WiszCo History

WiszCo, LLC. is a firm that specializes in providing consulting services for owners and contractors of construction projects. Such projects include, but are not limited to, commercial building, residential (single and multi-family), retail, industrial, hotel, airport, manufacturing, technical, civil, transportation, remediation services and others. WiszCo was conceived in mid 2007 and spun off from R. L. Townsend & Associates, Inc. effective January 1, 2008.

As the principal of WiszCo, John Wisz has spent 21+ years working for R. L. Townsend & Associates, Inc., where he gained experience on construction projects spanning virtually every industry and covered the entire continental United States, including Hawaii and Alaska. Under the tutelage and guidance of Rich Townsend, Wisz developed and honed a broad range of consulting skills that were instrumental in helping owners achieve their individual project objectives.

Historically, under R. L. Townsend & Associates, these services were designed to enhance the owner’s ability to effectively manage and control costs on large construction projects to obtain maximum value for capital spending. This included a heavy emphasis on construction (contract compliance) auditing, development of contract administrative procedures, development of and negotiation of construction contract language and “best practice” reviews and related recommendations.

In addition, Mr. Wisz has over 30 years of experience in public speaking and related training in the industry. Over the past 30 years, John has led in excess of 100 training programs (conferences and multi-day seminars) for various professional organizations. This specifically includes the “Institute of Internal Auditors” where their program entitled “Effective Auditing of Construction Activity” has been exclusively led by either John Wisz or Rich Townsend for the past 25+ years. In addition, John has also taught numerous programs for various organizations (both public and private) on an “in-house” basis.

The collective experience and wisdom obtained throughout the years has led Mr. Wisz to seek new challenges in the construction industry. Despite the collective great efforts of many, the industry as a whole remains encumbered with numerous problems, both perceived and real. Projects are often over budget, behind schedule or both, despite the best of intentions. Quality is yet another area that lacks uniform consistency. Mistrust on the part of both Owners and Contractors only serves to exacerbate the problems.

In addition, because the industry as a whole is highly fragmented, and includes multiple layers (each having their own agenda), no single authority or uniform standard exists to govern all construction projects. As a result, each project and its related team members are left to their own devices for determining the fate of their projects. And despite the fact the industry possesses great technical merit and organization skill, the non-uniform approach as to “how” projects should be managed and construction has given appearance to worse results rather than better. Consequently, the overall reputation of the industry continues to suffer. More importantly, owners and contractors are not obtaining the specific results they initially desired.

While WiszCo will continue to offer traditional consulting services (audit, contract administration, contract development and negotiation), WiszCo also hopes to expand such by bridging the “gap” between Owners and Contractors. The goal is to increase the probability of success by serving as an “industry-neutral” third party to clearly define expectations (and thereby eliminate or minimize mistakes), define strategies and build consensus where obstacles exist. We believe we can effectively serve as a strategic third-party to develop appropriate communication tools to help both owners and contractors achieve their individual objectives while also building trust and strengthening their relationships with their contracting counterparts.