Business and Financial Bradenton Construction Company Honored with National Award

The Bennetts after receiving their award

BRADENTON – Jason and Alisa Bennett, owners of Bradenton-based Bennett Contracting, received the Contractor of the Year Safety Award from construction equipment manufacturer Caterpillar during a recent event in Las Vegas, organized by the trade magazine Equipment World. The local company, now in its 12th year, was also honored as one of 12 Contractor of the Year finalists.

For the safety award, each Contractor of the Year finalist was judged by their firm’s experience mod rate, accountability, engagement, support and reinforcement, as well as safety-related contributions to the construction industry. In addition to regularly scheduled training and safety meetings, the Bennetts have surprise safety inspections on the job-site performed by an independent consultant, who looks for unsafe practices and submits a detailed report. The Bennetts then review this report with their employees, going over both safe and unsafe practices.

To determine the winner of each year’s Contractor of the Year program, Equipment World’s editors spend a day interviewing the candidates and visiting their crews and sites. They also evaluate comments made by the contractor’s references listed on the application form. According to the publication, some of the accolades the editors heard concerning Bennett Contracting included ”they are by far one of the best contractors I’ve worked with“ and ”if things need to be changed, they come to me with solutions, not problems.“

Bennett Contracting specializes in utility work for housing developments as well as governmental work, and also owns ”People at Play,“ a construction equipment operating experience for the general public, in which they get to live out sandbox dreams of using heavy equipment.

”Equipment World magazine is honored to recognize the integrity, hard work, and dedication of these exemplary men and women,“ said Dan Tidwell, senior vice president, group publisher of Equipment World magazine. ”This group of finalists represents the best of the construction industry. Their success is evidence of the perseverance, drive and strong values they embody.“