A 39-year employee who has performed nearly every job there is on a project, Harold Coleman is a seasoned and reliable superintendent who has mastered some of the techniques that made Haskell the leader in the design-build industry, such as tilt-up construction and specialty foundation work.
Coleman comes from a Haskell family, as his brother and dad both worked for the company. He joined Haskell in 1981 through the company’s Permanent Craft Employee (PCE) program, starting as a carpenter helper. He worked hard, learned fast, and rose through the ranks. He became a foreman in 1987 and a superintendent in 1993.
Over the years, Coleman has earned a reputation as one of the company’s best tilt-up construction superintendents, a technique Haskell began to innovate in the 1960s as a way to reduce project costs and accelerate schedules. By the time Coleman arrived, Haskell had perfected tilt-up construction and was pushing the boundaries of its applications, using it to solve complex construction challenges and expand into new markets.
As Coleman puts it, it paid off to master tilt-up early in his career.
“That has been Haskell’s bread and butter for years and years and years,” Coleman said. “When you want to build a great big half-million square foot warehouse, tilt-up is the way to go. It’s a fast, safe and affordable way to erect a building.”
Haskell has applied the tilt-up construction method in both conventional and creative ways, using it to build massive warehouses, schools, multi-story buildings, and even a covered walkway that spans Interstate 95.
A successful tilt-up project requires a significant amount of planning and coordination from beginning to end, as every step of the process is performed on site. It also requires a crew that possesses specialized skills and experience with the technique.
As an industry leading AEC firm with an elite in-house PCE workforce, Haskell’s ability to oversee every step of the project helped the company write the book on tilt-up construction.
Superintendents like Coleman are why Haskell has earned a reputation for results. Coleman has seen it all on the job site, and strives to limit the surprises for his project managers or Haskell’s client when he’s overseeing a job.
“He’s a huge contributor, and he’s always one step ahead of us in the office,” said Todd DiBacco, a project manager for Haskell. “He's always looking at the next step of a project. He can look down the road, see what issues could potentially happen, and already has something in mind by the time we talk about it so that it doesn’t become a problem.”
Todd Russell, director of construction for Haskell’s Infrastructure and Transportation division, said Coleman is also a huge asset on projects that require specialty foundation work. Coleman most recently applied those skills on Haskell’s $23.5 million design-build Building C project for Blue Origin at Exploration Park in Cape Canaveral, Florida, the hub of U.S. space exploration.
“He’s someone you can rely on. You don’t really need to check in with Harold that much during a job, and he always has an answer to whatever questions you have,” Russell said. “He knows everything about Haskell, and he’s a great resource.”
Coleman said Haskell has been a great company to work for, providing employees opportunities to advance their careers and invaluable mentorship at every stage. Not only has he worked his way up through the company, but he can remember “swinging a hammer” with carpenters and other tradesmen who are now vice-presidents and directors.
“It lets you know that Haskell will give you a chance to move up; all it takes is a little ambition and know-how,” Coleman said. “They’re a great company, otherwise they wouldn’t have tolerated me, and I wouldn’t have tolerated them for 40 years.”
