Lou Coletti is a Senior Adviser to the Government Relations, Construction Law, and Real Estate Law practice. Lou has over 35 years of experience as a construction industry leader and is widely recognized and respected in New York City and New York State for his advocacy efforts in government affairs and public policy, Labor Relations workforce development, and public and private economic development initiatives.
Lou was President and CEO of BTEA (Building Trades Employers’ Association), the largest Contractor Association in the U.S., representing 1200 construction managers, general and subcontract construction companies, and 26 individual contractor trade associations. At the time of his appointment, the BTEA was bankrupt with only two member trade associations.
Lou developed Capital Process Reforms for NYC Mayor Eric Adams public capital process reform force. He also developed COVID-19 construction protocols under NYS Governor Andrew Cuomo and NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio. He coordinated the response for the cleanup and implementation of safety protocols to the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, meeting with U.S. President George W. Bush, Congressional leaders, NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani, and Mayor Bloomberg to obtain federal funding for the cleanup of the site and to establish the Victims Compensation Fund. He coordinated the emergency cleanup response to Super Storm Sandy with Mayor Michael Bloomberg for Manhattan, as well as the Rebuild Puerto Rico cleanup response for recovery under NYS Governor Andrew Cuomo to aid the Governor of Puerto Rico.
Lou Chaired the New York City building code amendment commissions under NYC Mayor’s Koch, Dinkins, Giuliani, and Bloomberg. He drafted legislation creating a new public agency, the New York City School Construction Authority to rebuild New York City schools with an $8 billion budget under NYS Governor Mario Cuomo and New York City Mayor Ed Koch. He helped draft legislation to establish a single New York City construction agency for capital building projects under New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani. And since 2016, Lou has been consecutively recognized as one of the top 50 most influential leaders in New York City, real estate, labor, and construction by Crain’s New York Business and City and State magazines.
LABOR RELATIONS ACHIEVEMENTS
- Negotiated the first Project Labor Agreement that lead Chase Bank to relocate to MetroTech Brooklyn acting as a catalyst for a multibillion dollar redevelopment of MetroTech.
- Provided technical assistance to public and private owners in drafting Project Labor Agreements leading to the construction of $50-$100 billion of New York City public buildings, infrastructure, and airport projects as well as private real estate commercial, residential, and hotel projects.
- Created a construction industry partnership with building trade unions to address areas of common concern for example increasing market share, construction safety, etc.
- Received Engineering News Record National Top 25 Newsmaker Award for the first of its kind in the nation MetroTech Project Labor Agreement.
- Administered A jurisdictional dispute program mediating disputes between building trade unions on construction sites preventing project delays.
WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT ACHIEVEMENTS
- Co-founder of the Construction Skills pre-apprentice program which established priority placement of New York City high school graduates into union apprentice programs recognized as the best program in the nation by president Biden’s Labor Secretary Marty Walsh and President Carter’s Secretary of Labor Ray Marshall.
- Served as President of the Helmets to Hardhats pre-apprentice program providing returning veterans priority for entrance into union apprentice programs.
- Served as Member of the Board of Directors on the Nontraditional Employment for Women pre-apprenticeship program providing women priority for entrance into union apprenticeship programs.
- These programs have resulted in dramatically changing the demographics of the building trade unions so today 53% of the 100,000 members of the building trade unions are African American, Latino, and women.
- Member of NYC Mayor de Blasio ‘s Career and Technical Education Advisory Commission.
MINORITY & WOMEN CONTRACTOR ACHIEVEMENTS
- Recruited the largest number of M/WBE contractors to become members of the BTEA of any contractor association in New York State.
- Recognized by the National Associations of Minority Contractors and New York State Minority Contractor Association for efforts to increase the participation of M/WBE contractors and to increase their capacity to grow.
- A Member of the Women Builders Council Advisory Board.
- Board of Directors for the Regional Alliance of Small Contractors.
CIVIC & COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES
- Appointed by NYC Mayor Eric Adams to 5 Borough Public Policy Research Institute Board of Directors.
- Appointed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg to New York City delegation to go to Singapore in an effort to have New York City designated as a host city for the Olympic Games.
- Appointed by President Bill Clinton as a member of the rebuild America coalition. Executive committee member of the Association for a Better New York (ABNY).
- Vice Chairman of the New York Building Congress.
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
- Attained a AAA bond rating from Moodys and Standard and Poor’s.
- Appointed Director of Corrections the night after a jail riot with the institution under a Federal Court Order for overcrowding.
- Established mental health and other inmate service programs.
- Secured federal and state funding for construction of a new Correctional Facility.
- Negotiated a swap of county land with a real estate developer, Connell Rice, for commercial development in return for construction of a new long term county healthcare facility at no cost to the taxpayer.
