All the signs of permanence
After 15 years in the USA, Odebrecht is building high-tech projects and confirming that it has come to stay He lives on in his co-workers’ memory
written by ◦ Humberto Werneck photos by ◦ Eduardo Barcellos

It was almost time for Odebrecht to tender its bid – and just then the fax broke down. After all that work, the company ran the risk of being left out of the tender for a contract to expand Metromover, a people mover in downtown Miami (see photos and map online at: http://web.presby.edu/~jtbell/transit/Miami/Metromover/ and www.tramways.com/subways/miami.metromover1/mimemo1h.html ).Teetering on the brink of disaster, CEO Luiz Oswaldo Leite didn’t hesitate: he ran to the coffee shop next door, grabbed their fax machine and carried it back to Odebrecht’s office as the astonished Peruvian owner, Javier, looked on. That quick thinking saved the day. Not only did Odebrecht tender the bid on time but the company won its first contract in the United States in February 1991. There was also a happy ending for Javier, who got his fax machine back with the Odebrecht team’s thanks and apologies.

Curiously enough, this kind of improvisation marked the beginning of one of Odebrecht’s most successful experiences outside Brazil. Fifteen years later, the Brazilian company’s American branch can take pride in the outstanding position it has established in the USA.

The numbers attest to Odebrecht’s achievements: the company has built a total of 45 projects in the US states of Florida, California and North Carolina, worth a total of over USD 2 billion. Odebrecht is the most active contractor at Miami Airport, one of the busiest airports in the country, where the company has won 15 contracts and is currently building projects valued at approximately USD 700 million – a figure that is due to grow when it begins work on the North Terminal in March 2006. “We are very pleased with Odebrecht’s work here, which qualifies them to do even more,” says Miami Airport’s Vice Director, John W. Cospoer. Odebrecht figured in 13th place in the ranking of the 25 largest airport contractors around the world in 2004, published last October by Engineering News Record – ENR (www.enr.com). When its performance in 2005 is taken into account, the company’s position in the ENR ranking will be even higher.

Odebrecht is also building the Performing Arts Center (PAC) in Miami, which is set to open in the second half of 2006. This USD 280-million project is not the first Miami landmark Odebrecht has helped build: for example, the company took part in the construction of the American Airlines Arena, the official headquarters of the Miami Heat basketball club, which can seat up to 20,000 spectators and opened in December 1999.

And that’s not all. Odebrecht Construction has also changed Miami’s landscape by building the Golden Glades interchange, which is 2.5 km long and has piers standing up to 25m in height. It has constructed buildings like the Ritz-Carlton Key Biscayne Resort & Spa and the headquarters for Miami-Dade County’s non-recyclable solid waste service; and built Ocean Steps, a magnificent residential building with a shopping mall on the ground floor, as well as helping preserve architectural gems in the art-deco style by restoring the charming old Bancroft Hotel. (log onto www.richmondsounddesign.com/2001.html to see dozens of pictures of art-eco buildings on the South Miami Beach Art Deco website)

“When we first arrived in this country, we were building projects worth under USD 20 million, and now we’re getting USD 700-million contracts,” says engineer Luiz Rocha, 52, a native of Rio de Janeiro who joined Odebrecht 32 years ago. Formerly the CEO or DS for the USA, he has been COO for International Operations in the United States, Mexico, Europe and the Middle East since early 2005. “Now we are competing with the leading US companies,” says Luiz Rocha. “We aren’t seen as foreigners any more,” he adds. “We’re an American company working in the USA.”

Solid proof of this fact is that, by November 2005, there were just 20 Brazilians among the 136 people working at Odebrecht Construction. Twenty-two nationalities are represented on that team, in a productive Babel of English-speaking Americans, Portuguese-speaking Brazilians and Spanish-speaking Latin Americans from several countries. In any language, they could all celebrate this fact as an important stage in the company’s growth that provides a concrete indicator of its maturity. When Odebrecht first began establishing a presence outside Brazil, its home country was also its base of operations, and all its expatriate members were Brazilians. Today, seven of the Group’s members working in the Middle East are American nationals.

“The talent for international operations comes naturally as a result of the application of the Odebrecht Entrepreneurial Technology.” This is the analysis of engineer Paulo Suffredini, who was born in the northeast-Brazilian state of Bahia 51 years ago and has been with Odebrecht since 1976. Suffredini is the Executive Vice President responsible for projects being carried out by federal agencies of the United States Government, such as projects being built for the US Army in the Middle East. “Our basic tenet is serving each of our clients, wherever they need us to be,” Suffredini observes.

Odebrecht Construction is not just an ad hoc venture carried out by Brazilians camped out on foreign soil to build a project and beat a swift retreat. And Luiz Rocha wants to make this perfectly clear: “We haven’t come here to exploit an opportunity. We’re here to put down roots.” With that aim in mind, from the very start, Odebrecht’s teams have built up long-term relationships based on mutual trust, which is the only way to ensure genuine, profound and lasting integration with the local community. Odebrecht has made painstaking and patient efforts to develop a network of partnerships with minority-owned businesses known as Community Small Business Enterprises, which must earn between USD 1.5 million and USD 5 million per year to qualify for the share of public works projects reserved for them under US law. When managing contracts, Odebrecht has always sought to go beyond the legal requirement of 10% Community Small Business Enterprises, and that is just one of the factors that is making the company stand out in the US market.

“We view our subcontractors as partners, and that factor has set Odebrecht apart in the US market,” says Antonio Pinto, 45, who has degrees in business administration and architecture. Also a native of Rio de Janeiro, he has been with the company for 20 years. At the moment, he is the Project Manager for another concourse (a facility for departing and arriving passengers that is connected to the terminal building) at Miami Airport – a USD 100-million project.

Being open and willing to establish close ties with the local community and placing itself at the community’s service has been a constant characteristic of Odebrecht’s US subsidiary ever since was officially established on August 20, 1990, a milestone in a history that is worth remembering.

The company’s first home in the US was a ground-floor office in a building near Miami Airport. It was so cramped that some meetings had to be held outdoors – standing at the sidewalk counter of Javier’s coffee shop. Civil engineer Gilberto Neves, 45, a Brazilian from Minas Gerais, has been with Odebrecht for 22 years and in Miami for 15. Now the CEO, DS - Florida, he remembers those days well: “We even held hiring interviews right there at the counter, drinking cortadito,” he says, referring to the name for coffee with milk made popular by the hundreds of thousands of Latin American immigrants and Latinos living in Miami-Dade County.

A member of the original team, Gilberto Neves relates that some time later the company was able to move into slightly larger offices on the upper floor the same building. In 1992, the company moved to a building on 12th Street and finally settled down in its present headquarters in Coral Gables in the mid-90s.

Building a career step-by-step

Back in the beginning, every step took tremendous effort. Project Executive Marcos Tepedino, 50, has been with Odebrecht for 29 years. He was also a member of that pioneering team, as Project Director for Metromover. He recalls: “Back then we couldn’t even buy a bag of nails. Since nobody knew who we were, we didn’t have any credit with local suppliers.” This was nothing to be concerned about, says Gilberto Neves. On the contrary: “The fact that we came in through the back door, as it were, taught us how to do business in this country.” And there was plenty to learn: accustomed to carrying out all stages of a project as the sole contractor, the company would begin operating differently in the United States: managing subcontractors who carry out every aspect of a project.

Odebrecht originally had two subsidiaries in the United States – one in Florida and the other in California, where the company has built major projects including the Seven Oaks Dam (see step-by-step photos of the construction of the Seven Oaks Dam at www.spl.usace.army.mil/resreg/htdocs/7oaksphoto.html ). At the turn of the millennium, the two subsidiaries merged and focused their operations on southern Florida, with Miami as their base. “We’ve taken the path of balanced growth,” explains Gilberto Neves.

According to Marcos Tepedino, forming a basic management team was a complex task for the Brazilian newcomers. However, they gradually identified and incorporated new talents into Odebrecht. Several of these members, such as Human Resources Manager Daphne Di Pasquale have been with the company for many years, which is unusual in a market where people generally spend their careers moving from one company to another, often lured by signing bonuses.

The home of perfect sound

“In the US, you have to change companies a lot to get ahead,” explains Project Executive Jesús Vazquez, 44, a Cuban-born engineer whose parents moved from Havana to Miami when he was a baby. His recent track record includes the American Airlines Arena construction project, and he is now responsible for the Performing Arts Center. Vazquez worked for several companies before joining Odebrecht in 1997, and says he is sorry he didn’t do it sooner. Smiling broadly, he says: “I’ve told the bosses that this is going to be my last job….”

When asked why he is so attached to the company, Jesús Vazquez mentions its “family atmosphere.” “Odebrecht is a big company, but it’s still a family,” he observes, attesting to one of the Group’s main sources of pride in the US and worldwide: being a large company with the spirit of a small firm.

It is not surprising that Jesús Vazquez viewed the prospect of working long and hard until the final stages of the American Airlines Arena project with good humor and enthusiasm. Just a few hours before the facility was due to open on December 31, 1999, there he was at the wheel of a cart to pick up the last remaining pieces of trash. It was 9 p.m. when, having made sure that there was nothing left to do, Vazquez went home and took a shower. Exhausted but proud of his team’s performance, he got back to the Arena just in time for singer Gloria Estefan’s concert. “The only reason I didn’t stay till the end was because my wife and daughters had other plans for New Year’s Eve.”

Project Manager Brian Perantoni Jr., 30, has been with Odebrecht for seven years. He, too, views the company as being “like family.” In his case, he means it almost literally because his father worked for Odebrecht until his untimely death, leaving behind a powerful image as a person and professional who is still inspiring his colleagues years afterwards. Now the number-two man on the South Terminal project, Brian Jr. knew the company well before he was hired because during their school vacations his father used to take him and his brother Scott to the jobsite, where they worked alongside him, practically as construction workers.

Brian Jr. got to like it. “This is my first job,” he says, “but I’ve seen enough to know that Odebrecht does much more for its people than any other company would.” Greg Mears, 46, an American from Miami who has spent a decade with Odebrecht, has the same impression. He was working as a machine operator for a subcontractor when Odebrecht hired him in 1994. He doesn’t seem interested in moving to another company. “I’ve grown here,” says Greg, who is now a Senior Superintendent on the South Terminal project. “They respect you here and value your opinions,” he adds, referring to the system of delegation provided by the Odebrecht Entrepreneurial Technology (TEO). His colleague Marc Poropat, 43, agrees. A native of Chicago who has spent nine years with Odebrecht, he is also a Senior Superintendent on the same project. Marc sums it up this way: “While some companies operate through intimidation, here we work as a team.”

The Project Director for the South Terminal, Argentine-born engineer Luis Arditi Rocha is equally enthusiastic. When he was 26, Odebrecht recruited this young talent from Florida International University (FIU), where he was working and studying. The “head hunter” who discovered him was Business Development Manager David Peebles, an engineer and administrator who has a keen eye for future businesses and opportunities, as well as talents. Arditi loves Brazil – at the age of 14, while still living in the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires, he bought a Portuguese dictionary and was determined to learn Brazil’s national language, which he now speaks fluently. He immediately accepted Odebrecht’s invitation and joined the team that was striving to win its first contract at Miami Airport, for the American Airlines cargo facility project.

The amazing life of an opportunity scout

He looks back on those days as a pioneering time: just before work was about to start, he set out in a pickup truck with Gilberto Neves and Brian Perantoni to scout the construction site, which was then being used as a parking lot. “It was late at night, and we jumped out of the truck and cordoned off the area ourselves so nobody could park there,” says Arditi, who has taken part in all of Odebrecht’s Miami Airport projects.

Odebrecht in the United States

Although those early days were touch and go, they are now a fond memory. Odebrecht’s teams no longer have to run to the coffee shop next door for a fax machine to meet a tender deadline. Even so, the company is sure to face numerous challenges in the present and future. What’s next, now that they’ve reached the milestone of their 15th anniversary in the United States? “We’re going to consolidate Odebrecht Construction as a profitable and competent company, making it ’the client’s choice,’ recognized by the community and our present and future partners,” says a decisive Gilberto Neves. He doesn’t need to look back to see that Odebrecht has blazed a clear path to the future in the USA.