Family-run construction company celebrates 100th year in Torrington 

Emily M. Olson

TORRINGTON — Over the last 100 years, O&G Industries has grown from a small business focused on service and craftsmanship to an award-winning industry leader in construction services and products, overseen by members of the family team. 

Now, the third and fourth generations of the Oneglia family are looking into the future as they oversee myriad divisions and products that serve Connecticut's commercial, educational and municipal sectors. O&G has nearly 800 employees, according to Eliza Baron, the company's marketing and communications manager. 

O&G was founded by Andrew Oneglia and Flaviano Gervasini in 1923. The partners, according to the family, set out to build a small business based on principles of quality service and excellence in craftsmanship. 

"This company was (run) by our fathers, Ray, Greg and George, and they taught us three things," company President David Oneglia said. "They taught us to have a great business, to work together and work things out, argue them out, sometimes; and to work with others coming up in the company. 

"If you work here, you aspire to run something," he added. "That's given us sound business principles and keeps us focused."

A family at work

O&G's products include concrete, asphalt and aggregates, using six quarries, eight concrete plants and nine asphalt plants located throughout Connecticut and eastern New York. The Mason Division carries masonry products, services and solutions suppliers, according to the family. Along with road, bridge and dam construction, O&G's Heavy Civil Division has performed large-scale site work and power and energy projects. The company’s Building Group experience includes education, health care, commercial, office, industrial, manufacturing, municipal, community, athletic venues, transit, utility, infrastructure, water and wastewater. 

Former O&G Industries chairman and president Raymond Albert Oneglia died in 2009. President David Oneglia now runs the company with his cousins, Raymond "Ray" R. Oneglia and Gregory Oneglia.  Gregory's daughter, Christina Oneglia Rossi, is vice president of business development and runs the building division with her father and Jason Travelstead. 

Gregory's son, Thomas J. "TJ" Oneglia, a Navy veteran who joined the executive team after nine years of service, oversees the company's concrete and materials, including its quarries and gravel pits. Bradford "Brad" Oneglia, Ray's son, is vice president and in charge of the company's asphalt division, including eight concrete plants.

Other company officers are Vice President Ryan Oneglia, David's son, who runs the Heavy Civil Engineering division, overseeing bridge, dam and runway projects. Kara Oneglia, vice president of the mason division, is the daughter of the late Robert Oneglia, who died in 2012.

Matthew Oneglia, Gregory's son, also a vice president, is heading up a new real estate and development division at O&G, which is expanding the company's holdings as it continues to grow. And Ken Merz has worked in operations for O&G for decades. 

Together, members say the family is a respected team in the industry, based on their experience and grooming by their elders.

"We do what our dads did," said David Oneglia. "I'm in the office at 7 a.m. And we've talked about the family, but we wouldn't be here without the hundreds of families who have worked here; they have made the company what it is."

Growing a workforce

As O&G's presence in the community has grown, so, too, has its effort to bring more skilled laborers, engineers and other experts into the workforce, using internship opportunities and training for high school students. 

"We are doing outreach at Oliver Wolcott Tech (high school in Torrington) and elsewhere, to teach carpenters and equipment operators, and an effort to have diversity in our workforce," Ray Onegila said. 

"O&G also has a summer intern program for college students," said Merz. 

"We recruit from colleges with construction management and engineering programs, that are usually signed up by (the fall)," Christina Oneglia Rossi said. "We had 14 interns last summer. We have a strong mentorship program, for kids who want real-time experience, where they shadow supervisors and members of the workforce. It's been a success for the company's building group, because they either return, or are directly hired by us."

Teamwork 

Inevitably in any business, complications and problems arise that have to be solved or ironed out. In O&G's case, the last few years brought not only the pandemic, but a recession in the economy, changes in ownership of major companies, weather-related problems, rising oil prices and supply chain slowdowns, said Brad Oneglia. But the work still gets done, he said. 

"We just finished the Bogue Road bridge in Torrington, which was built 50 or 60 years ago," he said. "Projects are continuing."

The company is also working on the new Torrington middle-high school project, which is moving along, thanks to a mild winter. "We built THS the first time, and now we're doing the new one," said Merz. "We have people at 70 or 80 job locations, every day."

Another project is a new science building at the Frederick Gunn School in Washington, formerly known as the Gunnery, which has been affected by the supply chain delay.

"We're waiting for (electrical) switches, and we were supposed to get them in May. Now we can't get them until August. The main air unit's not coming until October," David Oneglia said.

The Gunn school wants to open the building in May, he said, so O&G will provide temporary equipment in the building until the permanent equipment arrives.

"It's still a very real problem," he said. "But I've been told by many people that while there's a supply shortage, we've been given consideration because of our reputation, and our loyalty. That's very important to us."

A key to their success and ability to work together comes from a habit that the founders established. "On important things, we meet as a family," David Oneglia said. 

"We have a team advantage; we all grew up in the business, and saw the traditions that were in place," Brad Oneglia said. "We all learned the dynamics of the company very early. It's suited us well, and we've all contributed to that."

To mark the 100th anniversary, Kara Oneglia said, the company is creating a book detailing its many accomplishments and projects, as well as its ongoing presence in Torrington. "It's a work in progress," she said, adding that the Torrington Historical Society has helped, finding content in its archives for the publication.

"It's Torrington's 100th year as an incorporated city, so there's a lot going on this year," she said. 

And Torrington will always remain O&G's permanent home.

"Home is the Northwest Corner, but we work all over Connecticut," said TJ Oneglia. "Connecticut's a great place to live, and it's our home. We're always going to be here."

DOT begins work to remove stop sign on Route 9 in Middletown; site of 100s of accidents a year

Cassandra Day

MIDDLETOWN — Construction has begun on a $50 million state project to reconfigure a stop sign on the Route 17 on-ramp that leads to Route 9 northbound in Middletown to remedy a section of highway deemed one of the most dangerous in Connecticut.

Aimed at reducing crashes and improving traffic movement, the Department of Transportation plan includes removing stop sign and building a full-length acceleration lane to allow vehicles to merge with other motorists without first being required to come to a complete stop, according to the agency.

The on-ramp’s current configuration has seen 319 crashes and 27 injuries between 2019 and 2022, according to DOT data. In those first two years alone, Transportation Commissioner Garrett Eucalitto said, there were more than 240 crashes, resulting in nearly 50 injuries.

“Think of all the other economic costs, too: auto repair bills, insurance cost, medical bills and lost days of work to take care of those expenses," he said.

The downtown Middletown ramp is the only one with a stop sign along the 41-mile length of Route 9, according to state officials. It runs from the Farmington-West Hartford line to Old Saybrook.

Gov. Ned Lamont, Mayor Ben Florsheim, local and state legislators and DOT crews gathered Tuesday across from Harbor Park, about a mile and a half north of Exit 21 (formerly Exit 11) for a ceremonial groundbreaking. 

The contract was awarded to the Middlesex Corp., and the project is expected to be completed in fall 2026.

“You’re going to be busy for the next 10 years,” Lamont joked to construction workers. “No retirements!”

When the on-ramp was built in the 1950s, the goal was to maintain local access to the downtown, where a number of exits are clustered, Eucalitto said. “In most other states, you have highways with very long distances between exits and on-ramps, whereas in Connecticut, you go 500 feet and there’s another on-ramp, another on-ramp, which causes a lot of congestion and crashes.

“It’s a historic legacy that we’re trying to undo and fix here,” the commissioner said. “It forces you to come to a complete stop before merging with oncoming traffic. Usually that traffic is going 60, 70 mph. That awkward angle, trying to turn your head all the way to the left to look at oncoming traffic, has led to hundreds of rear-end collisions and sideswipe crashes,” he added.

“This is a long time coming,” state Sen. Matt Lesser, D-Middletown, said, adding that the work is "critical" for the city's economy.

The project will coincide with redevelopment of the city’s portion of the Connecticut Riverfront, which recently received a $12 million infusion from the state.

The dangerous area has been a “front-page issue all year round. It has been really high on our constituents’ list of intersections,” Lesser said, referring to his fellow lawmakers.

“What this is going to do is correct one of the gravest errors and one of the most significant safety challenges that was created when we turned a local road (Route 17 / South Main Street) into a highway,” said Florsheim, whose office at City Hall overlooks Route 9 in downtown Middletown. 

Eighty percent of the project will be funded by the federal government, and 20 percent will be borne by the state. 

Another area DOT project will result in the reconfiguration of several areas of Route 9 in Middletown, improving the safety of drivers.

Norwich Public Utilities to receive $10M federal gas line replacement grant

Claire Bessette

Norwich ― President Biden had just signed the massive federal infrastructure law in November 2021, when officials from Norwich Public Utilities knocked on U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney’s door to ask how to apply for funds to replace the city’s century-old natural gas lines.

“The ink was barely dry on the law,” Courtney said Wednesday at a news conference to announce that NPU was among 37 inaugural recipients of the highly competitive Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration grants. The funds go to municipally-owned utilities to replace aged and leaking gas lines.

NPU will receive the maximum award of $10 million to replace an estimated 4.7 miles of cast iron, wrought iron or bare steel pipes beneath city streets. Work will begin as soon as the grant money is released to NPU.

Courtney praised NPU for recognizing that the $350 billion federal infrastructure law covered more than roads, bridges, rail and airports, although the grants are awarded through the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Courtney compared the stiff competition and NPU’s success to the University of Connecticut men’s basketball team’s recent run through the NCAA tournament to capture the national championship.

NPU General Manager Chris LaRose credited NPU staff for putting together the winning application. With no grant limit announced, NPU applied for the more than $20 million that would be needed to replace all nine miles of aged gas lines. The $10 million will cover half the total, with that work to be done in two to three years.

LaRose said NPU will apply again during the next grant round to cover the rest of the cost.

“We have a great application that just needs to be modified, basically which streets we’re going to do,” LaRose said.

The first work with the $10 million announced Wednesday will be done along the southern portion of North Main Street and in the area of Norwich Free Academy, followed by the northern portion of North Main Street and the Asylum Street area.

LaRose said the project would be put out to bid as soon as the utility learns the logistical process for receiving the funds. NPU natural gas crews will do the pipeline replacement, but the utility will seek bids for related trades work, including repaving, lawn restoration and other work.

Labor leaders, unionized NPU workers and members of the United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 777 were among the more than 40 people who attended Wednesday’s news conference in the plaza outside City Hall. Participants posed in front of a large NPU gas underground construction truck used to construct and repair underground gas lines.

Speakers stressed the safety and environmental benefits of replacing century-old gas lines with new high-density polyethylene gas mains. Leaks from old pipes present safety hazards and release methane gas, an aggressive contributor to global warming, officials said.

LaRose said the grant also will help reduce or stabilize NPU gas rates for customers. The federal grant does not require local matching funds.

“We see this as continuing to lower the cost to gas customers,” LaRose said. “It’s all based on cost of service. So, this will have an impact of either lowering or preventing future rate increases.”

Bushnell Park construction begins

Andrew Larson

Contractors began working on improvements to Bushnell Park earlier this month. 

The project involves replacing sidewalks on the west side of the park. Last fall, contractors added new historically appropriate lighting fixtures. 

The project is funded through a state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection grant and matching funds from the Hartford Parks Trust Fund, according to an announcement from the city. 

The design and implementation of improvements are being coordinated with the Bushnell Park Conservancy and the iQuilt Partnership.

Construction began on April 3 and the majority of work is expected to be completed by the end of June. 

Construction vehicles will use Trinity Street, which will be closed to traffic during work hours, between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. on weekdays.

Pedestrian access will be maintained throughout construction with minor detours. The park will remain open during construction and visitors are urged to keep their distance from construction activities.