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Updated: October 18, 2020 Lifetime Achievement Awards 2020

Sullivan reinvents, then helps Standard Builders Inc. thrive

By Liese Klein

“I was newly married and I came home to my wife and said, ‘We have a great opportunity. But it was a good-news, bad-news story — the company was failing.’ ”

Bob Sullivan laughed as he told the story of his decision to become an owner of Standard Builders of Newington. Now president and CEO, Sullivan first decided to sign on with Standard as a project manager in 1987 and ended up helping turn the company around seven years later.

“Standard Builders had and still has a great reputation for how it treats its people, the quality of the work that it did and the quality of the clients. We had to reinvent ourselves,” Sullivan said. “As a young engineer, I took on that challenge.”

A UConn graduate with an engineering and mathematics degree, Sullivan had worked for Pratt & Whitney for nine years prior to joining Standard, internalizing the aerospace giant’s “culture of improvement.” He decided to look for new opportunities when he was asked to take a job that required extensive travel.

“They had a great foundation and client base,” Sullivan said of Standard Builders.

What the company didn’t have was an analytic approach to seeking new business in the midst of a national economic slowdown; traditional markets for new construction in sectors like insurance, banking and defense had slowed dramatically.

Sullivan applied his engineering skills to the problem with the support of the company’s senior leadership. Investments in training and technology helped raise the firm’s profile and attract new business.

“I learned by fire — trial and error,” Sullivan said.

The firm soon secured new projects across New England at hospitals, universities and major retail centers.

“Getting into the healthcare market was a huge deciding factor for us … that helped us expand our client base,” he said.

Current and past clients include UConn Health, Hartford Hospital and Yale New Haven Hospital.

Standard Builders now specializes in building and renovating clinical and educational facilities and managing complex projects like the construction of the Tanger Outlets at Foxwoods.

That retail complex alone required specialized work with utilities, foundations, bridges and integration with the casino structure.

A $60-million company, Standard currently employs 200 people and handles projects valued at up to $100 million in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, New Hampshire and Rhode Island.

Further opportunities may await the builder as healthcare and higher-education institutions contemplate retrofitting their facilities in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“They’re rebuilding their infrastructure and that’s really our market,” Sullivan said.

In the process of leading Standard Builders, Sullivan said he is most proud of nurturing a strong crop of junior executives well placed to guide the company into the future. In one recent episode, a team managing the renovation of a hospital emergency room was forced to change course as the pandemic intensified.

Bob Sullivan

Company: Standard Builders Inc.

Title: President

Education: BS Civil Engineering; BA Mathematics, Licensed Professional Engineer

On the job

Guiding business principle: Do what is right regardless of who benefits from the solution.

Best way to keep your competitive edge: Business is a very humbling experience. As soon as you let up, you are reminded very quickly that there are not many second chances. Over my career there have always been significant market challenges, including steep recessions, a persistent stagnant Connecticut economy, to now a pandemic, coupled with the competition always improving, and I was never allowed to lose my edge.

Best business decision: Initiated a strategic planning process that was inclusive of the future and existing leaders to develop the direction of the company. Additionally, a transition and education plan was developed to prepare these future leaders. This process has provided a solid foundation for Standard Builders to serve our clients in the future consistent with the business model we have become known for, while providing a stable work environment for the talented team at SBI.

Worst business decision: Not doing my due diligence on a start-up company. They were under capitalized for both the construction and their operations. They ultimately failed and we did not get paid.

Biggest missed opportunity: Dick’s Sporting Goods Store … long story! :)

Goal yet to be achieved: It is difficult to identify more goals because I’m so grateful to be where I am. I’m surrounded by a loving, close family, married to the love of my life for 32 years and work with an absolutely amazing team of truly great people, part of which is family! I know God has more in store for my life but I just don’t know what it is right now. I know he will lead me to those goals because he always has.

Personal touch in your office: Family pictures reminding me of the journey.

Personal side

City of residence: Bolton

Favorite way to relax: Family weekends in Maine, my wife’s family home.

Hobbies: Golf

Last vacation: Pre-COVID-19: Hiking Smokey Mountain National Park

Favorite movie: The Ultimate Gift, Fireproof

The car you drive: 2016 Acura MDX

Favorite cause: World Vision

 

 

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