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Sarasota area construction executive Lem Sharp, three years into retirement, feels pretty prickly lately.
The source of Sharp's ire: Accusations from two fronts that impugn the integrity of the firm he spent nearly 40 years working at and running, W.G. Mills. Acquired by Providence, R.I.-based construction giant Gilbane in 2010, the firm was once one of the leading builders on the Gulf Coast. Projects W.G. Mills built include the FCCI Insurance Group headquarters complex in Lakewood Ranch and multiple high schools from Naples to Tampa. The firm had $275 million in revenues in 2009.
The first situation that got Sharp fired up was allegations that Mills, prior to Gilbane's acquisition, was potentially involved in a bid-tampering case with the Manatee County School District. An attorney for the district raised the allegations, over a 2009 contract for a $13 million elementary school renovation project, in a March 18 report.
Sharp, in an interview with the Business Observer, calls the bid-rigging case “some outrageous assumptions and completely false allegations.”
Adds Sharp: “It's absolutely disgusting. It's very hurtful.”
The retired executive, who joined Mills in 1973 and worked alongside founder Walter Mills for decades, wasn't done. A decision Gilbane made, also announced March 18, to pay $1.1 million over accusations W.G. Mills created a front company in order to win federal government work, is another thorn. Gilbane, says spokesman Wes Cotter, settled the federal whistleblower case with no admission of wrongdoing or liability.
“None of the allegations are true,” Sharp tells Coffee Talk. “This was vigorously denied and vigorously defended. This was a settlement decision to be able to move on.”
Sharp's spirited defense of W.G. Mills' reputation under his watch is matched by the forceful tone of federal officials in the whistleblower case. A sampling of the quotes:
“Those who seek to do business with the government must do so fairly and honestly...” says Acting Assistant Attorney General Benjamin Mizer of the U.S. justice department's Civil Division;
“Those who apply for federal contracts must be honest and forthright in their dealings...” adds U.S. Attorney A. Lee Bentley III of the Middle District of Florida;
“Providing the government false information to gain access to set-aside contracts is unacceptable,” says Inspector General Peggy Gustafson of the Small Business Administration.
But Sharp says those words represent a federal government run wild — not anything W.G. Mills did. “The government is so heavy-handed,” Sharp says. “But you can't fight them.”
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