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Gino
Baroni - Giving Back to Lawrence
Tom Duggan
(03/06/07)
With engineering and
construction management degrees from the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology and Merrimack College, and
courses taken at Harvard  Graduate
School of Design and Worcester Polytechnic Institute,
Gino Baroni has his pick of just about any corporate job
he wants in any corner of the world where he decides to
live.
Yet, this former Lawrence native, at the very height of
his success in business and construction management,
chose to forgo more lucrative job opportunities around
the world to come back to his roots and work on projects
in Lawrence and surrounding communities in the Merrimack
Valley.
“I was born in Lawrence and lived at the corner of
Chestnut and Lawrence Streets for years before urban
renewal drove us further up the street,” Baroni
says. “Lawrence is my hometown. I went to pre-school
at the Venerini Sisters, and attended Holy Rosary Grammar
School and Central Catholic High School. Our family has
been in Lawrence for many years. I know Lawrence has had
problems, but I love this city and I really wanted to
come back and do something to make it better.”
“Because of the nature of my profession,” he
continued, “I had to travel all over the
country. But when things slowed down a little and I
finally got the opportunity to decide what I wanted to do
next, I decided to come back to Lawrence. I could
see there were a lot of really good things happening
here, things you just don’t seem to hear enough
about.”
Baroni said that the millions of dollars in private
investments being poured into the city of Lawrence by
people like Bob Ansin of Monarch on the Merrimack and Sal
Lupoli of Sal’s Riverwalk had a lot to do with the
timing of his return.
“I felt it was a critical time to look at coming
back when I saw people like Sal (Lupoli) and Bob (Ansin)
making millions of dollars in investments in Lawrence out
of their own pockets. To me, it was the key sign that
things were really happening here in Lawrence. For years,
people talked about revitalizing Lawrence, but it was
only talk because nothing was happening when you looked
around the city. You didn’t see major corporations
looking to relocate here, you didn’t see major
renovations happening by private developers. But,
suddenly, everything changed. It wasn’t just talk.
People saw they could do something positive in Lawrence
and they were actually doing something about it. It made
me want to be a part of it. So I came back to my home
town to make a difference.”
“You know, Lawrence is ideally situated from a real
estate development/planning point of view. It has
rail access, excellent highway access, the Merrimack
River, an airport - so many resources and so much
potential. Finally, that potential is starting to be
realized. I give Lawrence Mayor Mike Sullivan a lot of
the credit for that,” Baroni said. “With all
that he has to deal with, it is a credit that he has been
able to promote Lawrence the way he has and been able to
attract so many new companies to not only come here, but
be a living part of the solution to revitalizing the
city. That’s the key and I believe if it wasn’t
for Mike and his trusted people, it wouldn’t be
happening.”
 Baroni credits his strong ties
to Central Catholic High School with his sense of
connection and loyalty to Lawrence and the Merrimack
Valley. “I went to school with Mike Sullivan and
Billy Manzi, so I knew these guys since we were kids,”
he continued. “They both continue to promote the
success of the area.”
“Brother Tom Long was a year ahead of us at Central
and when I saw him come back to take over the presidency
of CCHS and take on an ambitious $10 million renovation
project, I said to myself, I need to be here. I need to
figure out what is really going on in Lawrence. From the
outside I started to see the community truly investing in
Lawrence kids at the Boys & Girls Club, the Adalente
Youth Center, and all the other initiatives that were
just starting to happen and it drew me back to the city.
I knew I had the ability to do something here in Lawrence
and make a difference, and I’m glad I came back.”
Asked what he was doing before he returned to the city,
Baroni talked about a long list of accomplishments that
would make any grad student or business person green with
envy.
“Prior to starting Trident I was executive vice
president and chief operating officer at Beacon Skanska
Construction Company, which is part of a world-wide firm
based in Sweden. I was able to steadily grow the volume
of the New England division and, most importantly,
increase profits. We had a lot of fun with some great
people working on projects like Gillette Stadium, Rowes
Wharf, One Post Office Square, One Lincoln Street, Delta
Terminal A, and a lot of other signature projects in
Boston and the country. It was fulfilling to be engaged
on very exciting and challenging projects, working with
some very top notch, highly talented people in project
design and project management.”
“I earned my graduate degree from MIT and
immediately went to work for Beacon Construction Company.
Quite frankly, I thought I was gong to retire there, you
know, the old cradle-to-grave theory. I thought I
was going to be there forever, but unfortunately that
theory no longer works in corporate America. We had a
mutual parting of the ways when they wanted me to go to
another part of the country to duplicate what I had done
in Boston. I wasn’t ready to leave New England; I
didn’t want to leave my roots.”
“But I believe things happen for a reason. I’ve
never been one to wring my hands and say ‘what do I
do next?’ I’ve been an entrepreneur all my life
and I have always believed in making your own
opportunities. I also believe that out of chaos comes
opportunities. I wanted to come back to the Merrimack
Valley for a long time, so I reacquainted myself with
people in the Valley that I knew and began to take on
local projects.”
Baroni started Trident in 1986 when he left Beacon
briefly and went out on his own. “I have a lot of
respect for the small business person. If you are part of
a large corporation, you get kind of lost in the energy
and you are focused on your particular job. But when you
are a small business person you are the janitor, the
accountant, and the president - you do it all. One of the
best educations I got was when I left the large
organization and started my own company. Although I have
tremendous respect for the large corporations, I respect
more the small business person who runs his own business
because you really have to do it all alone and you have
to know everything it takes to keep the doors open every
day.”
“We provide services for a mix of non-profit and
for-profit organizations. I like to work with
non-profits, advising on how they can efficiently deliver
their projects. Every penny we can save working in a
nonprofit situation makes a very big impact. Each dollar
they spend on construction costs in a project takes away
another dollar from accomplishing their mission. So if we
can save them, say 10%, that’s more money for the
kids, for the mission. For Lawrence’s future, we
need to make a difference, to provide an opportunity,
with the kids in Lawrence. I came back to the area and
have participated in some tremendous projects like the
Central Catholic High School renovation project, the
Lawrence Family Development Charter School project, and
the Lawrence Boys & Girls Club project. I am
glad to be back home.”
What does Trident do?
“Trident’s PROJECT ADVANTAGE GROUP assembles
client driven and project specific senior level staff
with a proven project delivery model geared towards that
of a trusted program, business and process advisor to our
clients. Our primary purpose is ensuring the
opportunity to provide our clients with an advantage over
all delivery methods in providing an array of
professional services for oversight, assistance and
direction in land/building acquisition, due diligence,
development, design, construction, and financial
instrument procurement and project administrative
services, targeted at managing the outcome from concept
to completion.”
*Send your questions comments to ValleyPatriot@aol.com
The March 2007 Edition
of the Valley Patriot
The Valley Patriot is a Monthly
Publication.
All Contents (C) 2007, Valley Patriot, Inc.
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