The Washington Business Journal recognized Pizzano Contractors for 60 years of excellence at its annual Family-Owned Business Awards in March.
Three generations of the family – represented by Bob Pizzano Sr., Bob Pizzano Jr., Lisa Paul, Kelsey Gutierrez and Will Pizzano – attended the gala to accept the award.
Founded in 1958 out of the back of Bob Pizzano Sr.’s 1947 Ford panel truck, Pizzano Contractors has grown to include 43 employees and over $30 million in annual revenue. The Washington Business Journal published an article, excerpted below, detailing the company’s evolution from its old-school roots.
When a massive flood in Connecticut wiped out his first foray into the construction industry, Robert Pizzano headed to Florida in 1956 to start anew. But a stop in Washington along the way changed his plan.
Now, his commercial interior construction business, Pizzano Contractors, is celebrating its 60th birthday in Alexandria. What started as a small shop that performed remodeling work for law firms has morphed into a venerable contractor with a client list that includes General Dynamics, Allstate Insurance and the U.S. Coast Guard.
But it didn’t quite start out that way.
“Dad was putting an addition on a house, but everything flooded away,” said Robert Pizzano Jr., the company’s president, of his father’s initial venture. “On his way to Florida, he stopped to see my sister and earn a little money. Not too long after he got here, he met my mother and they took it from there.”
