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From the Desk of...

Former Ranger Turned Builder
Wins SBA Award

Trillacorpe Construction LLC

What: A service-disabled veteran-owned small business (SDVOSB) that designs and builds facilities for government and the private sector. Also does construction management and renovation work.

Current contract awards: $50 million

Founded: 1997

Founder and CEO: Frank Campanaro, a former Army Airborne Ranger who served with U.S. Special Forces, receiving a Presidential Unit Citation and other awards for valor.

Workforce: 70 full- and part-time employees. Hires veterans whenever possible. Also works with and hires other veteran-owned businesses whenever possible.

Where: 30100 Telegraph Road, Suit 366,
Bingham Farms, Michigan, 48025.

Telephone: (248) 433-0585

Web site: tritrillacorpeconstruction.com

Frank Camanaro

Trillacorpe Construction LLC, a veteran-owned firm based in southern Oakland County, received the Veteran Small Business Champion Award from the Midwest chapter of the Small Business Administration.

The honor was one of only 11 SBA awards presented in the six-state region.

The award recognizes the extensive efforts Trillacorpe and its founder Frank Campanaro put forth for veterans and their families.

Trillacorpe designs and builds facilities for the government and the private sector. It also provides construction management and does renovation work.

Many of its clients are in the United States, but the company also has an international focus, working in Guam, South America and the Middle East.

The company was founded in 1997 by Frank Campanaro, a service-disabled Army veteran who helped capture Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega after the invasion of Panama.

Campanaro said his company, which has 70 full- and part-time employees, hires U.S. military veterans whenever possible. He also works with and hires other veteran-owned firms whenever possible.

"It's important to hire veterans, our brothers and sisters," Campanaro said during a recent interview at his company's headquarters in Bingham Farms, Michigan. "That's a spiritual mission, to reach out and help other veterans."

Campanaro is an active supporter of the non-profit, Flint-based VetBiz Central and its programs.

He said he also mentors other veteran business owners and has helped several get their own businesses going.

"The strong have an obligation to help the weak," he said.

That obligation extends beyond the business world.

Campanaro is a founding board member and active in a non-profit organization called the Fallen and Wounded Soldiers' Fund. The fund, started four years ago by Chris Cornelius, raises money for Michigan military families of fallen or severely wounded soldiers.

"We are trying to fill the gaps that the government can't," Campanaro said.

Money from the fund goes to pay for travel expenses, so family members can visit wounded soldiers. It also provides scholarship funds and other financial aid. It even has helped rehab houses for wounded vets.

Each year, the fund (www.FWSF.org) raises $250,000 to $350,000 to support its efforts.

Campanaro's father was in the Army and served in Vietnam in 1965 and 1966, attached to Special Forces.

"So I grew up with Special Forces stories," Campanaro said. "I always wanted to be in the military."

But as he was growing up in Clarkston, Michigan, it seemed increasingly unlikely that the young Campanaro would ever follow in his father's military footsteps.

Campanaro said he suffers from Tourette's syndrome, obsessive compulsive disorder and dyslexia. That made school a struggle for him and quashed his hopes of some day attending the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

However, he did have considerable artistic talent, and put that to good use while in high school preparing food at the nearby Clarkston mansion and music theater.

After graduating from high school in 1986, he was accepted into the famous Culinary Institute of America in New York. That in turn lead to a dream job as the "event chef" for former President Gerald Ford.

Campanaro calls Ford "one heck of an American, one heck of a human being."

The respect was mutual.

When Ford found out that Campanaro harbored a long-held desire to join the Army, Ford picked up the telephone and called a recruiter.

"The president called the recruiter and set up a meeting for me," Campanaro said.

"He did not interfere with the process. He was totally diplomatic. No pressure."

But the phone call did produce results.

"So, the president got me in the Army," Campanaro said.

Initially, the recruiter pushed for Campanaro to become a chef in the Army.

Campanaro declined.v Like his father, he wanted to be in Special Forces.

Eventually, the recruiter agreed to sign up Campanaro for Special Forces, but warned that he would receive no special consideration. His highly placed friends didn't matter. His disabilities didn't matter. If Campanaro was going to make it in Special Forces, he would have to make it on his own.

Campanaro's basic, advanced, airborne and Ranger training all took place at the sprawling Fort Benning, Ga., Army post.

"It was a never ending commitment. Never ending training. This (the Rangers) is a group that doesn't mess around," he said. "You are evaluated every day."

Despite the ticks caused by his Tourette's syndrome, Campanaro was sent to Army sniper school.

He ended up as one of the best shooters in the country, even making the U.S. Olympic rifle team.

In all, he spent six years in the Army.

During that time, he was part of the unit that helped capture Panamanian strong man Manuel Noriega after the U.S. invasion of Panama. Campanaro also took part in other live missions.

On one such mission in South America, while on a live fast rope insertion from a helicopter at night into the jungle, Campanaro was injured.

He spent the last two years of his military service as a sniper instructor, before separating from the service for medical reasons.

Back home, he worked for a while in the family construction business.

"Everybody in the family was into construction," he said. "I grew up in the trades."

In 1997, he broke off to form his own company, Trillacorpe Construction. Through his tireless efforts and nearly constant travel schedule, he has built Trillacorpe into a successful enterprise, with current contract awards of about $50 million.

Carl Stoddard
Maj. MIARNG (Ret.)

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