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Monday, October 2, 2023
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Courtesy of Collavino Family |
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Valentino (Rigo) Collavino was born in Muris,
in the province of Udine,
in the Friuli region of northeastern Italy, in 1926. In
1950, he left Italy to come to Canada.
In 1954, Rigo and his brother, Mario, started their own
business--Collavino Brothers Construction. They
worked long days, laying bricks and blocks, and pouring
concrete. Soon they began building custom homes.
They
went on to bigger and better things; in 1968 they built
the trades wing at the main campus of St. Clair College,
which accommodated approximately two hundred additional
students. In 1969, Collavino Brothers built Windsor’s
first high-rise apartment building (Solidarity Towers). |
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In 1975, Collavino Brothers
Construction diversified their portofolio by opening a precast/prestressed
concrete manufacturing facility in Windsor, Ontario. They serviced
all of Ontario, focusing on the manufacturing and installation
of hollowcore floor. During those early years the Company increased
their scope of work to include more diverse structural precast/prestressed
concrete products and services. In 1978, the Company established
a U.S. subsidiary (Hollowcore Inc.) in order to venture into the
American markets of Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and
New York. |
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During the early years, Rigo brought his son, Loris, to the office to learn the
industry, whenever possible. As he grew older, Loris went to work
at various Collavino job sites throughout Canada and around the world.
He worked in the precast manufacturing plant. Loris graduated from
the University of Windsor in 1983 as a professional engineer.
In 1991, Rigo and Mario went their separate ways, with Rigo retaining
ownership of Prestressed Systems Inc. That same year Loris took over
the day-to-day operations of Prestressed Systems Inc. The Company grew significantly
in the
nineties, and in 2003, it purchased a state-of-the-art production facility
in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Now, with a workforce of over two hundred employees and projects
located from Pittsburgh to Chicago, and Quebec to Kentucky,
Prestressed Systems Inc. is a national leader in the manufacturing
of prestressed/precast
concrete solutions.
Other noteworthy projects that Prestressed Systems Inc. has
been contracted to do are the Metro Detroit Airport parking
deck, Chrysler Canada headquarters parking deck, Villas on Normandy
in LaSalle, and Bridge Street Bridge (the first precast carbon
fibre bridge in North America). A current project is the
new
University of Windsor stadium.
In 2002, the Valentino Collavino family was honoured by the
Canadian Italian Business and Professional Association of Windsor
with
an Award of Excellence in Family Business, and Loris Collavino
is a 2003 Nova Award winner.
Rigo and Loris Collavino along with Prestressed Systems Inc.
are gold medal donors to the Windsor and District Italian Canadian
Handicapable Association, and are regular contributors to the
Children’s
Aid Society, the United Way, and are involved with a humanitarian
work in China, as well as other deserving charities. |
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The
opinions and interpretations in this publication are those of the author
and do not necessarily reflect those of the Government of Canada. |
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