A chance conversation at a Rhode Island resort set Drew DiSilvestro on a path to transform a one-man plumbing outfit into a federal contracting powerhouse with $195 million in contracts — and a new Meriden headquarters to show for it.
Just as in a Hollywood script, sometimes a chance meeting really does lead to business success.
Just ask
Andrew “Drew” DiSilvestro Jr., CEO of Berlin-based AmeriTech Contracting LLC. He leads a fast-growing federal contractor he knew nothing about less than four years ago — until a conversation with a stranger during a vacation in Rhode Island.
Since getting involved with AmeriTech in 2022, DiSilvestro has helped grow the company from about $1 million in annual revenue and a single employee to 85 employees handling projects in 22 states, with contracts totaling $195 million last year.
The company is also expanding its Connecticut footprint. In December, AmeriTech purchased a 51,750-square-foot office building at 599 Research Parkway in Meriden for $1.5 million that will become its new headquarters. The company is relocating from a much smaller office at 318 Main St. in Berlin.
DiSilvestro traces the opportunity back to a chance meeting during a long weekend in the summer of 2022 at The Preserve, a luxury sporting club and resort in Rhode Island.
There, he struck up a conversation with
Dan Eastman, a founding partner in AmeriTech. The two talked mostly about government contracting, “what I was doing and what he was doing,” DiSilvestro said.
At the time, DiSilvestro was vice president of Brookfield-based BlackHorse LLC, a veteran-owned general contracting and construction management firm that performs federal projects.
“One thing led to another — there was a synergy between Dan and I — and he said, ‘Hey, we potentially should work together,’” DiSilvestro said.
Eastman said he quickly recognized the potential partnership.
“Within the first 30 minutes, I knew we had the foundation for a strong future as teammates and partners,” he said. “There was an immediate sense of synergy and shared opportunity.”
AmeriTech had been founded in 2020 by
Norman Scott Dahl, a service-disabled Navy veteran who had recently been diagnosed with stage four cancer. Eastman was uncertain about the future of the company and his investment.
So, DiSilvestro agreed to take a look.
“I was not a partner at all,” he said. “I just came in to see if I could help do something with it.”
When DiSilvestro visited AmeriTech in August 2022, the one-employee company was operating out of Dahl’s home in the Pawcatuck section of Stonington as a plumbing and HVAC contractor.
“At the time Drew became involved, the company primarily focused on self-performing union mechanical work, with approximately 70% of its business coming from federal contracts,” Eastman said.
Eastman said DiSilvestro brought the leadership the company needed.
“What mattered most wasn’t perfection, but having the right attitude and drive to help build the company,” Eastman said. “Drew brought a strong work ethic and, just as importantly, a willingness to learn.”
Building experience
DiSilvestro’s background — in both construction and the military — made him a good fit to help rebuild AmeriTech.
He began working in construction shortly after graduating from Coginchaug Regional High School in Durham in 2005. That summer, a friend’s father hired him to help rebuild the Time Out Taverne in Durham after it was destroyed by fire.
“He hired me for 10 bucks an hour, cash on the table,” DiSilvestro said.
The work became more than just a summer job, he said. “I fell in love with the process.”
He continued working in the industry while attending Eastern Connecticut State University in Willimantic, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration.
He later joined the Air Force, serving nearly 15 years as a structural craftsman responsible for projects ranging from temporary hangars in desert deployments to gym locker-room facilities.
During that time, he also launched a small company, Grade A Home Improvement, based in Middlefield. Though the business was successful, it struggled to operate without him.
“The problem was, it was so reliant on me,” DiSilvestro said. “I had to leave for some (military) training. I had a team in place that I thought could keep things together, … but I came back to massive headaches.”
After a seven-month deployment to the Middle East, he decided to shut the company down.
While serving in the military, DiSilvestro earned an associate degree in construction technology and construction management from the Community College of the Air Force. He also completed the UConn School of Business’ Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans program.
In 2016, he joined the U.S. Department of Defense as a senior project manager overseeing an average $40 million annual portfolio of construction projects. He later earned an executive MBA from the University of New Haven before leaving the DOD in 2020 to join BlackHorse.
Sweat equity
A few months before meeting Eastman, DiSilvestro was promoted by the Air Force to senior master sergeant — the second-highest enlisted rank — and named operations superintendent for the 103rd Civil Engineer Squadron, a unit of the Connecticut Air National Guard.
That role involves training for and handling the logistics of being deployed for crises or emergencies, whether at home or overseas.
“No matter where we go, there’s always a need for infrastructure to be either maintained, built or renovated,” DiSilvestro said. “That’s why my squadron is one of the most deployed units in the military.”
His military experience, education and background in government contracting made him well suited to help revive AmeriTech.
When he first reviewed the company in August 2022, he found that it already had a two-year track record working with the federal government.
“Some of the legwork was already done, and I was able to take the company and actually generate sales,” DiSilvestro said.
In the first two months, he generated $10 million.
At the same time, he said the company lacked basic systems and structure. DiSilvestro — who lives in Hamden with his wife and two stepchildren — said he embraced the challenge and the chance to help Dahl and his family.
He eventually bought into AmeriTech using money from refinancing his home and liquidating his Thrift Savings Plan, the military’s retirement savings program.
“I became a 10% partner, then a 30% partner,” DiSilvestro said. By the end of 2023, he became the majority owner, allowing Dahl to retire.
“Drew’s initial investment in the company came through a combination of personal capital and sweat equity,” Eastman said. “He worked hard to earn his place as a partner and was fully committed to the opportunity.”
Dahl’s legacy
Dahl, 51, died in February after a four-year battle with cancer, but the company he founded lives on through DiSilvestro.
The federal contracts AmeriTech is currently working on include a $23 million project to add a pharmacy at the West Haven VA Medical Center, and a $20 million project to install underground ducts and fiber-optic cable for computer servers at the Newington VA Medical Center as part of a nationwide electronic health records modernization effort.
DiSilvestro, 38, said AmeriTech almost lost the West Haven project last year because the funding was delayed due to the work of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
“We said we were willing to extend our price for an additional amount of time, … and like 15 days later we ended up getting the award,” he said.
He also noted that AmeriTech’s staff is about 40% veterans. He prefers to hire either former college athletes or veterans, because they share a discipline and regimen and are similarly process-oriented, DiSilvestro said.
And, unlike his former home renovation business, AmeriTech is much better prepared, DiSilvestro said, should he face another call-up with his unit.
“The good thing is, as we grew this organization, we grew it so that it’s not relying on one person,” DiSilvestro said. “It’s relying on the systems, and that’s what’s been the biggest success here.”
