The days of winter have grown short and dark. But that doesn’t stop the Bozzuto Construction team. Days for Site Supervisor Mike Sullivan and his family start at 4 a.m. “My whole household gets up. We all have stuff to do before breakfast.” While he gets ready for work his two older daughters do the dishes and laundry and his 8-year-old daughter feeds the dogs. After eating breakfast as a family, he leaves his home in Baltimore County for the Key’s Pointe Residence construction site at 5 a.m.

Key’s Pointe is a collaborative project, with The Housing Authority of Baltimore, The Michaels Development Company and AHC Greater Baltimore partnering to bring new life to a historic, 62-acre 1940s public housing community in Southeast Baltimore. Now in Phase 1B, this Green Communities-certified project will include 900 new affordable and market-rate townhomes and apartments as well as over six acres of new parks and green space when completed.

But for now, when Sullivan arrives at 5:45 a.m., the site is pitch black with flurries in the forecast. Despite the sun not rising until 7:26 a.m., work starts at 6 a.m. sharp. When asked if he’s ever late, he just grinned and said, “If I’m not here, I’m dead.”

Mike Sullivan’s daily schedule

After working with Bozzuto for 5 years, tackling projects like Union Wharf, The Rotunda and Key’s Pointe phase 1A, Sullivan has learned to embrace the early morning and the cold. He laughed, “I like the cold weather more than the warm. When it’s warm, people don’t want to work. When it’s cold, people want to move faster.”

Shannon Strong, Assistant Project Manager, advises anyone working on a construction site to layer up. He jokes that people have their favorite gear brands, which Sullivan confirmed when he insisted he wears Red Wing everything. Whether it’s Carhartt, Red Wing, North Face or Patagonia one thing’s for sure, everyone comes ready to work through the weather.

Mike Sullivan, BCC Site Supervisor

But the crew aren’t the only ones who need warming up. Sullivan starts the day by warming up the machines and powering up the generators to fuel the large lights on-site.

Out in the field, the job isn’t 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Depending on what’s going on that day, it’s typical to go from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. with a quick 30-minute lunch break. Even after this long day, Sullivan leaves work and heads over to his family’s farm where he cares for 12 Clydesdale horses and his new shadow—a Cocker Spaniel-sized Pygmy goat named Elvis.

So, even in the depths of winter, when the sun itself doesn’t wake up quite so early, the Bozzuto Construction team is up and ready.