The Other Side of the Business

BLOCK Superintendent Gary Jordan prides himself on having excellent working relationships with trade partners. He knows that their work will be a major component of any finished project and that coordinating their efforts is important to keeping a project on schedule. Yet the main reason Gary is so comfortable collaborating with trade partners is because, quite frankly, he used to be one.

Gary’s passion for building started in high school. He remembers woodshop class being his favorite part of the day. So, naturally, when it was time to look for a summer job, Gary quickly found himself gravitating towards a construction site. He spent those years as a laborer, learning about the industry from the most hands-on perspective anyone could imagine. Despite this experience, construction was a bit of an afterthought in his career plans. He signed up to join the Navy during his junior year of high school with the idea that he would apply to be a state trooper when his time serving his country ended. After two years of service, Gary was honorably discharged and found a job working in security while his civil service application was being processed. “It took about a week for me to realize that it wasn’t the career for me,” Gary says with a laugh. Once again, he found himself wanting to be a builder. So, Gary got in contact with the construction firm he worked for during high school and spent the next several years working as an apprentice on both residential and commercial sites.

Around the year 2000, Gary had achieved a high enough level of technical proficiency that he decided it was time to open up his own shop. He left his job and began doing gradually larger projects on his own, eventually labeling his new operation “The Boston Hammer” after Gary’s primary tool-of-choice. In due time, Gary found himself working under larger contractors in any area of construction you could think of. “Demolition, framing, tile, windows, doors, finishes, and some things I’m probably forgetting. My small team and I did those jobs on all types of projects for a few different companies,” he recalls. The real industry lesson for Gary during this time was understanding the relationship between a trade partner and other project stakeholders like superintendents, project managers, owners, architects and other trades. He quickly found out the types of individuals he wanted to be surrounded by, and those that he didn’t. “It was always great to work with other contractors who were concerned about quality and doing things the right way. Those people were usually the best communicators and team players when it came to dealing with us trades.”

Eventually, Gary’s passion for quality work earned The Boston Hammer bigger and bigger projects, including expansive commercial renovations. Suddenly, Gary found himself looking to sub out work to people like himself. As always, he remained focused on partnering with people who had the same outlook on doing work with an eye for detail that he did. His background and technical expertise helped him communicate and see eye-to-eye with trade partners on various aspects of project work.

Bigger projects meant more employees, more paperwork and more managing of the business for Gary. Like it did for many, the time of COVID-19 created unique challenges for The Boston Hammer when it came to finding skilled employees, sourcing quality materials and landing projects that matched Gary’s vision. Around this time, Gary was feeling ready for a new challenge when he got a text message from friend and BLOCK VP Cory Bailey, whom he had met a few years back when their daughters were on the same soccer team. “I remember he texted me asking if I knew anyone who might be looking for a superintendent role, and I thought maybe that might be a good fit for what I’d like to do next in my own career,” said Gary.

After a few more conversations, Gary decided to jump on board with BLOCK in 2022. He admits to having a few reservations before getting started. For almost 30 years, Gary had been used to swinging a hammer every day and getting his hands dirty on the job site. “I was concerned I might get bored if my whole day was reduced to computers and paperwork, but I trusted Cory and Dan when they told me my experience was a great fit for the type of people they want managing the day-to-day work on a project.”

Two years later, Gary has the opportunity to use his technical knowledge to add value in many different stages of a project for BLOCK. He is known for closely scouring the details of an architect’s drawings and trying to anticipate issues that may come up when a plan goes to paper to reality. When he spots one, a simple RFI submittal can often avoid costly slowdowns and spending valuable days trying to figure out a solution on-the-fly.

Of course, Gary’s greatest strength is his ability to see things from a trade partner’s perspective. His many years of hands-on experience allow him to speak the same language as them and to coordinate amongst the trades on a given project. A big part of any project he supervises is to hold meetings with all the trade partners on a given project involved in the discussion. Doing so allows Gary to facilitate conversations between trade partners whose work is interconnected and make sure all the details have been evaluated and planned for adequately.

Now comfortable in his role at BLOCK, Gary no longer has any trepidation about his transition to the other side of construction management. He is still known to jump in and break out his tools when the situation calls for it. More importantly, however, he now can utilize his hands-on experience and skills as a collaborator to have an even greater impact on a project than a simple hammer could ever provide.