Delta Faucet Company and the Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors—National Association awarded the 2019 Plumbing Contractor of the Year Award to Laura Ciriello- Benedict of Ciriello Plumbing, Beech Grove, Indiana. The award recognizes a contractor member who has best demonstrates professionalism, merchandising and management skills, innovative plumbing skills, trade involvement and community service.

When presenting the award at the PHCCCONECT2019 Awards Luncheon, PHCC President Ken Nielsen said, “Laura Ciriello-Benedict is the consummate professional and the boss her employees love to work for at Ciriello Plumbing, a third-generation family contractor in Indianapolis.”

For three generations, Ciriello Plumbing has maintained an excellent reputation for customer service and efficient practices. Always on the cutting edge of efficient company practices, Ciriello-Benedict employs innovative management services and is a firm believer in training at all levels of her company. She has developed her own in-house customer service training along with a technical hands-on lab focused on developing apprentices. Her techs are licensed pump installers and continuously attend PHCC training courses and other classes in order to keep improving their technical and customer service skills. Her training process is so successful and renowned that others have duplicated it.

As a female owner and licensed plumbing contractor in a predominately male industry, Ciriello-Benedict maximizes opportunities to promote the trade, dispel stereotypes, and sell not only her company, but the entire industry. In fact, she strives to be a role model for young women and regularly talks with female students at career fairs about how to enter and thrive in the field. Additionally, she works with the National Association of Women Business Owners and was named Avatar of the Year in 2011.

A consummate professional dedicated to the trades, she serves on the PHCC of Indiana Board of Directors and chairs the annual auction, having helped raise nearly $30,000 in three years. She also acts as Chair of the Mechanical Skills Apprentice School Board of Directors where she has made a significant impact on the success of the program by providing leadership and developing learning materials such as lesson plans and teacher manuals.

On her professionalism and skills, said Dave Frame, past PHCC president. “Not only is Laura successful in a male dominated industry, but she never gets sidetracked and never takes her eyes off the goal. All I can say, is knowing Laura, I would jump at the chance to work on any project with or for her.”