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GLY Construction Announces Leadership Transition

Lee Kilcup	Jim Karambelas

GLY Construction Inc. began a new fiscal year on October 1st with a long-planned executive transition in keeping with the company’s legacy of systematic leadership passages. With the retirement of Lee Kilcup Jim Karambelas now serves as CEO in addition to president and Senior Project Managers Bill DeJarlais and Tyler Tonkin have been promoted to principals.

Since joining GLY in 1995 Karambelas’ forward-thinking and transformational leadership has been critical to the growth of the firm – helping to establish GLY as one of the largest locally-owned construction firms in the Pacific Northwest. In 1999 he became a shareholder and continued to rise to positions of greater responsibility and authority while managing increasingly complex and sophisticated projects. In 2005 he became a vice president and in 2008 was named president. Along the way Karambelas built a reputation for strong leadership and superior client service.

In his new role Karambelas will continue to lead day-to-day operations and supervise the Executive Group while assuming overall authority for the company’s focus and strategy for the future. Karambelas will continue to foster the focused and proactive customer service that GLY is known for confirming that “GLY’s mission is to be our client’s partner achieving successful delivery of projects through intelligent and innovative solutions.”

Karambelas will be supported by a well-established Executive Group including Vice Presidents Ted Herb Mark Kane Dale King and Steve Peterson. As a team they offer a breadth and depth of experience dedication to forward-thinking solutions and deep commitment to our clients. Fellow principals and shareholders Jim Elliott Steve Hoffmann Monty Kilcup and the newly appointed Bill DeJarlais and Tyler Tonkin share these values.

Karambelas’ appointment to CEO follows the retirement of Lee Kilcup after a 27-year tenure at GLY where he played a major role in shaping the mission and direction of the firm. In addition to spearheading company initiatives such as long-term strategic planning sector diversity and development of the company’s vision and values Kilcup has been a significant leader in the construction industry most notably as president of the Associated General Contractors (AGC) of Washington in 2009.

Kilcup will remain connected to GLY continuing to work on selected strategic and project initiatives. “This transition is the culmination of years of development and planning and the natural evolution of GLY’s leadership” notes Kilcup. “I am confident that our leadership team will lead GLY into the future with a fresh vision that will invigorate our company while remaining rooted in the values that have been instrumental to our success.”

A key element of the company’s success lies in strategic development of internal talent and the thoughtful predictable process of transitioning company management. With this transition GLY is celebrating a legacy of successful passages that bridge the company’s past present and future.

In that spirit GLY promoted DeJarlais and Tonkin to principals and shareholders. They will also continue in their senior project management roles leading large complex projects for the firm. DeJarlais and Tonkin were chosen for their many valuable qualities including their dedication to personal development ability to successfully lead internal initiatives and consistent achievement of measurable results with clients. Both are excited to contribute to the legacy and growth of the company and are equally passionate about mentoring the next generation of GLY leaders.

Bill DeJarlais LEED AP – With an architectural background and over 20 years of project management and engineering experience DeJarlais brings value to his projects through an unparalleled understanding of overall cost management sustainability structural issues and modeling technology. Since joining GLY in 1997 notable projects include Amazon.com South Lake Union Discovery Center The Bush School Woodinville Town Center and Timber Ridge at Talus.

Tyler Tonkin – Tonkin has been with GLY since 1998 specializing in world-class healthcare construction management. Tonkin has a deep understanding of this complex environment particularly the importance of maintaining critical hospital services and a quality patient-care experience during construction. Tonkin’s team-build approach at Highline Medical Center’s Birch Wing Harrison Heart & Vascular Center and Overlake Hospital Medical Center has been highly successful.