Recognizing Philip Vaglica

Philip Vaglica joined Ideal Contracting as an estimator in February of 2016 while completing his bachelor’s in construction management at Wayne State University and quickly became an asset to the preconstruction team.

Construction was not the career Philip initially pursued. His passion for teaching and love of history initially led him to a career in education. While completing courses at Macomb Community College, he found a job with a land surveying company. This led him to an interest in construction, and he researched more about the industry’s career opportunities. From there, Philip found the Construction Management program at Wayne State University. After speaking with the professors in the program, he quickly realized the passion they had for the industry and what a fulfilling career it had been for them.

His desire to continue growing and learning led him to take on the role of project engineer and work alongside Senior Project Manager, Erin Wolf, at the GM Design Center in Warren, Michigan. Near completion of that project, Philip was asked to join the team for two projects that were to run concurrently in San Antonio, Texas, for one of Ideal’s automotive clients. Vaglica did not hesitate to say yes as he knew it was another step in the right direction.

The project consisted of a 9,000 SF addition to the facility and replacement of three cooling towers to the engineering building for the client’s Tier II supplier.

The team led by Project Manager, Jason Dyer, mobilized to San Antonio in February, right before the start of the pandemic. During this time, they completed preconstruction work and commenced construction activities in March. Early procurement led to the success of staying on scheduling and completing the project on time with zero recordables.