2021 Golden Beavers Awardees Announced
2020 Beavers President Michael Crawford of Sukut Construction has announced the recipients of the 2021 Golden Beaver Awards. The Awards Dinner has been postponed from January to April 23rd at the J.W. Marriott at L.A. Live due to restrictions from the Covid pandemic.
The awards were restructured earlier this year to create the Leadership, Management, Supervision and Engineering/Service & Supply categories.
Wilford Clyde, President, Chairman and CEO of Clyde Companies, Inc. of Orem, Utah, will receive the Leadership Award. Wilford, a past president of the Beavers and currently the vice-chairman of the Beavers Charitable Trust, joined the family-owned business after graduating from Brigham Young University. As the president and general of Geneva Rock Products, Wilford led the combination of the various family-owned businesses under the Clyde Companies in 1999 and became president of the parent company in 2001. Under his tenure the organization has grown from $200 million to $1.1 billion in annual revenue.
The Management Award will be presented to Scott Cassels, Executive Vice President of Kiewit Corporation and President of Kiewit Infrastructure Group, Inc. Scott joined Kiewit in 1976 as an intern while earning degrees in Construction Management and Business Administration from Washington State University. After graduation he joined the company full-time and began a 40-year career of continuous progression leading to his current position. He was instrumental in the formation of the Kiewit Development Group to pursue public-private ventures, and Kiewit Infrastructure Engineers to focus the company’s unique capabilities on design build projects. A tireless champion of jobsite safety, Scott dramatically increased the number of firms participating in the Construction Industry Safety Initiative (CISI) and recently served as co-chair of the CISI annual Construction Safety Week.
Sam Aiello, general superintendent for Sukut Construction, LLC, will receive the Supervision Award. Starting 35 years ago with the company as an equipment operator/grade checker, within a year Sam had been promoted to grading foreman. His talents were quickly recognized and he was made a general superintendent. His first massive project was the Eastern Transportation Corridor Toll Road in Orange County, CA, where he oversaw 67 million cubic yards of earthmoving, including 15 million cubic yards of rock. In the last decade he oversaw the Calaveras Dam Replacement Project in Sunol, CA, where Sukut handled the earthwork as part of a $569 million joint venture. Currently he is involved with the $250 million Lake Isabella Dam Safety Modification.
The Engineering/Service & Supply Award will be presented to Tim Mikolajewski, President of Liberty Mutual Surety and Executive Vice President of Global Risk Solutions. Tim joined Safeco Surety (now Liberty Mutual) in 1984 after earning a business administration degree from the University of Cincinnati. In 1986 he transferred to Southern California and by 1988 was the Regional Contract Manager for the Pacific Southwest. In 1994 he moved to the home office in Seattle as Assistant Director of Contract Surety and assumed the Director position three years later. In the next few years he was promoted to vice president, senior vice president and after successfully leading the integration of Safeco Surety into Liberty, ultimately president of Liberty Mutual Surety in 2008. He has earned a well-deserved reputation for supporting his clients through both good and challenging times, assisting contractors to work through problems rather than pursue remedies that would benefit the surety alone.