Penguin News
Don Constantini To Be Recognized as Penguin of the Year
by YSU
Thursday, Jan 16, 2014 7:06 am
Tickets and tables for the event are available by contacting the YSU Penguin Club at (330) 941-2351 or via email to Tom Morella at tmorella@ysu.edu. Program advertising is also available by contacting Rick Love at (330) 941-7227 or rwlove@ysu.edu. The deadline for all dinner reservations and program advertising is Feb. 4.
The doors for the event open at 6 p.m. with a buffet dinner starting at 6:15 p.m. The evening's program will start at 7:30 p.m.
This year's Penguin Club event features YSU student-athlete speakers, video presentations and of course the honoring of Contstantini.
A 1966 of Youngstown State, Constantini knows what it takes to operate a successful business. He also appreciates the qualities that were instilled in him by Youngstown State University and has never wavered in his support for the community, his alma mater and the athletic department.
Whether being on the sidelines at road games, in his loge at Stambaugh Stadium, being at other events in person or providing behind-the-scenes logistical support, his dedication to YSU is something that has helped the entire university.
His leadership gifts to YSU include $150,000 to the YSU Foundation to endow an athletic scholarship (the Don Constantini Scholarship awarded to a football student-athlete who is a business major), a gift of $150,000 toward the construction of the Andrews Student Recreation and Wellness Center, and $200,000 for the Williamson College of Business Administration building campaign. In 2005, he was recognized as the “Outstanding Business Alumnus” by the Williamson College of Business Administration.
He is a staunch supporter of YSU Penguin athletics and has maintained a loge in Stambaugh Stadium for more than 25 years and is a long-standing member of the Penguin Club.
To help promote the school, he has twice put the YSU logo on the back of his trailers, including this past fall. The trailers log more than 15 million miles a year across six states; Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and New York. The various states are the primary footprint of YSU’s athletic affiliation with the Horizon League, which is based in Indianapolis, Ind., as well as the Missouri Valley Football Conference. The first time was in the 1990’s when the Penguins were rolling the competition on the way to four National Championships.
In 1982, Constantini, along with two others from McNicholas Transportation, founded Compass Transportation and purchased Falcon Transport.
While YSU was the FCS Football team of the 1990’s, Constantini’s business also flourished. Falcon won four GM Supplier-of-the-Year awards, four Chrysler Gold Pentastar Awards and the Ford Motor Company Service Award as the fleet continued to grow. Midway through the decade, a sister company, Comprehensive Logistics was started to provide logistical solutions for its customer base.
In 2000, Compass was merged into Falcon and a new affiliate, Comprehensive Logistics began to provide supply chain management to the automotive and steel industries.
Falcon Transport has almost 2,000 employees, 1,200 trucks, and operates in 38 states. Falcon has received four GM Supplier of the Year and Daimler-Chrysler’s Gold and Pentastar awards. Falcon has been listed in the Top 100 Truck Lines in the U.S.
Comprehensive Logistics employs 1,145 people and operates more than four-million square feet of facilities in nine locations in U.S. and Canada. CLI is the Just-In-Time materials manager for Lordstown Assembly – handling 80 percent of total Cruze parts. Currently, Comprehensive is building a 400,000 square foot facility in Dearborn, Mich., to serve the Ford Motor Co.
The headquarters of Falcon Transport Co., and Comprehensive Logistics are located at 4944 Belmont Ave., in Youngstown.
Don is the proud father of two sons – Mark and Brad. After graduating from Baldwin-Wallace College, both sons decided to join the family enterprise. Brad and his wife, Lori, are the parents of Emma, Kate and Brad II. Don has more time now to play golf and drive his Italian made cars and enjoying his grandchildren. Don and Diana D’Alesio – his significant other of 20 years – live in Canfield and have a condo in Palm Beach, Fla.
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