For Bryan Brown, a typical workday begins with a 10-minute climb up hundreds of feet to the top of a tower crane. On a good day he’ll catch a glimpse of the sunrise before getting down to business, orchestrating the movement of critical materials and coordinating with each trade to ensure a safe and efficient workflow as lead tower crane operator for
Manhattan Construction, Falls Church, Va. And when the week comes to a close, he’ll drive more than four hours home to Jacksonburg, W.Va., only to return to the Washington, D.C., area on Sunday and start the process all over again.
Though each day brings something new—jobsite hazards, foul weather, schedule changes—he’s remained committed to the job, and to Manhattan, for the past 25 years.
Ironically, it’s this tried-and-true routine, as well as a commitment to performing at the highest level, that led to a series of firsts for Brown: his first airplane ride (to Hawaii), his first trip to the ocean, his first real vacation with his wife, Tracey, and the first crane operator to be named Associated Builders and Contractors’ (ABC) Craft Professional of the Year.
A Career Calling
Selected from a group of five other craft nominees, Brown received the award at ABC’s 2009 National Convention in Honolulu. Amid the surprise and gratitude at hearing his name announced as the winner, Brown says he remembers his wife screaming and then thinking of his father, a former bulldozer operator who first piqued his interest in running heavy equipment.
“I used to go to work with my dad during the summer in high school,” Brown says. “He would help me out and show me how to run the dozer.”
After graduation, Brown headed to Virginia in search of a job as a laborer, joining Manhattan in 1984. He started out oiling the cranes, learning the basics from the operators and practicing on the weekends—a move that paid off when one of the operators quit and Manhattan gave Brown a shot.
“I saw the respect people had for cranes and I knew it was for me. I had to get in one,” Brown says. “I came down here to do labor and then in 10 months I was making decent money running a crane. By the end of 1984, I was hanging pre-cast at my first job on a tower crane.”
Since then, Brown has been assigned to 24 projects worth more than $1.5 billion, including secured government facilities, hospitals, schools, office buildings and corporate campuses. He’s responsible for managing and operating all hoisting and structural excavation equipment, including tower cranes, hydraulic cranes and lattice boom cranes.
Brown has never logged a lost-time accident, contributing to Manhattan’s 2008 experience modification rate of 0.56. He holds certifications from the
National Commission for the Certification of Crane Operators (NCCCO), Occupational Safety and Health Administration and
North American Crane Bureau, and recently achieved a perfect score on the written and practical portions of the NCCCO exam.
“Bryan consistently challenges himself and his peers to produce at the highest levels of quality, efficiency and safety while accepting the responsibility to train, lead and motivate the next generation of Manhattan craft employees,” says Brian Killion, vice president of operations. “For the past 25 years, I have witnessed firsthand his exceptional talent, extreme loyalty and outstanding work ethic.”
A Win-Win Situation
Though Brown recalls being mechanically inclined throughout high school, he attributes much of his success and work ethic to personality: “I hate to sit and wait and I don’t want anyone to wait on me, so I do everything as fast as I can,” he says.
Currently, Manhattan is making headway on a new $73 million law school building for the Arlington, Va., campus of
George Mason University. When construction wraps up in 2010, the university will have a seven-story, 256,000-square-foot structure with faculty offices, a library, 35 classrooms, a 300-seat auditorium and a 450-space underground parking garage. A half-acre public plaza will round out the project, which Washington, D.C.-based SmithGroup designed for LEED certification.
With the 160,000-square-foot parking garage complete, Brown now focuses on facilitating concrete pours and safely maneuvering supplies to the roughly 80 workers underfoot.
“You can basically reach out and touch the building beside us,” he says. “One has windows up and down the side and I have to load concrete from a busy street. There’s no room to put anything.”
The constricted jobsite is a constant reminder to Brown that everything he flies or picks up requires precision.
“In one of the training classes I took, the instructor asked: ‘What pick is a critical pick?’ Everyone sat there and thought about it and the instructor answered: ‘Every pick is critical.’ It’s true. The job I’m on now is in such tight quarters that everything you pick up goes across a lot of people, so you really have to pay attention.”
To succeed, Brown relies not just on technical expertise, but communication skills honed during two decades on the job.
“All other craft employees and subcontractors rely on his abilities to perform their work safely and efficiently. He is the single point of responsibility for the sequential movement of critical materials and equipment during the
structural phase of a project,” Killion says. “From his crane high above the active work area, he is able to see the jobsite from a different perspective and relay observations affecting productivity or safety to our superintendents on the ground so they can take appropriate actions.”
As Brown mentors a colleague interested in becoming a crane operator, he wants to ensure he covers every component of the job—from safety precautions to organizing which subcontractors get materials first.
“It’s tough being on the teaching side, but I want to do it. I want to make sure I show him everything I know,” he says. “I am a perfectionist—the guys I work with will tell you that.”
That kind of attitude certainly benefits Manhattan, which considers Brown’s accomplishments a key factor in the company’s profitability and competitiveness in the Washington, D.C., construction market. On the flip side, Brown gets to be part of a family-oriented company that offers opportunities for career advancement.
“Manhattan treats me great and I treat them great. It’s give and take,” he says. “I love the challenge of running a crane because it’s something different every day. I enjoy getting up in the morning and going to work, and I’ll likely be a crane operator until the day I retire.”
ABC’s Craft Professional of the Year award honors an employee who excels in his or her field through leadership and a passion for craftsmanship and training. In addition to award winner Bryan Brown of Manhattan Construction, finalists for the 2009 competition included:
- George C. Baxley, a pipefitter with The Shaw Group Inc., Columbia, S.C.;
- William T. Lawings, a boilermaker with Fluor Corporation, Dallas;
- John H. Roberts, a carpenter with Three Rivers Corporation, Midland, Mich.;
- Chesley Stevenson, an electrician with SME Inc. of Seattle; and
- Kenneth Ross Welch, a welder with Ogletree’s, Inc., St. Helena, Calif.
Nominees must be currently employed by an ABC member firm; possess journey-level designation as defined by their employer; and spend approximately 90 percent of their daily job duties and responsibilities either using tools, pro-cesses and equipment, or directing field supervision of craft professionals using tools. Once nominations are judged, winners are announced for participating craft categories.
The overall winner is selected from this group and given the award (and the keys to a new truck from program sponsor Tradesmen International) at the ABC National Convention. Next year’s convention is scheduled for Feb. 3–7, 2010, in San Diego.
For more information, visit www.abc.org/Education_Training/Awards.aspx.