MEET THE MANAGEMENT TEAM

Team Qualifications & Bio’s

Overall Team Qualifications & Size

Our team qualifications’ abilities to design and construct your project are based upon cumulative decades of designing and constructing projects similar to yours.

RICOP Construction has the proven ability to handle large projects (and have won 13 American Buildings Company awards doing it.) Our deep experience provides the technical know-how; our flat organization, ability to rapidly scale and leaner size (in comparison to our competitors) makes us more nimble to adjust to client needs and demands and keep client costs down.

Management Team

Walter Beatty
President

Walt grew up in Pittsburgh. He attended the University of Pittsburgh where he pursued a major in Engineering. Walt has over 30 years of commercial construction experience. Prior to RICOP, Walt was Vice President of Amalgamated, a general contractor and developer.

While at Amalgamated, Walt oversaw the building of millions of square feet of warehouse and office space in the Columbus area. After leaving Amalgamated, Walt and a partner started RICOP Construction in 1990. Walt bought out the partner in 1991. Since then, RICOP has built for various industries, including: assisted living, auto dealerships, offices, retail, warehousing, light manufacturing, churches, hotel, higher education and schools.

RICOP eventually transitioned from some self-performance to strictly a managing general contractor. Over the years, RICOP has won 13 awards from American Building Company, a pre-engineered metal buildings company for whom we distribute. Walt brings a unique ability to get inside the customer's shoes and the customer’s customers shoes, thinking through the form, fit and function of the facility. He asks questions to draw out how the building will be used, both now and in the future. Walt enjoys travelling, spending time with his family, fly fishing, and entering his 1934 Chevy Sedan in Muscle car shows.

Mark Ludwig
Vice President of Operations

Mark is a proven executive level Construction Project Manager offering a strong history of successful commercial, medical and retail project experiences with 25+ years of experience in various sectors of the construction industry

His experience includes Pre-construction services, design evaluations, project management, master planning, scheduling, value analysis, budget development/management purchasing and procurement. Business Development responsibilities include customer relations, sales, fostering of new business relationships.

 Featured Achievements and Projects:

Successfully founded and directed a new Special Projects Division focusing on medical and industrial construction.

Established the corporate Safety Committee and guideline standards that monitors construction site safety and quality control based on a standardized peer review process.  

Managed orientation and training of new hires and interns, conducted monthly workshops for field and management personnel to broaden technical knowledge and advance quality assurance

Notable  Projects:

Trinity Health - Mt. Carmel East Hospital, Columbus, Ohio, Patient Tower Renovation, 14% savings

Sinclair Community College – Dayton Ohio – Parking Structure major rebuild

Community Hospital – Springfield, Ohio, Open heart/Cath Lab Suite – Fast Track

Abbott Nutrition – Columbus, Ohio – PH Neutralization Project, Deep Excavation, tight deadline

Adena Health –Chillicothe, Ohio, Replacement of twin MRI’s

General Motors – numerous manufacturing and assembly line projects

Techneglass – Columbus, Ohio – furnace rebuild project – shutdown, 24/7 hourly schedule control

Streets of Tanasbourne –Retail, Mixed-Use Lifestyle Development, Portland, Or, 22 acres, 12 buildings, design build.
Nationwide Insurance – 6 story Office building, Arena District, Columbus, Ohio, 128,000 sf, 11 mos.
Nationwide Insurance - Moline Plow Building Historical Restoration, Columbus, Ohio, 40 KSF
Numerous Retail Projects – nation wide

Doug Emert
Architect

Doug joined RICOP in February 2008. He received his Architectural degree from Ohio State University, is registered in Ohio, West Virginia, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Alabama and Texas. He has a broad range of experience, and deep experience in manufacturing facilities (many of which supplied the auto industry) and auto dealerships. Doug also has hands-on experience with residential, mixed use development, retail, hotels, and educational institutions.

Projects Doug has designed for, either under RICOP or with other firms, and includes:
Education: Paint Valley High School, Paint Valley Middle School, Delaware Middle School, Dublin Elementary School, New Albany Middle School, OSU Center for Education and Economic Development
Hotels: Springhill Suites, Country Inns, Marriott Courtyard
Manufacturing: Manifold & Phalor, PK USA, Toyota Boshoku, Neturen IT Wire, Cardington Yutaka Technologies, Sanyo, Waltex, Canam Steel and Topre.
Auto Dealerships: McCluskey Chevrolet, Acura of Dayton, Matt Castrucci Honda, Matt Castrucci Nissan, Matt Castrucci Mazda, Glockner Chevrolet, Comtide Subaru, Comtide Nissan, Comtide Mazda, Nissan North, Saturn North, Tom Gill Chevrolet, Immke Honda and Midwestern Auto Group BMW-Mini.
Mixed Use, Residential and Retail: Compass Point Development, Shell Point Development, Island House 5, Brewmasters Gate Schematics, Bexley Gateway, Plaza Properties Design Center, Bonner Retail Center, and 5/3 Bank.

Mark Frendt
VP Development

Mark's responsibility is to develop and execute the strategic marketing plan for RICOP, as well as new business development. He also is responsible for RICOP's customer satisfaction program and performance. He graduated with a Bachelor's in Business Administration from Capital University with a focus on Marketing. Mark is a profit-driven, service and results-oriented, multifaceted proven entrepreneur and management professional supported by effective mix of operations management, marketing and strategic business planning skills perfected over 20+ years within both traditional corporate and startup environments.

He consistently contributed to improved productivity, brand recognition, record sales, significant revenue growth, cost management, operational enhancement and increased profitability through focused leadership, technology innovation and capacity to identify business needs before implementing viable plans and process improvements.

Joe Potter
Senior Project Manager

Joe graduated from the Ohio State University and is RICOP’s Senior Project Manager. His responsibilities include overseeing our other project managers as well as his own group of supervisors. Joe has been in the industry for over 25 years and has been a project manager or supervisor for a wide range of building projects in a wide range of industries for various contractors. He brings with him an ability to communicate openly and our customers have been pleased with his professionalism.

Projects Joe has lead, either with RICOP or while at other firms, includes:

Doug Garey, LEED AP BD+C Project Manager As a recent addition to the Ricop Construction team, Doug brings 20 years of experience in the construction industry along with LEED AP credentials.  His responsibilities include overseeing the construction of the new Straub Nissan facility located in Triadelphia, West Virginia. 

Doug has been involved in a wide range of building projects throughout his career such as residential (single and multi-family), warehouse, schools, hotel facilities, highway, industrial and sporting arenas.  He brings with him an ability to communicate openly with Owners, architects, engineers and subcontractors to ensure jobs are completed on time and under budget.

Projects Doug has participated in, either with RICOP or while at other firms, includes:

Stadiums: Tennessee Titans NFL Stadium Complex Manufacturing/Warehousing: The Mid-Ohio Foodbank warehouse renovation (LEED Gold Certified) Hotels/Apartment: Extended Stay Motels (various), Seneca Hotel Apartments, Commons at Buckingham Transitional Living Facility, Commons at Livingston Permanent Supportive Housing for Veterans, Lincoln Gardens, Kiwanis Village, Hopeton Village Assisted Living Facility, Portofino Bay Hotel in Orlando Florida. Residential – Single and Multi-family: 500+ Homes throughout the Central Ohio area including “track” built homes plus custom and semi-custom homes ranging from 1200 square feet to over 7000 square feet in addition to 200+ multi-family and condominium living units. Colleges/Schools: University of Kentucky WT Young Library Business: Safe Auto Headquarters, Chataqua Airlines Hangar Renovation.

Anthony E. (Tony) DiBlasi
Project Manager

With more than 38 years of industry experience to RICOP, Tony previously was Director of Design and Construction Services for a national Assisted Living Home operator and a Preconstruction Project Executive of a large Ohio commercial construction company. He brings deep experience in the healthcare, eldercare, commercial, office, industrial and institutional key market sectors.
He also has vast experience not only in Construction Management but New Business Development, Site Analysis, Architect Selection, Pre-Construction, Project Budget Design, Interior Design, Plan Development and Plan Zoning Support.

Notable  Projects:

Medial: Mount Carmel Health System.  Mount Carmel East Emergency Room, Tower Expansion, Columbus, Ohio $42 million

Fairfield Medial Center. Additions and Renovations, Lancaster, Ohio id="mce_marker"3.9 million

Research: Battelle Memorial Institute. West Campus Administration Building, JM3 Lab project, Building 7/Level3 Project, Columbus and West Jefferson, Ohio

Office: Boehringer, Ingelhiem, Roxane, Inc., Growing expansion project, Cafeteria project, Columbus, Ohio $8 million

Client Base: Includes regional developers (Planned Communities, Glimcher Companies), national retail groups (Lenscrafters, TJ Maxx, The Limited), fast food restaurant chains (Wendy’s, KFC, Long John Silver), national restaurant groups supporting (TGIFriday’s, ChiChi’s, Spats and The Whaling Station), Regional Banks (Huntington National, Chase and Regional Hotel Groups (Marriott, Cross Country Inns)

 Don Steen
Estimator

Don has handled the estimating responsibilities since 1999, as well as occasionally serving as a Project Manager in the field. Don's meticulous attention to detail is beneficial for reviewing plans and putting customer budgets together. He says he really enjoys working with owners in the Design/Build phases of projects.

He grew up in Lancaster, Ohio, where he currently resides. Don's favorite pastimes include spending time with his wife and kids, riding quads and restoring old muscle cars.

Kathi Nelson
Chief Financial Officer

Kathi joined RICOP in 2008 and has 16 years in the accounting profession. She oversees all accounting functions including accounts payable, accounts receivable, job costing, general ledger, cash flow management and bank reconciliation. Kathi enjoys spending time with her family.