EDiS is a construction management firm with offices in

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington is the List of municipalities in Delaware, most populous city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish colonization of the Americas, Swedish settlement in North America. It lie ...

and

West Chester, Pennsylvania West Chester is a borough (Pennsylvania), borough and the county seat of Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. Located in the Delaware Valley, Philadelphia metropolitan area, the borough had a population of 18,671 at the 2020 census. West ...

. It has five divisions: EDiS Company, EDiS Building System (EBS), Asset Management Alliance (AMA), Advanced Modeling Precision (AMP), EDiS' General Building Services (EGBS). Originally formed in 1908, as a stonemason contractor, EDiS is considered one of the first construction management firms in Delaware.

History

As master

stonemasons Stonemasonry or stonecraft is the creation of buildings, structures, and sculpture using stone as the primary material. Stonemasonry is the craft of shaping and arranging stones, often together with mortar and even the ancient lime mortar ...

, Ernesto DiSabatino and his sons stayed busy with tunnel projects in the

Abruzzo Abruzzo (, ; ; , ''Abbrìzze'' or ''Abbrèzze'' ; ), historically also known as Abruzzi, is a Regions of Italy, region of Southern Italy with an area of 10,763 square km (4,156 sq mi) and a population of 1.3 million. It is divided into four ...

region of

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. In 1905, Ernesto and his eldest two sons, Arthur and Clarence were constructing the

Simplon Tunnel The Simplon Tunnel (''Simplontunnel'', ''Traforo del Sempione'' or ''Galleria del Sempione'') is a railway tunnel on the Simplon railway that connects Brig, Switzerland, Brig, Switzerland and Domodossola, Italy, through the Alps, providing a shor ...

in the

Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...

along the

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

border. After failing his army physical because of a misdiagnosis of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

, Arthur along with brother Clarence encouraged their father Ernesto to emigrate to America as new opportunities for a better life were available. With initial hesitation, Ernesto agreed that immigration to America was best for the family. The family had a sponsor in Little Italy, Wilmington, Luigi Pedicone, and when the DiSabatino family arrived in 1906 they immediately picked up work as stonemasons. At that time bricklayers earned $3 for 1,000 bricks laid. Ernesto and sons Arthur and Clarence worked 12 hours a day, six days a week as master stonemasons. By January 1907, the remaining family emigrated to Wilmington, Delaware, including wife Angela Dea and the remaining DiSabatino children. Ernesto settled quickly and within 15 months of his arrival established Ernest DiSabatino and Sons in 1908. Originally started as a masonry contracting company-quality construction by skilled tradesmen became the principals for EDiS. In 1917, the company moved to their first office at 415 Lincoln Street and through hard work became a leader in the construction field and the community. One of the best known projects at this time was St. Anthony of Padua Church, a Little Italy landmark which was completed in 1926. Ernesto DiSabatino later received the Papal Cross of Honor

Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice ''Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice'' ("For Church and Pope" in Latin) is a decoration of the Holy See. It is currently conferred for distinguished service to the Catholic Church by lay people and clergy. History The medal was established by Leo XII ...

in honor of his work in starting the parish and erecting the church. Around the same time was the completion of St. Francis Hospital in 1925, the hospital was located in Little Italy, the area where Ernesto originally settled. After the death of Ernesto in 1932 at the age of 67, the business was left in the hands of his four sons, Arthur, Clarence, Dominick and Paul.

War era

With the third generation of the company serving in the war, this time period is considered to be one of the most challenging times in the company's history. Eugene DiSabatino, an engineer, worked on the

Manhattan Project The Manhattan Project was a research and development program undertaken during World War II to produce the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States in collaboration with the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the ...

that produced the nuclear bomb. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the company helped major corporations convert their factories for wartime production while also assisting the government with defense and housing projects.

Post-war era

The

Baby Boomer Baby boomers, often shortened to boomers, are the demographic cohort preceded by the Silent Generation and followed by Generation X. The generation is often defined as people born from 1946 to 1964 during the mid-20th century baby boom that ...

generation proved to be a success in the eyes of top management as EDiS was commissioned to build numerous schools for the growing children population in Delaware. Even today, education remains a large market for EDiS. The

DuPont Dupont, DuPont, Du Pont, duPont, or du Pont may refer to: People * Dupont (surname) Dupont, also spelled as DuPont, duPont, Du Pont, or du Pont is a French surname meaning "of the bridge", historically indicating that the holder of the surname re ...

family became a customer for EDiS with the construction of the Nemours building and the Edgemoor Plant in the late 1930s. November 14, 1963 marked the dedication for the Delaware Service plaza, a project EDiS managed. On hand for the dedication was President

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), also known as JFK, was the 35th president of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the first Roman Catholic and youngest person elected p ...

; it was his last public statement on a public works project as his assassination was a week later.

2000s

The developments of the Wilmington Riverfront lead to the construction and renovation of many prominent buildings on the Christina River. Notable projects such as the Riverfront Market,

ING Direct ING Group N.V. () is a Dutch multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered in Amsterdam. Its primary businesses are retail banking, direct banking, commercial banking, investment banking, wholesale banking, private ban ...

and Harry's Seafood Grill are all EDiS star projects. Another notable project completed in 2002 was the New Castle County Courthouse. The company built the $137 million, 572,000 sq. ft., 14-story building over years, and the courthouse serves as a landmark in the Wilmington skyline. In 2009, EDiS partnered with Peninsula Compost to develop the Wilmington Organic Recycling Center; the first high-volume, consistently viable and logistically feasible opportunity to divert

food waste The causes of food going uneaten are numerous and occur throughout the food system, during food production, production, food processing, processing, Food distribution, distribution, Grocery store, retail and food service sales, and Social clas ...

for the purpose of recycling in the Mid Atlantic region.

Notable clients

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

Appoquinimink School District The Appoquinimink School District is a public school district in southern New Castle County, Delaware. The district office is located in the Odessa Park Building, 118 S. Sixth Street, in Odessa, Delaware, with Matthew Burrows as the current su ...

Archdiocese of Philadelphia The Archdiocese of Philadelphia () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in southeastern Pennsylvania in the United States. The Archdiocese of Philadelphia originally included all of Pennsylvania and Dela ...

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Brandywine Realty Trust Brandywine Realty Trust is a Philadelphia-based real estate investment trust that invests in office buildings in Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and Austin, Texas. As of December 31, 2022, the company owned interests in 72 properties containing ...

(REIT) *

Capital School District Capital School District is a public school district in Kent County, Delaware in the United States. It serves the greater Dover Dover ( ) is a town and major ferry port in Kent, southeast England. It faces France across the Strait of Do ...

Christiana Care Health System ChristianaCare is a network of private, non-profit hospitals providing health care services to all of the U.S. state of Delaware and portions of seven counties bordering the state in Pennsylvania, Maryland and New Jersey. The system includes two ...

* City of Wilmington *

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Fisker Automotive Fisker Automotive was an American automobile company. It produced the Fisker Karma, which was one of the world's first production luxury plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. The company was founded in 2007 by Henrik Fisker, a Danish automobile d ...

* Grant & Eisenhofer P.A. *

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* INGDirect *

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Legg Mason Legg Mason, Inc. was an American investment management and asset management firm headquartered in Baltimore, founded in 1899 and acquired by Franklin Templeton Investments as of July 2020. As of December 31, 2019, the company had $730.8 billion i ...

PNC Bank The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. is an American bank holding company and financial services corporation based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Its banking subsidiary, PNC Bank, operates in 27 U.S. state, states and the District of Columbia, ...

State of Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey to its northeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state' ...

University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially known as UD, UDel, or Delaware) is a Statutory college#Delaware, privately governed, state-assisted Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Newark, Delaware, United States. UD offers f ...

References

External links

*{{Official website, http://www.ediscompany.com Construction and civil engineering companies of the United States Wilmington Riverfront Companies based in Wilmington, Delaware Construction and civil engineering companies established in 1908 1908 establishments in Delaware