Recognizing the benefits of having labor and management, in 1999 chairman emeritus Leo V. Marshall, President of J.L. Marshall & Sons, Inc. reached out to the eighteen (18) unions of the Rhode Island Building and Construction Trades Council to form what was initially named the Rhode Island 21st Century Labor Management Partnership.  This partnership, which was renamed in 2005 to BuildRI, was formed in order to promote labor and management’s mutual interests in the union construction industry, as well as the general economy of our State. 

Since our inception BuildRI has met with countless developers, institutional users, and public entities to convey the benefits of using union contractors who employ professional tradesmen and women. During that time, we have negotiated Project Labor Agreements and Memorandums of Agreements for prominent, complex construction projects worth billions of dollars across Rhode Island. We have advocated for numerous private and public projects that have had a tremendous positive effect on the local economy.

BuildRI has also zealously lobbied our local, state, and federal government for legislation that promotes and/or results in local economic development, as well as legislation that “levels the playing field” for law abiding contractors.

A testament to Mr. Marshall’s vision, as well as the hard work of numerous labor leaders and contractor association representatives, is the fact that since our inception most local commercial, industrial and residential construction projects of any significance have been built primarily, if not exclusively with union workers and contractors.