Henry (Hank) C. Suominen, Jr.

Background

Mr. Hank Suominen joined Rimkus (formerly Commercial Construction Consulting, LLC) in 2004 to provide development advisory on a MassPort project known as Core Block, a roughly 1.5-million-square-foot mixed-use project overbuilding the Silverline transitway, Central Artery Tunnel, surface roadways, and a freight rail line.  The project advanced to design development drawings when an ownership dispute brought the project to a close.  Having established a strong working relationship with MassPort officials, Mr. Suominen was the Owner’s Representative and Development Advisor for Waterside Place and Gables Seaport high-rise residential apartment projects.  From his earlier years developing properties in the industrial/warehouse space, he led The Martignetti Companies through a site selection and development process with MassDevelopment for their new corporate headquarters and flagship distribution centers in Taunton, Massachusetts.  Most recently, he was the Owner’s Representative for the Parcel 12 citizenM Hotel and was GIC’s advisory consultant undertaking Cost Control Assessments for investments made by GIC on new hotel developments proposed by cMH.

Prior to Rimkus, Mr. Suominen graduated from Syracuse University in 1978 with a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting.  After an 8-year role in corporate operations accounting and auditing at International Paper Company, he made a career change into commercial real estate with The Pyramid Companies in the Boston, Massachusetts, office developing three regional shopping centers in development and construction project management roles.  After 2 years overseeing technology selection for a private environmental service business, he took on a role as Chief Operating Officer for a paving and aggregate producer growing the company from $10 million in sales to $55 million.  As a development executive for GFI Partners, Mr. Suominen was responsible for the development and construction of a distressed real estate property investment company; 24 properties in the warehouse, industrial manufacturing, and office sectors were acquired over a 65-month time frame in 10 states having an acquisition value in excess of $150 million.  Through marketplace re-positioning, these properties were brought back to market as assets returning investors in excess of 20 percent.  As a Co-Founder of Water Solutions Group, Mr. Suominen was responsible for establishing market prices, appropriate technology, and operating costs for the start-up business.  Initially, the investment banker had operational control of the business for its first 4 years at the end of which time the business was on the verge of losing its status as a going concern.  Equity investors assumed responsibility for the business, and he was retained as business manager in December 2001.  Business achieved positive cash flow by the end of 2002 by improvement of operational readiness, volume-based pricing incentives, and cost control leading to a $1 million swing in annual cash flow by the end of 2008 leading to the sale of the company.