Meet Eric Porter, a superintendent at New Generation Construction Group (NGC, ngcgroupinc.com).
Tell us a little about your business. – NGC is a commercial general contracting firm founded in 2009. We believe that partnerships are vital to the success of our business. This is evident with 78% of our projects deriving from repeat clients. Our projects are mainly in the hospitality and multi-family sectors, but we have wind farms and warehouses to restaurants and offices in our portfolio as well.
How did you get started in the business? – I’ve always liked working with my hands and building things. I graduated from SCC Milford with a degree in building technology, then worked in home construction for 17 years prior to joining NGC in 2011. I’m currently NGC’s superintendent at Lofts West, the third multi-family, mixed-use building in the Telegraph District, which is a large urban development project in Eastern Lincoln. I’ve completed Lofts East and Telegraph Flats in this same complex.
What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced professionally? – Supply chain and workforce issues. I really like to make our clients happy and when things out of our control cause delays, it challenges our team to come up with solutions to meet our deadlines.
What has been your most important achievement professionally? – Opening day of any project when everything comes together.
Tell us a little about your family. – My wife Kelley works as the communications manager at Lincoln Electric System. We have been married for 17 years and we have two girls, Alexa (11) and Georgia (8).
What do you see as one of the biggest turning points in your life? – I survived an accident that landed me in the St. Elizabeth’s burn unit for over a month and beat cancer in my 20s. Both made me stronger and I knew I could tackle anything that came my way.
What is your favorite thing to do on a day off? – Mow, snow-blow, or tinker in the garage.
What is the most unique or interesting thing about you that most people probably don’t know? – I can’t stand Christmas music.
Who inspires you? – My mom. She continuously overcomes challenges and was a great role model growing up.
What is your favorite quote or the best piece of advice you’ve ever received? – During my wedding, my grandfather Robert Streeter said never go to bed angry. Good advice.
If you could choose only one descriptive word to be remembered as, what would it be? – Realist.
What is your greatest talent that you don’t utilize in your daily work life? – I like working on cars. I have a ’67 Ford Galaxie 500 I’m working on now.
What local nonprofit organization(s) are you passionate about or involved with, and are there any special reasons why? – The American Cancer Association. Several members of my family are cancer survivors.
What is your favorite book or the last good book you read? – Of Mice and Men by Steinbeck.
What is your favorite movie? – Ferris Bueller’s Day Off or Tombstone.
What is your favorite local restaurant? – Parker’s Smokehouse.
If you could have dinner with one famous person from the past or present, who would it be? – Janet Jackson.
If our readers would like to contact you, how should they do so? – (402) 499-4012; eporter@ngcgroupinc.com; ngcgroupinc.com.