[Back to List View] NEWS RELEASE                  June 22, 2006 For more information, contact Steve Houston at 314/721-2828. PRIDE of St. Louis, Inc., Urges Union Construction to Build on Momentum of New Busch Stadium Project 300 Workers Attend Job Site Lunch at Pinnaclesm Entertainment Project PRIDE Executive Director Jim LaMantia urged nearly 300 union construction workers to exceed expectations at the PRIDE job site luncheon held recently on the site of the $430 million Pinnaclesm Entertainment casino in downtown St. Louis. ST. LOUIS - With a letter in hand from the St. Louis Cardinals praising the region’s union construction industry for newly completed Busch Stadium, PRIDE of St. Louis, Inc., is exhorting the union workforce to exceed expectations on all projects. That message was delivered at a PRIDE job site luncheon last week at the $430 million Pinnaclesm Entertainment casino and hotel project in downtown St. Louis. Nearly 300 union construction workers attended the event hosted by PRIDE and McCarthy Building Cos. Inc., the general contractor for the Pinnaclesm project. Jim LaMantia, executive director of PRIDE, shared a letter from Cardinals president Mark Lamping that praised union construction for its excellent work on the new stadium. “When the project began in 2003, it presented a daunting challenge that could only be met by deploying one of our region’s greatest assets - the St. Louis union construction industry, the best trained workforce in the country,” wrote Lamping. “By engaging the PRIDE labor-management organization to mold teamwork on the job and developing a rock solid Project Labor Agreement (PLA), this venture became a model of productivity and safety.” “For generations to come, fans will marvel at this breathtaking stadium that, like the St. Louis skyline it embraces beyond the outfield walls, is another legacy of the union construction worker,” the letter concluded. “That, my friends, is called ‘exceeding expectations’,” LaMantia told the workers. “And when you think about it, it should be our goal on every single project - to do a job so well that it compels an owner or a contractor to write a personal thank you letter. That is absolute gold!” LaMantia was joined by PRIDE Labor Co-Chair Jerry Feldhaus, representing the St. Louis Building & Construction Trades Council, AFL-CIO, and Paul Hartwig, vice president of operations for McCarthy, who urged workers to maintain high safety standards. The Pinnaclesm project, located at 128 Carr Street, is expected to generate 4,500 jobs -- 700 construction, 1,300 permanent and an additional 2,500 ancillary service jobs. It is slated for completion in 2007. PRIDE, founded in 1972, is an acronym for Productivity and Responsibility Increase Development & Employment. It is the nation’s first and oldest voluntary construction labor-management organization. For more than 30 years, PRIDE has worked to maintain harmony and build teamwork among St. Louis area AFL-CIO construction craft workers, contractors, construction buyers, architects, engineers and suppliers. # # #        Editor’s note:   PRIDE is headquartered in downtown St. Louis (63103).