DuPont drops hometown contractor, replaces DiSab with Brown & Root

DuPont Co. has hired national plant-maintenance contractor Brown & Root Industrial Services, of Baton Rouge, La., and ended its contract with  DiSabatino Maintenance Corp., based on Wilmington's South Cleveland Street and run by members of a family of builders and contractors who have been prominent in DuPont's hometown for five generations, according to people familiar with the change. (DiSabatino Maintenance, headed by Larry DiSabatino, is Not related to EDiS or other firms controlled by different branches of the DiSabatino clan. Details added Tuesday)

DuPont may give DiSabatino future projects, and DiSabatino workers are being encouraged to interview for Brown & Root jobs. -- Another source said dozens of DiSabatino employees were given notice of the change in late March. -- That source noted DuPont had also used locally-based Bancroft Construction and Minker Construction as well as DiSab's for jobs in the past, sometimes all at once.

DuPont spokesman Daniel Turner confirmed the new arrangement: "DuPont is terminating the contract for Contracted Construction Maintenance Services (CCMS) in the Wilmington area that is currently held by DiSabatino Maintenance," he told me in an email response. (DiSabatino didn't return a call.)

"DuPont has identified a need to move to a partner who can provide a wider range of services under a CCMS relationship. DiSabatino has been a long-term supplier and is a valued small-business partner," Turner added.

"DuPont hopes to continue a relationship with DiSabatino on future construction projects, however, at this time they are not able to meet the company's broader needs. We notified the supplier on April 1 and the new supplier, Brown & Root Industrial Services, will assume responsibility on May 1.

"Impacted employees of DiSabatino will be offered the opportunity to interview with Brown & Root."