American Contractor Magazine, Vol II, #3 – Tradewinds are steady tropical winds blowing in one direction. They carry sailing ships out of the doldrums on towards the equator and calm seas, clear skies, and warm weather. They are a sailor’s delight.
Naming a construction company “Tradewinds” is precursory to steady production, clean work, and satisfied customers. Tradewinds is a contractor’s delight.
Since operating Tradewinds Construction from a small office in his home in 1987, Jeff Vilkin’s Tradewinds has taken the port of Las Vegas by storm.
Providing general contractors with a true one-stop-shopping alternative, Tradewinds accommodates residential, commercial, and industrial building communities through in-house divisions located at the newly constructed 15,000-square-foot facility in the Howard Hughes Airport Center.
“General Contractors rely on us for multiple scopes of work,” said Vilkin. From wood framing to panelized roof structures, from metal stud framing to drywall, paint, and acoustical ceilings, Tradewinds covers a broad spectrum of carpentry-related work, an option rarely seen in the construction industry.
Tradewinds is not an overnight success, nor is it a company thrown together hastily for the sake of money in high times. “Our vision,” said Vilkin, “was to create a company that could provide multiple scopes of work for our clients from under one roof. As builders, we understand time requirements are the economics of the trade. Our proficiency produces profits.”
“We’ve assembled the finest tradesmen in the industry, who together make up the core of our success,” said Kelly Cooper, Jeff Vilkin’s partner and Chief Operating Officer of Tradewinds Construction.
A major concern among contractors today is job safety. In the frenzy of striving toward job completion, many subcontractors overlook safety issues. At Tradewinds, safety is the main concern pervasive in all trades on the job. According to Jeff Vilkin, the goal of Tradewinds Construction is to have a safety program second to none. “We did not appoint, assign, or delegate the safety function to a busy manager or superintendent as a part-time function. Through job search, we hired a professional full-time safety director.”
Director of Safety at Tradewinds Construction, Paul Adamo, believes the style and organization structure of Tradewinds Construction Company lends itself to comprehensive safety assimilation. “I accepted the position at Tradewinds because of the dedication and commitment of management in providing a safety program second to none,” said Adamo. “With so many departments and divisions working under a single roof,” continued Adamo, “our safety program assures compliance which for our general contractors relieves much of the pressure, especially since the dramatic changes in workplace programs in Nevada.”
In the early days at Tradewinds, Jeff Wilkin, Kelly Cooper, and a handful of skilled workers, self-performing carpentry functions framing, metal framing, drywall, painting, and acoustical ceilings systems, including finish carpentry and millwork gained the attention of their peers.
Demand for their services, based on performance and timeliness of completion, prompted functional changes for Tradewinds. “We made changes to accommodate clients such as Kalb Construction, Nielsen-Dillingham, Korte-Bellew, Jaynes Corporation, and Burnett-Hausse.”
Tradewinds Subcontractors teams support general contractors with an underlying commitment and understanding of all phases of any project. It is this understanding and commitment that Vilkin and Cooper sought when completing Tradewind’s lineup of professionals.
