Building relationships for better project management. (Profile of the Week: VVA Project Managers & Consultants).

Defining project management can be a tricky endeavor, but for VVA the meaning is clean Creating a strong relationship to facilitate the achievement of each client's goals efficiently and bring every project to completion, on time and on budget With a client list that includes names like Lehman Bros., Goldman Sachs & Co., Kaplan Education, MetLifa and EMI Records, VVA has certainly proven that their definition means success.

VVA was founded in 1994 to revolutionize the project management industry and lead it in a new direction. Lorenzo Vascotto and Irwin Schneider believed then and today that building relationships is paramount in project management and consulting, and that committed client advocacy is the most crucial factor in creating strong bonds. The founders then built a team of seasoned, skilled professionals who share this philosophy and dedicate themselves to providing the highest level of service no matter the size of the client or the scope of the project.

The professionals at VVA collaborate with each member of a project team from real estate brokers to designers to contractors to internal client staff in order to create a cooperative environment "By fostering a proactive, mutually respectful attitude that recognizes the contribution of each team member, we avoid adversarial relationships in order to find creative, effective solutions," says Vascotto. "We encourage project teams to think outside the box and find unique ways to resolve issues that arise and continually streamline the process. This is how we consistently produce results that meet and, often times, exceed expectations."

VVA faces every new project with an approach tailored to suit the particular situation-and with a principal at the helm. The ability to deal effectively with challenges is rooted in the hands-on leadership of the firm's principals, the true hallmark of VVA's work Each engagement receives the full attention of VVA principals (there are six today) and benefits from their depth and breadth of experience and their ability to leverage long-standing relationships in the marketplace to the client's advantage.

"Our clients expect and deserve VVA principal attention, and we pride ourselves on maintaining a corporate culture where a principal will always be actively involved because each project is treated as a top priority," says Schneider. "Seventy-five percent of our new business comes from existing clients because we form and foster relationships that allow our clients to put their trust in us."

Principal involvement throughout an entire project keeps many national and international corporations returning to VVA time and time again not only for their management skill but for their friendly, expert advice. "We've brought VVA in on nearly ten projects including 16 Cooper Square in New York; our largest classroom site in the world, and 888 Seventh Ave., Kaplan's world headquarters, because we know the principals and we know that they devote themselves to our satisfaction," says Jeff Elie, vice president of real estate and facilities for Kaplan Educational Testing. 'Their work style puts us at ease and their consistent attention to detail and dogged advocacy on our behalf has made each project a success. I have no doubt that we will continue to turn to them whenever we have a strategic real estate decision to make."

VVA is lead by six principals including Vascotto and Schneider, Sandy Reis and three newly appointed principals Robert T. O'Hea, Jr., Dana N. Panzarino, P.E. and Marc P. Chiapperino, P.E. Their combined talents and experience extend to all areas of a projects life cycle and allow VVA to offer services that run the gamut from due diligence, site evaluation and selection, lease consulting (e.g., overtime HVAC rates, cleaning specifications, and utility rebate pass-throughs), budgeting and scheduling through design management, value engineering. constructability analysis, construction administration, facilities consulting, furniture procurement and move coordination.

In getting to know their clients and how to specifically service their needs, VVA principals have accumulated the knowledge that helps them address challenges specific to particular industries. Firms such as Skadden Arp, Meagher & Flom, Debevoise & Plimpton, Allen & Overy, McDermott, Will & Emery, Millbank; Tweed, Hadley & McCloy, Thelen Reid & Priest and Baker Botts have all turned to VVA for project management and advocacy. VVA has become the project management firm of choice for these firms and others who face unique issues relating to relocations, mergers and acquisitions, refittings, expansions and partnership structuring.

Suzanne Heidelberger, director of real estate for Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher& Flom LLP, has called upon VVA for many real estate projects to ensure that they were successful. "The greatest challenge in our projects has been their sheer complexity. We chose VVA because they have the experience and ability to manage a project that involves coordinating hundreds of people and issues, all focused on achieving our rigorous budget and scheduled objectives. They've played a crucial role in managing our budgets and have added value to our projects by consistently evaluating new ideas and approaches and translating them into action plans that save us money in both the short and long run."

No matter the size or scope of a project, companies consistently turn to VVA because of their foresight, commitment to the highest quality service and dedication to client satisfaction. The ability to remain rooted in these principles, while evolving with market and technology trends, is what keeps and will continue to keep VVA positioned as the premier project management and consulting firm.