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People On The Move - David S. Baker
10/31/2011 - By Christine Burke Eskwitt
David S. Baker: Raising Ground Zero
R. Baker & Son All Industrial Services, one of the nation’s leading rigging, plant and machinery moving, dismantling, and building demolition contractors, is recognized as the ‘go to” company within the industry for logistically intense, highly specialized niche jobs.The Red Bank-based firm has rigged and relocated the 70-ft. high, 54-ft. wide Colgate clock, the landmark backdrop to the Manhattan skyline; rigged and trucked fighter jets and WWII helicopters from and onto the USS Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum; and regularly rigs, decommissions, dismantles or relocates power plants, refineries, pharmaceutical facilities or other complex industrial sites in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. Most recently, R. Baker & Sons was awarded the interior dismantlement of the pedestal for the restoration of the Statue of Liberty.
To be entrusted with the responsibility of moving immense, emotionally charged - and some even say sacred - artifacts created in the destruction of the World Trade Center would cause some men to lose sleep, but not David S. Baker, President of R. Baker & Son.
“We’ve developed an expertise for one-of-a-kind rigging and relocation projects,” says David. “Anyone can move a machine shop but not everyone can do what we can do. There are no second chances, no ‘oops’, only doing it right the first time. There’s no other option.”
This multi-generational company has nearly 100 employees, of which four have sons that have started careers within the company. “That’s a big deal for a small company,” says David. “We’re a very close company.” David’s grandfather Robert started the business in 1935. David’s father Walter and his brother Mark join in managing the company. Another brother, Spencer, was also involved before his untimely death in a car accident. The family also owns the Bakers Marina Group, with several locations including Highlands and Long Branch. David grew up on Staten Island and graduated from the College of Staten Island with a degree in business.
For over a year, David and his employees have been immersed in planning, transporting and moving into the new National September 11 Memorial Museum 30 artifacts, some weighing as much as 30 tons. The most highly recognized artifact David’s team has moved is the New York City Fire Department truck from Ladder Company 3. Twelve firefighters from Company 3 lost their lives on 9/11, and in the days following this attack on our country, images of their battered, ash-covered truck were seen around the world, becoming a universal symbol of that day’s terrible destruction.
“I didn’t lose sleep because we put a tremendous amount of planning, design and engineering expertise into this project, backed by detailed safety procedures and safety checks every step of the way,” says David. “The plans were checked multiple times and discussed among the people who were going to perform the job. This significant degree of project planning is behind our company’s exemplary safety record.”
David says his company gets the jobs average companies don’t want or can’t handle. “These projects, and obviously this one, require a tremendous amount of personal attention and care. This is something we afford every one of our customers.”
Father to two college students and a younger child still in high school, David is on the Board of Education for both Shore Regional High School and in Monmouth Beach. Last year, he was honored when Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno presented him with the Monmouth Council of Boy Scout’s Citizen of the Year Award.
David says winning this job brings R. Baker & Sons full circle. “When 9/11 happened, our chief health and safety officer and his rescue dogs were part of the first responder team. Steel from the towers was brought to Staten Island where our workers performed segregation and cutting activities. In 2010, my father won the lottery to become one of those honored to read the names of the victims on the ninth anniversary of 9/11. Now, ten years later, we have the honor and privilege to return these artifacts and to help create a lasting tribute and reminder for future generations. Everyone at R. Baker & Sons shares the pride, and also the sadness, as we help to tell the story and contribute to the rebirth of Ground Zero.”
FAVORITE RESTAURANT
Monticello, Red Bank
FAVORITE MUSIC
Cindy Lauper
Deborah Harry
FAVORITE MOVIE
“Back to School”
with Rodney Dangerfield
FAVORITE HOBBY
Skiing
PET PEEVE
Negative people
THREE PEOPLE YOU WOULD LIKE TO HAVE DINNER WITH
My brother Spencer,
Rudy Giuliani
Dr. Norman Vincent Peale
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