He helped rebuild New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.
And now, a third experience, one he hopes to tell his grandchildren about: He and a construction team he supervises are laying slate on the roof the Pentagon — a building that he views as “the most important building in the world.”
“I look at my life and I tell my wife, I never even saw myself being in this country and doing what I’m doing now,” he said. “I tell her, ‘if I die now, I die happy.’”
Penney, 35, who owns Penney Construction, a construction company that specializes in historic materials such as slate and copper, was first asked to work at the Pentagon in June, when a friend who he buys used slate from referred him to defense department officials.
At the time, construction crews had already begun work on a post-Sept. 11 construction project aimed at modernizing and improving the Pentagon to help defend it against any possible future attacks other disasters.
Construction crews had begun the work, but quickly realized they’d need a slate specialist for the roofs.
Enter Penney.
At first, he put them off: He had plenty of work in Ohio, and he didn’t want to disappoint the customer base he’d been building since starting his construction firm three years ago.
But the lure of working on the world’s largest office building lingered. Three months ago, he said yes.
“It’s the Pentagon,” he said. “It was an honor for me to work here.”
Now, he spends a few weeks at a time in the Washington, D.C., area, coming home for weekend trips to see his wife and three children. His children range in age from 3 to 12.
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