For Brian DiSabatino, leadership in the construction industry isn’t just about new facilities – it’s about building family.
He represents the fourth generation leading EDiS and is currently training the fifth generation to eventually take on the role just as he was trained years ago.
Over time, the company has worked with community groups, organizations and businesses to build some of the most iconic buildings in Delaware, starting with its founder and DiSabatino’s great-grandfather Ernesto DiSabatino, who built the majestic chapel at St. Anthony of Padua Church in Wilmington, as well as St. Francis Hospital.
“I think one measurement of that success is being able to answer the question of, ‘Are we honoring the vision Ernesto had to build his company?’ We believe his definition of building his community was way bigger than buildings,” he told the Delaware Business Times. “For a guy that didn’t speak English, his work in a very short period of time was consequential.”
DiSabatino says that now, part of his leadership style includes helping the more than 100 people who work at EDiS understand the legacy left behind by the family and to help them lead their own legacies.
“Everybody’s got one – everybody,” he emphasized. “That’s what I’m in search of unleashing – the power of unleashing the legacy of each powerful and capable person we work with. It’s a tremendous blessing. We have an amazing opportunity to connect people with purpose here and that’s what fires me up.”
He also does a significant amount of work in the community both locally and abroad, helping bring his new friend Korean activist Ji Seong-ho to the United States to face President Donald Trump as a voice for the voiceless from his home country. DiSabatino also does significant work promoting veterans suicide prevention and connecting those who would like to help in Delaware with the causes that match their hearts.
“Some people call it divine intervention. We sit in these positions of leadership with an awesome responsibility and if you can sit back and understand that perhaps we can be used for a higher purpose, maybe we can just get out of our own way and let that happen,” DiSabatino said.
“You can’t solve every day problems in every day money. For me, it’s sitting back and observing the moment – what is calling me, because of the talent that I might have. Sometimes, I don’t even know that talent I have until I’m in it. It takes a lot of humility and generosity, but not a lot of money,” he added.
“I know what I love. I know what I believe in. I know what’s worth fighting for. And I know what may not get results on the first day, but I know that with great conviction that if we keep pounding, we’re going to get through and I also know that somebody might be counting on me.”
