MMR Supports LSU Construction Management Program with $1 Million Gift

January 27, 2014

BATON ROUGE MMR Group recently announced a $1 million gift to the Louisiana State University's (LSU) College of Engineering. MMR, headquartered in Baton Rouge with 20 branch offices throughout North and South America, is the largest open-shop electrical and instrumentation construction firm in the United States. The donation will further elevate the Construction Management programs prominence by providing state-of-the-art learning spaces to better prepare its students for successful employment in the construction industry.

According to Louisiana Economic Outlook: 2014 and 2015, Baton Rouges economy alone is motivated by $34.7 billion in current or proposed industrial construction projects. With the influx of upcoming work, the need for contract workers is expected to double over the next two years. MMR is in the midst of this construction and manufacturing resurgence as major industrial expansions have propelled job growth in the Gulf South Region.

With the abundance of construction projects on the horizon for Baton Rouge and throughout the Gulf Coast, the need to attract skilled construction management personnel is imperative to the success of our industry, said MMR President and CEO James Pepper Rutland. We are proud to support LSUs Construction Management program and its mission to deliver the most qualified graduates needed to lead these industry projects.

MMRs gift will provide the Construction Management program with a Building Simulation and Information Modeling Studio and a new Advanced Materials and Methods Laboratory. Both labs will support the construction management undergraduate curriculum and provide innovative research opportunities.

We thank MMR Group for their support to the LSU College of Engineering, said LSU President and Chancellor F. King Alexander. This donation strengthens LSUs ability to produce the next generation of great construction management graduates. With the governor and states push for workforce development, support from local firms like MMR helps to ensure that we are meeting the increasing workforce and innovation needs.

Recently named Engineering News Record of Texas & Louisiana’s 2013 Specialty Contractor, MMR accelerated to the trade magazine’s top spot by increasing its revenue by 132 percent between 2011 and 2012, the largest growth of any specialty contractor on the list. MMR reported revenue of $712 million in 2012 and expects to exceed $800 million in 2013.

Rutland, a 1972 LSU Construction Management alumnus, attributes MMRs success largely to its unique ability to work across industry lines, serving the onshore, offshore, energy sector, petrochemical industries, and more.

LSUs College of Engineering is committed to providing workforce solutions for Louisiana by offering a world class education in an environment that promotes innovation and leadership, said Rick Koubek, Dean of LSUs College of Engineering. Thanks to the support of MMR, the new Construction Management teaching labs will complement the Colleges strategic research focus on natural and built infrastructure.

Founded in 1908, the LSU College of Engineering offers eleven undergraduate degree programs andconfers approximately650 bachelors degrees per year, ranking it in the top 10 percent nationally for graduates.In 2013, it became the largest college in Louisiana and the fifth fastest growing engineering college in the nation.One hundred and thirty five faculty members engage in education, research, and commercialization with a strategic focus on research indigenous to Louisiana: energy and environmental sustainability, and natural and built infrastructure.

For more information on MMR, please view a presentation athttp://ereply.us/mmr/or visit our main site atwww.mmrgrp.com or call 225-756-5090.

For more information about LSU’s College of Engineering visit www.eng.lsu.edu

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