Join PCI Mid-Atlantic in celebrating military personnel making significant contributions to the precast concrete industry. Our May “Veterans in Precast” blog series highlights a few individuals who have cultivated successful precast and prestressed concrete industry careers. They represent roles in production, engineering, sales, various administrative positions, and purchasing, to name a few. These professionals have found meaning, purpose, and success in the construction industry, manufacturing products for our nation’s infrastructure and many buildings across the Mid-Atlantic region.
Service Background Skills are Fit for the Construction Sector
When speaking with veterans and researching the many reasons for hiring qualified former military personnel, the benefits are substantial—veterans bring the following attributes and characteristics to the workplace:
- Proven leadership and readiness for leadership roles
- Mission-focused approach to work
- Experience working in diverse teams and organizations
- Ability to adapt and make immediate contributions
- Strong work ethic
- Capacity to perform under pressure
- Creative problem-solving skills
- Self-starting initiative
- Integrity
Leonard (Lenny) Radziewicz, Driver for Northeast Prestressed Products, is a Vietnam veteran and would-be accountant who found purpose and passion in the precast concrete industry as a Superload driver—one of the most vital and precise positions that keep our industry moving.
Lenny continues our Veterans in Precast blog series by sharing his service history, educational background, and work journey.
PCI-MA: Tell us a little bit about yourself.
Military Service
I’m a Vietnam Veteran who also completed tours of Germany and the Panama Canal.
Career Highlights
I’m proud of attaining Superload driver status and being featured in several newspaper articles.
Family and Interests Outside of Work
I enjoy youth basketball and midget football, and I’m a former little league baseball coach, firefighter, and fire police officer. I was also the past vice president of the Penn State alumni association.
PCI-MA: How did you learn about the opportunity at your company?
Lenny: I live nearby and wanted the challenge of learning the skillset to transport concrete beams of up to 175’ in length.
PCI-MA: How have the skills you learned in the military helped you in the private sector?
Lenny: They’ve taught me the importance of paying attention to detail!
PCI-MA: What do you like most about your role and the company you work for?
Lenny: I enjoy working with some very skilled teammates and the ability to hand down lessons and experiences to others.
PCI-MA: What project or initiative have you worked on that was particularly impactful to you?
Lenny: The Goethals Bridge Project is one that taught me about other aspects of planning and engineering that opened my eyes to their impact on my part of the plan.
One of the largest projects in NPP’s history, the Goethals Bridge Replacement Project was given several prestigious awards upon its completion. In the highway/bridge category, the project won an ENR New York Best Projects award as well as the Excellence in Safety award and received the ENR New York's Project of the Year for 2018.
PCI-MA: What advice would you give a veteran interested in working in our industry? Tell us a little about your transition to the construction sector.
Lenny: It’s a skill set that has plenty of opportunity to grow and the challenges you face are daily. My life goal was to become a CPA but once I stepped into the field, I fell in love with the challenges.
Find more of our Veteran in Precast series on our blog, and if you’re interested in carving out a career in precast concrete construction for yourself, browse our career center to get started!
About Northeast Prestressed Products, LLC
Northeast Prestressed Products (NPP) maintains office, production, storage and fleet operations on a 28-acre site in Cressona, Pa., strategically located to the Pennsylvania Turnpike, Interstate 80, and other major transportation arteries. NPP serves agencies and contractors from Virginia to Maine, and hauls most elements with its own fleet, which includes customized trailers for delivering bulb-tee girders in the 175-ft. range – a size class for which the producers has been a forerunner in the Mid-Atlantic and New England Markets. Among its most notable recent projects, NPP delivered 52 bulb-tee girders for the Coplay-Northhampton Bridge in Eastern Pennsylvania. Also known as the Chestnut Street Bridge, the three-span structure consists of five lines of our spliced bulb-tees, each with four grouted P-T tendons. For a project quote, email us at nppinfo@npp-llc.com.
