Commodore Builders Focuses on Leadership, Collaboration, Innovation
05/02/2016
By Edwin L. Aguirre
Commodore Builders, founded in 2002 by Joseph J. Albanese ’84, was ranked by the Boston Business Journal last year as the sixth largest veteran-owned business in Massachusetts. The Waltham-based construction company currently employs 177 people and generated nearly $300 million in revenues in 2015. Among its recent projects are major commercial office complexes and retail centers, hospitals, hotels, schools and universities, biotech companies and condominiums across the Bay State. The company also performed restoration work on Boston’s most iconic landmarks such as Faneuil Hall and the Old State House.
“I’m proud the Commonwealth of Massachusetts relied on us to restore the Old State House, a historic national treasure,” says Albanese, a retired captain in the Navy Civil Engineer Corps who serves as Commodore’s president and CEO. “We’re also managing major renovations on respected academic campuses like Harvard and Tufts University, and life-science projects for industry leaders like Biogen and Shire. Each of these projects is an expression of trust in which I take great pride,” he says.
In 2015, Commodore Builders was named by Boston Globe as one of the top places to work in the state for the second consecutive year.
What’s the secret behind Albanese’s success?
“My 29-year military service—and the global perspective it gave me—helped me keep the long view as I guided the company through rocky economic times from 2008 to 2010,” he says. “Those were tough years, but my military training gave me the courage to lead with purpose, to keep my moral compass and to remain loyal to my convictions. I learned that complacency kills—on the battlefield and in the business world. In the military, everyone has a clearly defined job. In my civilian career, I value the same clarity around roles and responsibilities because in an integrated organization, success depends on each person doing his or her job.”
Albanese, who received a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering in 1984 from the University of Lowell (as UMass Lowell was called at the time), credits his education for giving him a solid foundation for his naval and business roles.
“In the Navy, I found out quickly just how practical my civil engineering education would be as it related to the critical thinking I had to do there,” he says. “My education was also instrumental in helping me obtain my MBA from Boston University in 1992. I was particularly proud, and relieved, in 2006, when I finally broke out my college textbooks and notes and studied for my professional engineering license—22 years after graduating—and I was able to pass the test the first time. That’s a clear testament to the quality of education and training I received at U Lowell.”
A Distinguished Naval Career in Construction
Albanese served on active duty with the Navy Civil Engineer Corps (CEC) from 1981 to 1988, and as a Navy Reservist from 1988 to 2010. In his early years as a CEC officer, he oversaw civilian contractors for a major base expansion in Sigonella, Sicily, and managed construction projects in New Orleans, La. Later in his career, particularly after the start of the Persian Gulf War, he was directly engaged with the Navy Seabees.
Over the course of two decades, Albanese worked in a variety of staff and command positions. In 2003, he commanded a 600-person construction battalion, and in 2008 he was assigned commodore of the 7th Naval Construction Regiment, leading three construction battalions in preparation for their deployment to the Middle East. In his own service in the region in 2007, he was commander of the 22nd Naval Construction Regiment (Forward) and Task Group 56.2, operationally responsible for Seabees throughout Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Bahrain and the Horn of Africa.
“I had mentored many junior officers and enlisted Seabees,” he says. “For me, the most gratifying thing has been to watch them grow and to see them today running regiments and battalions and playing such a key role in support of our nation.”
He adds: “I also have many great memories from my years at U Lowell. In business today, I’m still associated with a number of my former classmates. I was a member of the university’s Pi Lambda Phi fraternity. Those brothers are among my best friends today. I’ve been an adviser for the Department of Civil Engineering and a member of the Industrial Advisory Board for the Francis College of Engineering. Through these positions, it’s been great to reconnect with some of my former professors and to see how far the school has come.”
In 2015, Albanese was inducted into UMass Lowell’s Francis Academy of Distinguished Engineers. He resides in Newton, Mass., and has three grownup children— Joseph, 24, Emily, 22, and Rachel, 20.
Reflecting on his success, Albanese offers some simple advice to others: “Life is short. Every day is important. Make each one matter.”