Lord Construction Group marks 130th anniversary with exhibit
The company highlights its contributions to Puerto Rico’s infrastructure and economic growth.
Puerto Rican company Lord Construction Group is marking its 130th anniversary this year and has organized a series of events to highlight its contributions to Puerto Rico’s infrastructure, industrial and commercial development.
The company was founded in Boston in 1895 by electrical engineer Frederic W. Lord, a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), under the name Lord Electric Co., said Manuel Rosabal, company CEO.
The company expanded to Puerto Rico in 1959, supporting the island’s economic growth and contributing to major infrastructure projects, said Rosabal, who also chairs company’s board of directors.
“Lord Construction Group remains a leading construction company serving sectors such as energy, manufacturing, hydrocarbons and telecommunications,” he said.
“In its early years, Lord Electric Company focused on electrical infrastructure projects during the expansion of urban networks in the northeastern United States. This included installing power transmission systems in growing metropolitan areas at a time when electricity was becoming essential to urban development,” Rosabal said.
“After establishing itself in Puerto Rico in 1959, the company focused on providing electrical services and played a key role in modernizing the island,” he added.
“We were instrumental in building electrical grids, urban transportation networks and the development of the pharmaceutical industry, which was beginning to expand in Puerto Rico, as well as constructing major financial buildings in the ‘Milla de Oro’ [Golden Mile financial district], government agencies, stadiums, shopping centers and residential projects,” Rosabal said.
To showcase its history, Lord Construction Group — which became a 100% Puerto Rican company in the 1980s — commissioned a historical and pictorial exhibition at Plaza Las Américas that is open to the public and will run until March 16.
Visitors will learn about Lord’s evolution and the projects that have shaped Puerto Rico’s economic growth, company executives said.
“This exhibition is fascinating because it reflects Puerto Rico’s evolution, something we must always remember. Sometimes, we forget the tremendous progress we have made as a society to achieve social, commercial and industrial development,” said Narciso Rabell-Fuentes, president of Lord Group.
“The history we live today was built through innovation, sacrifice, and the determination of many men and women who transformed Puerto Rico from a place of scarcity into a thriving economy,” he said. “The Lord Construction Group exhibition is a tribute to that progress and helps us better understand where we come from and what we have achieved throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, making all Puerto Ricans proud.”
