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Pettinaro marks 50th anniversary
The Pettinaro Companies are celebrating their 50th anniversary.
The initial garage-based construction business now owns and operates more than 100 property assets in Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maryland.
Verino Pettinaro was born in 1938 to immigrant parents in Wilmington’s Little Italy section of the city. His mother struggled to make ends meet trying to raise five children on her own after Verino’s father passed away when he was nine.
After graduating from high school, he took numerous jobs as a carpenter with companies in Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. During the nights and weekends, he worked on the side paneling basements, installing decks, fixing roofs, and replacing windows.
In 1965, he went into business for himself and founded Pettinaro Construction Company, Inc. By the mid 1970’s, Pettinaro was one of the largest open shop contractors in Delaware.
Projects include Hodgson VoTech School, Smyrna Prison, Flat Rock Dam in Pennsylvania, Chadds Ford Ramada Inn, U.S. Postal Distribution Center, University of Delaware Morris Library, Cecil County Maryland Prison, New Castle Middle School, Ferris School for Boys, and Wilmington Amtrak Station renovations.
In the ‘80s and ‘90s, Pettinaro bought developments in need of renovation including Greenville Place Apartments (Monroe Park), Paladin Club Condominiums, Krebs’s School, Chase Center Exhibition Center, and areas of the Wilmington Riverfront.
Verino’s son, Gregory, took over the management of the company in 2005. In 2015, this second generation family-owned company is celebrating its 50th anniversary.
“We are very proud of my father, Verino. He lived the American dream of how hard work can bring you success. We continue today in his ‘never give up’ attitude,” says Gregory Pettinaro.
The company made headlines with the recent purchase of the Stoltz retail and office properties in Greenville. Pettinaro currently employs more than 200 people. Its headquarters is in Newport.
