Thomas F. Gilbane Jr. is the Chairman and CEO of Gilbane Inc., a holding company with two principal subsidiaries- Gilbane Building Company and Gilbane Development Company. The companies' roots trace back to its founding in 1873. Tom is one of five members of the 4th generation of the family active in the management of the company.
Tom joined Gilbane Building Company full-time in 1970 after having worked six summers in various training assignments. He has served in most field and office positions. He was appointed Vice President - Regional Manager in 1976 and moved to Cleveland, Ohio to open the Midwest Regional Offices. In 1983, Mr. Gilbane was appointed Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer of Gilbane Building Company, and returned to the Corporate Office in Providence in 1984. He was appointed President and Chief Operating Officer in 1997 and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer in 2004.
In July of 2008, he became President and Chief Executive Officer of Gilbane, Inc. and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer in 2010.
One of Tom’s key focuses has been fostering an incident and injury free culture within Gilbane (Gilbane Cares). Thousands of employees work on Gilbane job sites and in Gilbane offices every day, and the goal of Gilbane Cares is that everyone is treated like a member of the family and avoids risks so they will return home safely to their loved ones. The Gilbane Cares culture includes safety, and extends to diversity/inclusion and sustainability.
He is a director of Gilbane Inc., Gilbane Building Company, Gilbane Development Company, ITSI Gilbane; ACE Mentor Program of America; and a Babson College Trustee. His past appointments include:
- Former Chairman of the Babson Finance Committee;
- Former member of the Brown University Engineering Advisory Committee;
- Member of the Board of Directors United Way of America;
- Vice Chairman of the Board United Way of America and member of the Executive Committee;
- National Chairman of the Alexis de Tocqueville Society United Way of America;
- Former member of the Associated General Contractors of America National/Regional Contractor’s Committee;
- Director Fleet National Bank R.I.;
- Director New England Telephone;
- Director NYNEX - New England and New York;
- In-Sight Director;
- FairPoint Communications Board Member;
- U.S. Lacrosse Foundation board member;
- Executive Committee, Construction Industry Round Table.
Mr. Gilbane graduated from Harvard Graduate School of Business Advanced Management Program; Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a Master of Science in Civil Engineering, majoring in Project Management; Babson College with a B.S.B.A. in Business Management; Rhode Island School of Design, Evening Division with a Certificate in Building Construction; attended Brown University for three years studying liberal arts.
Mr. Gilbane also served six years in the Army National Guard and retired as a 2nd Lieutenant from the 861st Engineering Company.