Emily’s career focus has been the design, construction and renovations of public buildings and spaces. She has been fortunate to participate on many project teams that have contributed some small piece to the renaissance of Philadelphia. Early in her career she was hired by the Rendell Administration to get the lead out of the paralyzed system of completing capital projects within city government. She was hired to serve as the City’s first Capital Program Director for the CPO, a new city agency created as part of the reinventing government initiative to bring private sector business practices to the city.
As the Capital Program Director her team completed over 300 backlogged construction projects equaling $424 million in three and a half years. These projects included the $56 million rehabilitation of a 16-story office tower, The One Parkway Building and the construction and renovation of facilities that provide critical services to the citizen of Philadelphia such as police, fire, health and human services as well as libraries, museums and Fairmount Park facilities.
In January of 2000, she was hired for the most honored position of her career, the Vice President of Design and Construction for the National Constitution Center. In this position, she was responsible for leading the team of architects, engineers, archeologists, exhibit designers, fabricators and contractors through the design and construction of a new $137 million museum on Independence Mall. This truly spectacular building provides Philadelphia with an incredibly impressive monumental building on par with national structures in Washington DC. More important than its contribution to our city’s architecture, it is the first museum/education and outreach center and forum for national broadcast and live debate of its kind. The mission is to honor and educate our citizens on our nation’s founding document, The US Constitution.
After the completion of the National Constitution Center, Emily started Bittenbender Construction, LP in August of 2003. Bittenbender Construction, LP is a commercial general contractor that specializes in cultural, academic, health care, corporate and retail projects. Some of Bittebender’s most notable projects include the renovation and new construction of Progress Plaza, a shopping plaza on North Broad Street in Philadelphia, renovation of historic Franklin Square Park, the renovation of the Lights of Liberty, an American history light and sound show, and various projects for Sunoco, AAA Mid-Atlantic, Comcast, Drexel University and Wachovia. Bittenbender Construction provides construction management and general contracting services as well as self-performs carpentry subcontracts as a signatory union contractor. Bittenbender is 100% woman-owned and operated with WBENC certification and WBE certification with the City of Philadelphia, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the State of New Jersey.
Her team of seasoned professionals has helped them become one of the fastest growing companies in the industry. Bittenbender’s growth and success is the result of the fact that their focus is on the client. Their culture is built upon an environment of trust, respect and caring for clients and the project team. They develop a collaborative environment with architects, engineers and, most importantly, with owners. Bittenbender inspires confidence in the team by developing, nurturing and building relationships with all partners so that at the end of the day everyone involved can share a sense of pride in the project. Bittenbender invites you to work with a new generation of contractor who, first and foremost, maintains the highest standards of quality and ethics. In exchange, they promise you that when it’s built by Bittenbender it is built right.
For more information on Bittenbender Construction, visit www.bittenbenderconstruction.com.
Emily Bittenbender, Managing Partner of Bittenbender Construction, will be honored with the Small Business Person of the Year award at the 28th annual Excellence Awards on November 18. The award is sponsored by the PNC Bank. For more information or to register, click here.
