B&I Contractors, a company grown out of Fort Myers, is embarking on a major expansion of its corporate headquarters on Canal Street. The expansion will lengthen two existing structures and add a third building over the next 18 months.

Jason Grabowski, CEO of B&I Contractors, emphasized the company’s commitment to Fort Myers.

“Here’s our corporate headquarters has been located Fort Myers since 1960,” said Grabowski. “So rather than move and leave and go to someplace else, we’d rather get back to support the community that we’ve grown up in and lived in for the last 60 plus years.”

The expansion will significantly increase the company’s capacity by nearly 95,000 square feet and create numerous jobs in Southwest Florida and across the state.

“We had the opportunity to buy this property and expand our existing corporate headquarters,” said Grabowski. “Basically triple the size of our footprint geographically.”

Mark Stevens, is the president of Stevens Construction, another local company of 22 years that works closely with B&I. Stevens is now building the extension. Stevens detailed the scope of the project.

“It’s basically in about five different phases ’cause we’re working while they’re up and operational,” said Stevens. “So, at the end of the day there’s about 95,000 square foot of new buildings and then close to 50,000 square foot of renovated space once we get the new buildings done.”

Stevens praised B&I Contractors’ reputation.

“They do quality work,” said Stevens. “They’re just really, they’re a very innovative company and they’re definitely one of the top leaders of contractors that we’ve ever worked with.”

The expansion is a testament to B&I’s legacy and impact on the community.

“There’s no question that B&I has, they had a legacy prior to this project,” said Stevens. “This is just gonna emphasize that more they, I mean, they are the company that other companies want to mimic.”

The expansion has been years in the making almost doubling B&I’s office and manufacturing space which will create hundreds of jobs in Fort Myers and throughout the state to support B&I’s HVAC plumbing business.