As a privately-owned company headquartered in East Greenwich, Rhode Island, Corvias partners with higher education and government institutions nationwide to help solve systemic problems and create long-term, sustainable value.
Revitalized campus environments help students thrive.
During 2018, Corvias expanded its partnerships with the military and higher education organizations by building 212 new homes and two community centers, refurbishing 680 homes, installing 1,200 new roofs and at Purdue University, partnering to build two residential towers that will provide more than 1,300 beds and enable affordable on-campus and housing options.
At Fort Polk, Louisiana this reinvestment enabled Corvias to expedite delivery—in advance of a 2025 deadline supporting military energy independence—of geothermal improvements that will average $1.5 million per year in energy savings and operational cost avoidance, totaling more than $40 million in savings throughout the program.
Across the military portfolio, 200 jobs were created with the energy program that installed solar panels on more than 1,600 military housing rooftops and added 17,000 ground-mounted panels. To date, 30MW of solar power has been energized, which equates to an annual elimination of 92,000 tons of carbon emissions.
“Corvias didn’t come in and under promise and then try to over deliver,” said Al Aycock, former garrison commander at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. “What Corvias did was make a promise and live up to that promise.” (Note from REVITALIZATION publisher Storm Cunningham: Both of these projects have personal interest to me. I was stationed at Fort Bragg when I was on an A-Team with the U.S. Army‘s 7th Special Forces Group. I also spent six weeks at Fort Polk, during the OJT portion of my medical training.)
Corvias achieved milestone completions this year with the opening of Anthony Wayne Drive apartments at Wayne State University to accommodate 400 students, with a second phase of an additional 400 beds for completion in 2019. At Howard University, Corvias opened the East Tower Residence Hall for more than 800 students.
Within its partnerships, Corvias has also implemented environmentally-sustainable energy- and water-saving features to save money, which is reinvested back into each partnership for continuous improvements.
“For nearly 20 years, we’ve partnered with the military, universities and municipalities to solve their toughest infrastructure problems, going beyond what ‘today’s’ problem is to anticipate and solve for long-term challenges by implementing energy, water and systemic solutions to help them function better and reduce costs,” said John G. Picerne, founder of Corvias. “Our partnerships are structured around fixed, performance-based fees, so cost savings—more than $800 million since 2002—are returned back to the partnership so our partners can re-invest in the communities.”
Corvias partnerships tend to exceed legislated requirements for engaging local, small, women and minority-owned businesses, as well as disadvantaged business enterprises in its partnerships. Seventy-eight percent (78%) of their total subcontractor expenditures of over $3 billion were to these types of businesses. These expenditures include $98 million in stormwater management improvements, $398 million in student housing and related higher education partnerships and $2.6 billion across their 13 military partnerships.
“Community is at the heart of what we do. Corvias relies on local employees and subcontractors to deliver exemplary service, time and time again, and throughout our partnerships, our ‘giving back’ program has enabled employees to spend 33,000 hours performing community service,” said Picerne. “This year alone, our unique 2:1 matching program has taken individual employee’s donations, which totaled $36,000, and provided an additional $72,000 to their community-based organizations.”
In addition, since 2006, Corvias Foundation has awarded more than $13 million in scholarships for children and military spouses through a program that awards and supports the scholars throughout and after their university experience.
“Corvias lives by its namesake, which means ‘from the heart,’ and that means a commitment across our partnerships and offices in more than 15 states nationally to deliver the very best services to our partners and residents, to contribute to our local communities and to foster support and connectivity among our military scholars,” said Cristi Radar, Corvias scholarship alumnus and Corvias Foundation Board Member.
“Working with Corvias, we know we have a team who is committed,” said Dr. Horace Strand, executive manager of the Chester Stormwater Authority in Chester, Pennsylvania. “They don’t win if we don’t win. It’s a real partnership.”
“What has driven me over the course of the last 20 years is truly the gratitude of our residents and the resolve of our employees to truly solve problems for our partners,” concluded Picerne. “It’s what we’re all about. That’s the key to all of our success and what will keep us going for years to come.”
All photos provided by Corvias.