Chamber’s Business Person of the Year gives new life to distressed properties

Bob Gibbs doesn’t shy away from tough jobs

Photos by Tom Rivers: Bob Gibbs, owner of the Environmental Construction Group in Albion, is shown inside the warehouse for company at 14109 Route 31, Albion.

ALBION – Bob Gibbs used to tag along with his father, helping him at construction jobs. Bob Gibbs Sr. was a local contractor and builder.

The elder Gibbs had a house on Brown Street, and at age 19, his son bought it and took on his first project by himself. For two years Gibbs redid the house and made it his home.

Gibbs felt the pride in bringing a distressed property back into a neighborhood asset. He also built a garage and in-ground pool for the property.

In the past 30-plus years Gibbs has sought out properties many other developers wouldn’t touch, from burnt-out structures to others enduring years of neglect.

“I like to see things that are in rough shape and then turn them into beautiful,” Gibbs said. “I like to see the progress.”

Bob Gibbs has turned 101 East Bank St. in Albion into a place that can be rented out of parties and events. His daughter recently had her bridal shower there.

He has put many forlorn buildings back to use for residents and businesses. And that’s in his spare time. He would rather do that than play golf.

In his full-time career, Gibbs owns and runs the Environmental Construction Group, which has 50 employees based in Albion. They do asbestos remediation, selective demolition and other work at distressed properties.

The Chamber of Commerce on Oct. 17 honored Gibbs as the “Business Person of the Year.”

Gibbs saw opportunity doing environmental work in the construction industry. He made that his career at age 23 and his skills were in demand. He was often away from home, including long stretches for work in New Jersey.

Gibbs in 2005 decided to launch his own business so he could be closer to home. He started Environmental Construction Group with a friend, Bruce Corey, who oversaw abatement for LeChase Construction Service in Rochester. Gibbs and Corey ran ECG together until Corey retired in 2019 and Gibbs bought him out.

They ran the business initially out of two tractor trailers in a spot behind Ace Hardware on Clinton Street. Then they moved to the former Halstead Oil building on West State Street. About 15 years ago, ECG moved to 14109 Route 31, which offered more space for the growing company and its abatement equipment – showers, negative air filters, ladders, scaffolding, hand tools, excavators and other materials. When ECG moved to Route 31, the company put a new roof and windows on the building, and painted it.

Provided photos: Bob Gibbs is shown outside 101 East Bank St., which was a storage building for a furnace and air-conditioning business. Gibbs has given it a new look, with new windows, and will make it available to be rented out for events. It also may be used for food education events with wine pairings. Gibbs’ daughter, Madeline Miller, is a registered dietician and may lead programs for the community at the location.

ECG is typically working on five to 10 projects at a time, mostly in Western New York but sometimes in Arkansas, Virginia, Texas and Wisconsin. ECG has worked on some of the biggest projects in Rochester, including nearly gutted 29 floors of Innovation Square (the 580,000-square foot former Xerox Tower).

Gibbs praised the hard-working team of employees. Many have been with the company for years.

Tim Lonnen, the operations manager and estimator, is Gibbs’ “right hand man.”

Three of the company’s superintendents are all long-time employees from Albion – Shawn Wright, Ron Enright and Ace Ashton. David Nieves, a foreman from Rochester, also has been a critical employee for the business since it started, Gibbs said.

About 40 percent of the employees have been with ECG for at least 10 years. That is an amazing retention in a business with a very high turnover, Gibbs said.

“We have grown to the company we are today, a task I could not have done alone and acknowledge that this could only have happened with the dedicated employees at ECG,” he said. “I try hard to invest in my community. I like projects that improve the image of buildings, from investing in the buildings that service ECG, developing vacant land into ready-to-build lots, to several homes picked up from the county auctions, and my new project at 101 East Bank Street. I firmly believe it’s my responsibility to give back to my community.”

Bob Gibbs renovated a house that burned in a fire on West Academy Street in Albion. These photos show the before and after of the stairwell in a house that he saved from the wrecking ball.