Joseph Jingoli, Chief Executive Officer & Chairman of the Board of Directors, JINGOLI

Joseph Jingoli, chief executive officer and chairman of the board of directors of JINGOLI, sat down with Invest: to discuss the completion of the Jack & Sheryl Morris Cancer Center, how JINGOLI is working to recruit and retain employees from younger generations, and the various opportunities that increasing demand in the energy sector is creating. “We aim to lead by example rather than separating ourselves from others,” Jingoli added.

What changes or milestones over the past year have most impacted JINGOLI and in what ways? 

In the construction business, new projects always have the greatest impact. We recently completed an important project in New Brunswick – the Jack & Sheryl Morris Cancer Center.  We set numerous goals around this project, particularly in scheduling and budget, but we also set a goal of making a positive social impact – and we did.  

Another ongoing and important goal of ours is to expose young people to our industry and encourage them to become interested in what we do by offering them opportunities to learn and grow. Making a positive impact within the younger population is important because their enthusiasm trickles down into their families and into the rest of the community. 

Most of the time, we are building large projects that can be disruptive and cause added noise, road closures, and other inconveniences. 

Getting as much of the community involved and interested in what we are doing on the job through job opportunities is just one of the ways we are making a positive impact.

Over the years, we have enjoyed great success in enrolling young people into our summer programs and into other JINGOLI outreach programs in under-impacted communities. Our industry tends to overlook the people who live where they are working because career training, career development, and placements take a long time to achieve. Luckily, most of our projects are both big enough and long enough in duration that we have the time to identify, recruit, teach, and develop these employees for careers in construction. 

We have also partnered successfully with Recovery Court throughout New Jersey and have recruited individuals through the JOBS (Judiciary’s Opportunities for Building Success) program. We work with people who were formerly incarcerated and need an opportunity, similar to what we have done in reaching young people who are also just looking for a chance. Statistics show that if someone gets a job immediately after being involved in the court system, there is an 80% chance they won’t reoffend. If they don’t get a job, that statistic flips. So, if you need employees, it makes sense to go to a group of people who are interested and eager to learn. 

What challenges and opportunities do you find as a company with strong community values?

Our biggest challenge is to do no additional harm. By that I mean we may be on a job site for a few years and want to do our best to be good neighbors, but we also do not want to take away work from small, local businesses so we work with them, providing bonding and lines of credit so that when we are finished they have the tools they need to be successful in their community.  We work hard to put these programs in place early on construction jobs because developing these relationships is key to being able to work together.  

How does your commitment to union labor and workforce inclusion set JINGOLI apart from competitors in the region?

We aim to lead by example rather than separate ourselves from others in the business. As an industry, if we don’t positively affect our communities, then it is bad for everybody. This approach is not charity; it is good business. 

When it comes to employee retention, my generation has had to change the nature of how we do things to attract and hold onto newer generations of workers. Newer generations are not “sticky;” they are not attached to their cars and do not want a mortgage. They want to be mobile and prioritize their quality of life over work, and therefore, they are not easy to hold on to. As a company, we have changed to ensure that our environment suits the new generations’ wants and needs. 

There is another demographic that lives on the other side of the street that is “sticky,” usually geographically bound by choice, and they need something totally different. This group needs transportation and childcare. The industry needs to focus on the individuals who are “sticky” and make sure they are looking into meeting the needs of these people as well. Understanding and prioritizing the needs of everybody, as well as having a clear understanding of the community and demographics, is imperative. 

You have been advocating for opportunity creation in construction, education, and tourism. What other industries or sectors are on the rise?

Energy is on the rise, and JINGOLI has an energy division. We have made generational investments in distribution, like energy plants, and injected social engineering into those. Renewables are much more expensive, and people are starting to see the impact of those on their bills, but there are a lot of opportunities in transmission, distribution, and generation. Right now, the market is demanding help in the energy sector. We have constrained supply and increased demand, and people wonder why price and reliability are suffering. There are lots of opportunities in and around the energy field. 

How has your Competitive Edge program evolved since 2021, considering new projects like the RWJ Cancer Center or your work with DEVCO in New Brunswick?

The program continues to evolve and grow as we evolve and grow. I believe Competitive Edge is our lead business development tool in building relationships within various industries and markets that we serve. Using our programs to become better known to administrators and educators and within community and faith-based groups for recruitment purposes has become an integral part of our business. From my side, if you have a tool this powerful to develop new business, why not use it everywhere? 

Looking ahead, what are the top priorities and goals for JINGOLI and your broader initiatives in the next three to five years?

JINGOLI is forever growing, changing, and evolving, which is a great thing. Our work is diverse and is happening throughout the county and in Canada, and in the Bahamas. As our management leadership ages and some of us, namely me, work on a retirement plan, we must step to the side to allow others to grow and learn how to take charge. Our younger workforce has significant knowledge of all of this disruptive technology, and that will be largely helpful moving forward. Figuring out how to recruit and retain these highly capable and bright individuals of the younger generations is going to be key to our ongoing success. Integrating this generation with individuals from the community who had none of those opportunities makes for a winning combination. 

The marketplace will continue to see a rise in the nuclear and energy sectors. Until now, the focus has been on renewables; however, we need to focus on other sectors as well. All industries are becoming much more technical nowadays, which is shifting what our future workforce is going to look like.