A Pennsylvania College of Technology graduate helped to lead a high-profile metro Washington construction project that recently received honors from Associated Builders and Contractors.
Jordan Way, ‘16, was the assistant project manager for Belfast Valley Contractors Inc. as the company completed concrete work on the seven-story Hyatt Place luxury hotel on the waterfront in National Harbor, Maryland. Way holds an associate degree in building construction technology: masonry emphasis, and a bachelor’s degree in applied management.
Way and Belfast Valley’s David Hill, the project manager, accepted the 2020 Excellence in Construction Award for Concrete from the Metro Washington and Virginia chapters of Associated Builders and Contractors. Belfast Valley Contractors Inc. is a family-owned and -operated commercial concrete construction company that was subcontracted by project contractor Turner Construction Co.
The 4,355-cubic-yard, 100,000-square-foot post-tension reinforced building with an elevator core features two full-height cast-in-place stairwells, one exterior cast-in-place stair, a terrace overlook, and a convex north end slab to mimic the curve of an existing road.
With minimal workspace surrounding the property, material storage and deliveries presented a challenge, but under the leadership of Hill and Way, Belfast completed its construction ahead of schedule and under budget.
“I definitely had a unique path through Penn College,” Way recalls. “I started off learning masonry under two amazing mentors of the craft, Glenn Luse (instructor of building construction masonry) and Richard Motter (retired instructor of building construction masonry). I fell in love with the idea of hard work and seeing a tangible object created by your labor at the end of the day. It truly was just the most amazing thing.”
After graduating with a certificate in applied technical studies: masonry emphasis, he worked locally for DHM Construction as a mason/carpenter.
“After working in the field for six years, I decided it was time to further my education and reenrolled at PCT to complete an associate degree and rolled it into the 2 + 2 bachelor’s degree,” Way said.
He has worked in concrete construction in the Washington, D.C., area since graduation, the past two and a half years with Belfast Valley Contractors. During his time with the firm, he has helped to close out two projects that were nearly complete upon his arrival and has three start-to-finish projects under his belt, all totaling roughly 85,000 cubic yards of concrete.
“Though I didn’t have the same route through college as most people, standing where I’m at today, I wouldn’t change a single thing in this wild journey I’ve had,” Way said.