08/12/2024
I felt grateful and honored to attend and be a part of Schenectady Steel’s celebration of their 100 year anniversary. Schenectady steel has always treated my family well. A little known fact is that my parents last project before they retired was an award winning project Warren Harding High School in Bridgeport,CT. 5 months after I started NexGen , I received a call from Claudio saying “I want to give you your first project in Williamstown, MA.” At that time I had zero sales with NexGen and was still bartending until 2am every night just to pay my monthly insurance bill. After hiring a few employees, the Thursday before the project started, I wrote an email to my general manager at Dave and Busters stating I needed a few weeks off to complete my first project and I’ll be back. A week after completing the Library Storage Facility, Claudio called me again “Hey can you do some change order work at a high school?” Because of Schenectady Steel, I never returned to bartending, and I was able to focus on building NexGen and grow it to what it is today. When I was in the process of buying a house during COVID, I was reviewing my books and was in the red. I had in my AR, a retainage bill that would bring my P/L into the green so I mustered up the courage to call Claudio and ask for the payment early and I received the quickest Yes, no problem and was able to be approved for my first mortgage. Schenectady Steel has always looked out for their subcontractors and treated them like they are their employees and family. I will always credit the start of NexGen being successful is because of the willingness of Schenectady to trust me. Because of Schenectady, I have a home and I’m not behind a bar anymore serving drinks. I am able to do something I love. Happy 100 years Schenectady! I will forever always be grateful for the opportunities you have given me!