A Career Built on Relationships
After 38 years at BL Companies, John Mancini is preparing for something unfamiliar: slowing down.
“It’s a bittersweet moment in my life right now,” he says.
With his retirement, John’s closing a chapter that began in 1988, when BL was still a growing firm with a handful of employees. Over the decades, he helped shape growth while building lasting relationships with clients, colleagues, municipalities and developers across the industry.
For John, those relationships were never secondary to the work. They were the work.
“One of the underlying foundations of our company is our ability to value and respect relationship building,” he says. “You only survive the ebbs and flows of this industry when you focus on relationships.”
That mindset stayed constant even as BL expanded into a national, multi-discipline, employee-owned firm with more than 350 team members.
“Though we’re a bigger company today, we try and keep those small company values. That sense of pride, ownership and small company service has always been a part of BL.”
Building Projects — and Trust
John’s career at BL evolved alongside the company itself. Starting as an engineer focused on site and utility design, he transitioned into business development, helping clients feel connected to the project and the people behind it.
“Letting the actual work go and working with clients at a different level was difficult,” he says. “But I realized that if we were going to maintain these clients and show how deep our bench was, I had to insert myself in a different place.”
Among the projects that stand out most to him is the Clinton Crossing outlet project in Connecticut, where BL transformed raw land into a retail destination while preserving the surrounding area.
“You feel like you’ve done something well when someone says, ‘it looks like it just fell from the sky and landed on the property.’ That’s a compliment. We were able to preserve the land and neighborhoods around it without it being invasive.”
John also reflects proudly on BL’s work for Storrs Center near UConn, along with nationwide rollout programs for clients like Walgreens, Rite Aid, Walmart and Costco.
“Our ability to convince big clients to use a smaller company like ours is a credit to our people.”
Ask John what matters most in business development, and his answer has little to do with sales. For John, business development and client care means remembering families, understanding what people are navigating outside the office and showing up consistently. That personal approach helped define the culture he believes continues to make BL special today — especially as an employee-owned company.
Looking Ahead
As he steps into retirement, John says he’ll miss the daily connections most.
“I’ll miss the people. The volume of people you connect with on a day-to-day, week-to-week basis won’t be there.”
Still, he’s looking forward to spending more time outdoors, gardening and spending time with family. His second grandchild is due later this summer.
“I’m looking forward to seeing life through my grandchildren’s eyes,” he says.
And while John may be retiring, his confidence in BL’s future remains strong.
“We are better organized as a company today than we’ve ever been,” says John. “I’m confident in where the company is headed — not just in the work we’ll continue to win, but in the opportunities that growth creates for our people. When a company grows, it gives individuals the chance to step into new roles and advance their careers. BL has created that environment, and I think that’s one of its greatest strengths.”