Congratulations to our Vice President, Donovan J. White for being selected as one of Crain’s 40 under 40 Class of 2018!
For Donovan White, it’s pretty simple. “Construction is my life.”
White has been part of the family business, White Construction, since 1997, making a drive around Detroit more like a trip down Memory Lane.
“Ford Field, Little Caesars Arena, Comerica Park, Detroit RiverWalk, Campus Martius — yes, [White Construction] was on those projects,” said Donovan, now vice president of construction at White. “The history of Detroit is linked to my history.”
The latest and greatest of those projects was Little Caesars Arena — one of the largest projects White has personally ever been on. Construction costs rang in at about $863 million when all was said and done. White Construction was one of three firms, along with Southfield-based Barton Malow and Indianapolis-based Hunt Construction Co., that formed the team that served as general contractor on the massive project.
“You’d look around at the amount of people working and think, ‘Maybe we can make magic happen,’” White said. “We just kept our heads down and kept putting the work in place.”
The late announcement that the Detroit Pistons would also play in the new arena nearly doubled the scope and value of the project.
“However, the end date for turnover remained the same,” said White, who finds satisfaction in coming up with solutions and exceeding expectations. “We did a great deal of planning in a short time to satisfy all the requirements for the NHL, NBA and NCAA. It was an awesome feat, and I’m quite proud to have been part of it.”
White’s current goals are to strengthen and grow the business with plans to double revenues within five years.
Working for the family business, “job hopping” is not an option for White, but creating a productive and challenging work culture is.
“We model a company where people want to come to work,” White said. “We offer work/life balance and the satisfaction of supporting our community. We keep morale high to attract and retain staff.”