COMPANY HISTORY
Even compared to the rest of the Roaring Twenties, 1927 was a watershed year. It was then that Lindbergh first flew across the Atlantic, that Jolson sang onscreen in the first "talkie" motion picture, and that Babe Ruth became the first major leaguer to slug 60 home runs in one season. In Chicago, meanwhile, the KENNY Construction Company first evolved from a family partnership into its present corporate form.
Today, the 81-year-old industry icon is known internationally as an award-winning problem-solver for which no engineering challenge is too daunting. In its early days, Kenny primarily supported utility companies in and around Chicago. Now headquartered in Northbrook IL, the contractor is working on Subways, Tunnels, Airports, Stadiums, Buildings, Hotels, Power Plants, Mass Transit, Bridges, Highways, and other infrastructure, all over the world.
Kenny's extraordinary growth really began in the 1930's, as it rode the Depression-era wave of large public works projects into a new area of expertise. Public works soon became an integral part of its operations, and that ultimately brought about a profound change in the post-war character of the company. No longer did Kenny find itself geographically limited to the Midwest. Between 1950 and 1968, the company completed contracts from New York to San Diego. Today, public and private owners in Europe and Asia are often on the other end of the phone, as well.
The firm is probably best known for its crisis management and emergency response expertise, which was first showcased nationally in 1992 during the "Great Chicago Flood". That fluke disaster saw the Chicago River crash into long dormant underground coal tunnels which still connected virtually all the commercial and retail buildings in Chicago's Loop. Faced with stunning economic paralysis that threatened even the Chicago Board of Trade, Mayor Daley immediately called on Kenny to stop the bleeding, plug the leaks, and restore order. And Kenny calmly delivered.
That success earned Kenny national awards and an even higher level of industry recognition and respect. It subsequently added to its can-do reputation with a long series of successes, from performing Emergency Deep Tunnel Pumping Station Repairs for the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, to finishing the seven-mile, 32-ft-dia. $194.5 Calumet Deep Tunnel one-year ahead of schedule. That project set five world records for tunneling, and was honored by the Associated General Contractors of America with its prestigious "Build America" Award as the outstanding Public Works project in the United States in 1995.
Today, Kenny operates primarily in five separate divisions: Tunnels, Transportation, Underground, Buildings, and Power. Its experience in the fundamentals and general foundation of the industry has led to a working familiarity with virtually all the contracting specialties needed to complete the most difficult and complex projects, on time and within budget. Time and again - from coast to coast and around the world - Kenny's expert, systematic approach to resolving complex engineering problems has repeatedly satisfied both public and private owners with both efficient and economical performance.
Through it all, SAFETY has always been a top priority, an inescapable reality given the dangerous nature of much of the firm's work. On every job, the well-being of its employees is inextricably tied to the financial health of the company, and management never forgets that. As a result, Kenny has established itself as a national leader in safety, continuously reviewing and updating its safety programs. Now, Kenny safety officers are recognized experts who teach classes to colleagues and competitors, as well as engineering students.
In 2003, in fact, Kenny became the first and only U.S. construction firm ever to win the National Safety Council's prestigious GREEN CROSS MEDAL for safe performance. That unprecedented achievement was further validated in 2007, when the American Road & Transportation Builders of America (ARTBA) named Kenny "Safe Contractor of the Year" for self-performing over one million man-hours of accident-free work in the preceding year.
Such leadership in safety, however, is just part of the company's across-the-board commitment to excellence, and to its people.
Permanent Kenny employees enjoy myriad opportunities for advancement in a work environment that engages all members of the organization. Senior management continuously solicits open discussion, cultivates positive attitudes, and stimulates employee morale. Nothing takes the place of genuine communication, participation and involvement. And few companies, in this or any industry, enjoy the depth of participation and involvement that Kenny does. As a result, our permanent employees' average length of service is 11 years.
As a national contractor with extensive experience in the direct hiring and supervision of union craft-persons, Kenny actively works at the local, regional and national levels to insure that the unions with which we deal understand and respect the firm's interest and its Customers' needs. Indeed, Kenny's familiarity and long history with the local unions is one of its strongest competitive assets. Through years of dealing with the various unions, we have established a reputation for being fair to union craft-persons, but firm in our expectations that they will live up to all of their contractual commitments.
KENNY firmly believes that the major difference between construction companies is its people: organization, management, and staff. To make a company successful, it takes people who are imaginative and innovative in developing new construction methods and techniques. But it also takes a commitment and drive to be the best, and to satisfy customers beyond even their own expectations. For more than eight decades, Kenny has continued to deliver on that promise, time and again.