Five Questions With: Robert Murray

Robert Murray is president of Bond, a construction company with more than 750 employees that operates in nine states and is establishing an office in Providence. / COURTESY BOND
Robert Murray is president of Bond, a construction company with more than 750 employees that operates in nine states and is establishing an office in Providence. / COURTESY BOND

Robert Murray, president of Bond, spoke recently with the Providence Business News about the company’s decision this year to establish an office in Providence. Bond, headquartered in Everett, Mass., has more than 750 employees and operates in nine states. In Providence, it occupies a 5,000-square-foot office at One Cedar Street. The construction management and general contracting company employs about 25 people on Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts projects, which will be coordinated out of the Providence location.
PBN: Bond recently opened its first office in Rhode Island, at One Cedar Street in Providence. Why did the company establish a presence in Rhode Island?
MURRAY:
The Rhode Island market has always been a part of our long-range, strategic plan. And we have a lot of clients in the Providence area. Also, we see a lot of talent opportunities, in terms of human capital down here. We’re pleased with the overall direction the state is going, which is the “why now” answer. We’ve gotten to know your governor, and we think the timing is right for us to come into the market.
PBN: When you say “human capital,” do you mean recruiting here?
MURRAY:
Yes, the big issue for us is we’ve been building in Providence and Rhode Island for over a decade. One of the key issues that we’ve recognized is to really make a long-term commitment to Rhode Island we really have to have an office presence here, and we have to hire local talent.
PBN: What are some of the notable projects you’ve worked on in Rhode Island?
MURRAY:
We did a major project in 2009 for Roger Williams University, their North Campus Residence Hall. It’s a signature project on their campus, a 350-bed, LEED-certified residence hall. We have been working on the Brown University campus, doing [utility] infrastructure projects for them for the last decade. We’re on the fifth phase of a 10-year program. We’ve completed prior projects at Bryant University. And we’re active right now on the Bryant campus and the Brown campus. Our organization is broken up between education, healthcare and infrastructure services, which includes utility infrastructure and power and energy services.
PBN: What projects are you now working on, give us a few examples?
MURRAY:
Probably the most notable project is the Academic Innovation Center at Bryant University. It’s Bryant’s flagship academic building. The educational sector is important to us, first and foremost, because the quality of the construction is very high. The programming of these facilities is very innovative and leading edge. It requires a lot of collaboration and problem-solving to construct them correctly. That’s really a space that we focus on.
PBN: Are you moving into this market for the potential for growth?
MURRAY:
We think Rhode Island is definitely on a growth trajectory. We’ve been watching that issue closely. We’re starting to see the right economic policies in place. We feel very good about the direction Rhode Island is going in overall. We have a core group of clients that we need to continue to service. By establishing a permanent office here it’s going to give us an opportunity to expand with new clients and probably some other work types as well.

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