SHAKERS & MOVERS n BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT
DEVELOPM EN T C OM PA N Y
Construct Two Group
By Derrick Wallace
F
or most of my life, I have found
myself surrounded by older
people. I do not know if this is
by design, or if it was a matter
of preference, but it is what it is. What I
gleaned from this association is a certain
amount of wisdom. One piece of wisdom
has lasted me until this day. Older people
always said, "It is not what you know,
but it is always who you know and more
importantly, who knows you and your
character." These words were not only
etched into my brain, but they became the
framework that I used to build Construct
Two Group (CTG).
My great grandfather was in the concrete
construction business, but my family
steered me away from the business. After
graduation, initially, I went to work for
Price Waterhouse (PW). After PW, I created
a glass glazing firm with Donald Tannery
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IBA Success Magazine
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VOL 5, Issue 1
Universal Studio's Incredible Hulk (above);
The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man (right)
that grew into a full-fledged construction
company due to opportunities presented
by Ronald Rogers - City Manager in the
Town of Eatonville. I started with housing
renovation projects which allowed me to
later be successful on being selected to
build the Denton Johnson Center and
the Eatonville Water Treatment Plant. It
seemed as if my path into construction was
predestined without my initial realization.
My growth, as I continued to learn, was
directly linked to relationships.
Business growth is all about the strength
of your network. How well you build the
When I started CTG, I had no idea of the path
that I would follow. As a native and long-
time resident of Orlando, as with many, I
attended and graduated from Jones High
School. I had the honor of rebuilding the
new Jones High School, a $50,000,000.00
high school. The school where my
mother, father, aunts, uncles, cousins,
sisters, brothers and grandchildren have
graduated from. I graduated from Florida
Agricultural and Mechanical University
(FAMU). I accomplished this goal by grad-
uating Magna Cum Laude from FAMU with
a B.S. in Accounting. As a graduate, I am
most proud of the fact that I built the
FAMU Development Research School, a
$25,000,000 K-12 School. This was one of
the largest projects ever built by an African
American Construction Management firm.