For construction companies like Corrado & Sons, Inc., Souderton, Pa., family and work are intertwined. Brothers Piero, Sandro and Maurizio Corrado have been involved in the family masonry business since their youth. As vice president, Sandro now manages day-to-day operations, while Piero serves as president. Maurizio has stepped away from the company after many years of service, and the oldest brother, Angelo, runs his own construction business in nearby Kutztown, Pa.
Though the Corrados call Pennsylvania home, the history behind this company’s family tree is rooted in Castelfranci, Italy, where the boys’ father, Luigi, began working as a mason’s tender in 1950. At age 11, he started learning to work with a wide array of materials, including brick, stone, marble and tile. With a knack for artistry and craftsmanship, it wasn’t long before he became a master mason and craftsman.
After moving from Italy to Pennsylvania in the mid-1980s, Luigi began his own masonry company. Though the endeavor started small, Corrado & Sons has become one of the largest masonry companies in the tri-state area of Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey, and has developed a reputation for exceptional brick and block construction in the residential and commercial sectors.
Sandro Corrado joined the family business as a teenager, starting off as a day laborer and a bookkeeper. When the time came, he decided to fulfill his dream of attending college. He moved across the state to attend the University of Pittsburgh, graduating with a degree in business administration in 1992. With a solid education and degree under his belt, Corrado accepted his father’s offer to come on board as a partner and help grow the business.
“When the company first started, it was just my father and brothers Piero and Maurizio,” Corrado says. “Little by little it has grown, and by the time I got out of college, we had 12 to 15 employees.”
Business has flourished, with the company now employing 65 people. Although it began as a mom-and-pop operation, the Corrados quickly realized they weren’t the only ones relying on the health of the company.
“We had to start treating the company in a way that could survive without us,” Corrado says. “We tried to build it in a way that outlives us all.
“A very natural thing for any family business is the ability to let go,” Corrado says. “We learned to delegate and manage the business better. We standardized all of our practices and diversified the management of the company. So far, it’s helped us grow. We couldn’t have grown without that game plan.”
Corrado credits his education and general business sense for helping him and the company grow successfully throughout the years.
“I’m very objective and level-headed,” he says. “The business skills and a sixth sense of how it works helps me to be focused on how to succeed and to be aware of the risks of what we do.”