A "Chip" off the old block. (Profile of the Week).

LEON (CHIP) D. MARRANO III, PRESIDENT MARSON CONSTRUCTION CORPORATION

A construction manager observes, but the general contractor acts.

In other words, the G.C. assumes all of the risks in performing a construction project while the CM simply monitors the performance of others.

The distinction matters to someone like Leon "Chip" D. Marrano III, president of Bronx-based Marson Construction Corporation. Marrano--himself a G.C.--is the third generation to run Marson. He brings an ample supply of energy (and a law degree) to bear on the task of doing this, and it can't hurt that he enjoys doing it.

His father founded the business in 1948 as a masonry subcontractor. It became a G.C. in 1995, subsequently working on public housing projects in the metro area.

Today Marson is premier bondable G.C. with myriad projects, both public and private, to its credit.

"I grew up in this business," says Marrano over lunch at a midtown restaurant. With his self-described "baby-face", Marrano is an easygoing and affable person who can rattle off the finer points of his trade effortlessly.

Over the past few years Marrano has been working to update the G.C. concept for the new millennium. Part of this means adapting to unusual market conditions post-Sept. 11. One of Marson's projects downtown at 110 and 120 Church St. was directly affected by the collapse of the World Trade Center. The former is a 17-story residential building, while 120 Church St. has 23 stories. Both towers constitute over 400 high-end rental apartments.

"I'm like a conductor in a band. I know what's going on at any given moment with a project," he says.

This is an important selling point for Marrano's business. With other, larger firms, this level of attention is difficult if not impossible to maintain. And perhaps not surprisingly, the projects can fall through the cracks on their watch.

Marson never has more than two or three projects going at one time.

"I don't like to bite off more than I can chew," says Marrano, who typically bonds the entire project. He also has complete control over his sales team, for a very good reason.

"I am the sales team," he says, laughing.

Unlike a CM, Marrano gives an owner a guaranteed price--thus the price only changes if the owner changes it themselves.

Over the years, Marrano has worked on several private Manhattan projects--many of them well-known. He built the Colorado, at 201 East 86th street, a 35-story residential tower designed by Emery Roth & Sons. Marson also completed the Carnegie Park apartment building in Manhattan, under the auspices of the Related Companies.

Many of Marson's jobs are in the public sector, however. These include The Latimer Gardens, a residential project in Queens, and the Lafayette-Boynton Houses in the Bronx.

As an added perk, Marrano provides all pre-construction services gratis, which is far from the rule in his business. And when it comes to subcontractors, Marrano only works with top tier subs.

Marrano, asked to categorize his firm, responds that Marson is a "young, aggressive team" where the average age is in the 30's.

Something else that Marrano can offer an owner is accessibility. As Marrano relates, plenty of CM's or GC's will tell their client to call whenever they have a question no matter how often that occurs. Translation: think twice before bugging me, says Marrano. 0"I give owners my home phone numb says Marrano.