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Montreal's Broccolini family carries on with founder Donato’s spirit of community building

Donato Broccolini died at 97, but three generations of the builder and development firm carry on with Canada-wide business and philanthropic projects

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Donato Broccolini, founder of his eponymous building and development company, began with the construction of a single-family home in Montreal.

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Broccolini died on Mar. 26, 2022, at 97, but what he built remains, with three generations running the business throughout Canada and projects ranging from residential to industrial, retail and commercial.

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The elder Broccolini was known for his desire to give back to his community, perseverance, and an entrepreneurial spirit. As his business became one of Canada’s most successful, he passed his belief in developing lasting relationships with customers and collaborators onto several generations of his family, including his grandson, Anthony Broccolini.

Today, as chief operating officer and third-generation Broccolini, Anthony has continued to realize his grandfather’s vision, and has been instrumental in securing more than 1.5 million square feet of development. Here, he shares how initiatives have encouraged the company to shift toward increased social responsibility, aiming to become a leader in the construction of “green” buildings, and how he honours Donato’s legacy.

When you think about what Donato Broccolini brought to his first business ventures as an engineer and entrepreneur, how do you feel his philosophy is still alive in your business today?

“Donato’s story is a lot like most immigrants’. He came to Canada after the war with nothing more to depend on than a few skills and his name. And like so many others before and after him, he worked hard and lived by simple, honest principles – do good work, close a deal on a handshake, honour your word.

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“He took an immense sense of pride in his work building those houses in Montreal in the late 1940s and 1950s. And why wouldn’t he? His most important asset – his name – was attached to each and every one of them, and he sold those houses directly to his customers. There was nowhere for him to hide!

“So, you ask about how his philosophy is alive in the business today. It’s everywhere. It’s in everything we do, every relationship we forge, every action we take. It’s even on our website as the values we live every day.

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“We’re hard workers who are passionate about what we do, and we take pride in executing to the best of our abilities. We’re entrepreneurs who challenge conventions and find new ways to solve challenges. We’re collaborators who build respect and deliver great results. We’re people who care about our projects, our partners, our clients and each other, and we’re people who act with integrity. Because at the end of the day, nearly 75 years after Donato founded this company, nothing’s changed. Our family name is still out there, front and centre on our project site signs.”

Donato’s vision was very community-focused from those very first projects. How have you carried that spirit forward throughout the decades in your family business?

“Donato was heavily involved in the Italian community, as most immigrants are when they established themselves in Canada. The community became part of his identity. The importance of being part of it, and serving it, was something that he passed on to his sons – my dad and my uncles. They, in turn, broadened their circles to include more Canadian influences, but they kept that tradition alive in our family and our company. They passed the importance of that tradition on to their children – me, my sisters and our cousins. Needless to say, those influences have always been on display in our company. It’s part of what makes us able to connect and collaborate with our jobsite partners.

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“Our contributions to the communities we serve are a little different today than they were in Donato’s day, but they’re still very much on display. We are blessed with the privilege of developing and building projects for clients of all sizes. In that sense, we’re contributing to the development of communities.

How do you work successfully as a family, taking the legacy of your grandfather, and father seriously, but bringing the business into modern times and continuing to build a successful brand?

“Without oversimplifying things, let me say this: The more things change, the more they stay the same. Yes, we’re a much larger company than anything my grandfather or my father imagined. We’re doing over a billion dollars in annual sales, and we have over 500 members of the extended family. So, in that sense, this is an entirely different entity than Donato ever foresaw.

“But here’s the thing: The values he brought into this company nearly 75 years ago are still very much front and centre in everything we do. The pride and passion for our work, the entrepreneurial spirit, the integrity we display, the care that we show for others – these are all the qualities that Donato lived by, that his sons lived by, and that holds true for all of our team.

What projects have you been most proud of as a family over the decades?

“A lot of our early history was focused on residential properties as well as light commercial and light industrial work. Over those years, we formed a great partnership with Canadian Tire, building stores for them across Quebec.

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“In 2006, they chose us to build a 1.6-million-square-foot Eastern Canadian distribution centre in Coteau-du-Lac, outside Montreal. At the time, it was the largest single-phase industrial project in the country. Not only was it our first project of anything like that scale, but we also delivered it in a little more than a year. We broke ground in July, 2006, and handed the keys to the client in December of 2007.

“Telus House was another milestone for us in that it brought us to Ottawa and pushed us into the development niche. Export Development Canada’s headquarters, also in Ottawa, followed between 2008 and 2011, and it was another proof-positive for us on that front. Both of those projects, by the way, earned LEED Gold certification from the Canadian Green Building Council.

“We took another big leap when we launched the L’Avenue project in Montreal. That project was our first foray into large-scale mixed-use residential work, and with its location directly across the road from the Bell Centre in Montreal, it couldn’t be more visible or high profile.

“Since then, we’ve also been privileged to work on projects for the National Bank and Radio-Canada in Montreal – both are exceptional in their own right – and on countless projects for Amazon across Ontario and Quebec, including a 2.8-million-square-foot fulfillment centre in Ottawa, which is the largest of its kind in Canada.”

What are some philanthropic projects you’re most proud of or excited about?

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“We’ve always made a point of giving back to the communities that we serve, just as my grandfather did in the earliest days of the company, whether to local health-care initiatives, youth outreach projects or the education sector. I’m excited to announce that we plan to launch our Broccolini Foundation this year. The foundation is our way of giving greater structure, deeper meaning and a sharper focus to our philanthropic work. It’s an initiative that will span across our entire Broccolini family of 500 people. I can’t share much more than that right now, but it will be a transformative initiative for us.”

Responses were edited for clarity and length.

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