated a coal fired power plant in the early 1900s. 10 00:00:31,565 --> 00:00:35,002 The complex will include a 65,000 square foot warehouse 11 00:00:35,002 --> 00:00:40,340 and a 100,000 square foot office building at the corner of California and Roscoe. 12 00:00:40,340 --> 00:00:44,611 Special features will include a 10,000 square foot STEM education center, 13 00:00:44,611 --> 00:00:47,347 including classrooms for area students, 14 00:00:47,347 --> 00:00:51,585 along with technology and interactive energy efficiency displays, 15 00:00:51,585 --> 00:00:54,488 and more than 300,000 square feet of space 16 00:00:54,488 --> 00:00:58,292 reserved for community and civic group activities. 17 00:00:58,292 --> 00:01:01,528 The project will engage diversity certified suppliers 18 00:01:01,528 --> 00:01:03,063 from the Chicago area 19 00:01:03,063 --> 00:01:05,565 to perform at least 50 percent of the design, 20 00:01:05,565 --> 00:01:07,968 engineering and construction. 21 00:01:07,968 --> 00:01:12,205 Chicago’s Reyes Group was named the general contractor for phase one 22 00:01:12,205 --> 00:01:13,807 of the three-year project. 23 00:01:13,807 --> 00:01:15,409 The first priority was building 24 00:01:15,409 --> 00:01:18,478 the underground storm water containment and storage system 25 00:01:18,478 --> 00:01:20,948 for a six-acre outdoor supply yard. 26 00:01:20,948 --> 00:01:24,851 Marcos: Reyes Group started working with ComEd approximately 10 years ago. 27 00:01:24,851 --> 00:01:29,990 We came in as a subcontractor to one of their contractors of choice. 28 00:01:29,990 --> 00:01:33,260 We’ve also stepped up and performed work with ComEd 29 00:01:33,260 --> 00:01:35,128 as a general contractor as well, 30 00:01:35,128 --> 00:01:37,831 of which the last one is the North yard facility 31 00:01:37,831 --> 00:01:40,067 that we’re currently working on right now. 32 00:01:40,067 --> 00:01:45,405 We just celebrated our 25th anniversary in July of 2017. 33 00:01:45,405 --> 00:01:49,276 Announcer: Marcos says the anniversary milestone was a great achievement 34 00:01:49,276 --> 00:01:52,746 and it’s one he had his heart and mind set on from an early age. 35 00:01:53,680 --> 00:01:55,182 Marcos: Very early in my life, 36 00:01:55,182 --> 00:01:58,986 I knew that I was destined to be a builder, an engineer. 37 00:01:58,986 --> 00:02:02,589 I just was fascinated with structures since I can remember. 38 00:02:03,123 --> 00:02:05,926 Announcer: Young Marcos was only seven when he moved with his family 39 00:02:05,926 --> 00:02:08,161 from Mexico to Chicago. 40 00:02:08,161 --> 00:02:10,230 Marcos: Coming from a small farming community 41 00:02:10,230 --> 00:02:13,633 of approximately, probably 350 people 42 00:02:13,633 --> 00:02:17,404 and coming into Union Station on a hot summer night 43 00:02:17,404 --> 00:02:21,041 in July of 1970 and seeing the skyline, 44 00:02:21,041 --> 00:02:22,976 it completely changed me. 45 00:02:22,976 --> 00:02:28,315 And at the point, I said, one day a little piece of this will be mine. 46 00:02:28,315 --> 00:02:29,716 I actually had a plan. 47 00:02:29,716 --> 00:02:32,052 I knew that education was the key, 48 00:02:32,052 --> 00:02:36,423 so I applied to the best civil engineering school at the time 49 00:02:36,423 --> 00:02:39,292 and I was accepted. 50 00:02:39,292 --> 00:02:41,361 I finished my degree. 51 00:02:41,361 --> 00:02:46,233 And after five years of being out in the field and gaining experience, 52 00:02:46,233 --> 00:02:50,270 I felt I was ready to take a leap and go on my own. 53 00:02:50,270 --> 00:02:52,773 I started out with one 5-man crew 54 00:02:52,773 --> 00:02:57,944 and right now we have the ability to have nine, 10 crews. 55 00:02:57,944 --> 00:02:59,246 I’m very impressed with the way 56 00:02:59,246 --> 00:03:03,216 that ComEd has reached out to the minority contracting community. 57 00:03:03,216 --> 00:03:08,021 They’ve made opportunities available that otherwise would not be available. 58 00:03:08,021 --> 00:03:12,092 They believed in our ability to get the job done 59 00:03:12,092 --> 00:03:16,263 because we had the people, we had the resources, 60 00:03:16,263 --> 00:03:17,964 we had the equipment, 61 00:03:17,964 --> 00:03:22,235 and even though we had never done a job for them of this magnitude, 62 00:03:22,235 --> 00:03:25,906 they realized that we were the right team to do it. 63 00:03:25,906 --> 00:03:28,975 So we’re going to keep going and we’re going to continue to grow.