Rotarians get Black Construction visit

by Nick Delgado

Guam - The construction boom on Guam that is expected to come with the military buildup was the topic of discussion for island Rotarians today. Senior vice-president of Black Construction company Leonard Kaae gave members and overview of the companies progress and future plans. The company, known for building Home Depot and the ITC Building has been on Guam since 1958.

Kaae says they would like to see the buildup move forward more quickly and says hiring locally is a priority. "It depends on how much work we can get our emphasize is to use as much local workforce as we possible can we have not had any H-2 within our organization since 1982 and initially we don't intend to bring in any workers until we get more work so basically it a matter of how much volume we get," he said.

Although they are a national company, Kaae says most of the profits generated remain here on Guam. Currently Kaae says the company has invested $50 million in property equipment and other assets in the last three years in preparation for the military buildup. Future plans also include construction of two bridges down south.