About

The Argento Story

1970's

From his early years, Argento founder Onofrio (Danny) Argento, was infatuated with hands-on building and construction. In the high school years he attended a well recognized Trade School in Naples, Italy where he specialized in Electrical applications, Wireless Transmission, and Telecommunications.
1980's

Having completed the Trade School as an Electrician’s Apprentice, Onofrio Argento emigrated from Europe to New York City and as many immigrants preceding him sought to conquer the American Dream via hard work. Full of energy and willingness to work Onofrio started his career in the Construction field working many hours and in a variety of positions mostly in Manhattan, NYC. Having been hired as an apprentice and assistant to a licensed Electrician, he worked diligently applying his skills in positions relating to the electrical components of a variety of construction projects. However, his eagerness to learn and expand his knowledge in the sector was indicative at an early stage. At many job sites he would complete his duties but continue working into the wee hours in order to learn and comprehend the other aspects of the construction realm. He always volunteered to assist his coworkers be it in the plumbing, masonry, carpentry or painting areas. His thirst for knowledge rendered him an invaluable asset to his early employers and within a short period he was deployed as construction site manager and supervisor.
1985

Full of confidence and energy to grow, and in his early 20s, Onofrio went into business for himself by starting his first construction firm. Initially, because of his youth, he encountered skepticism from the prospective clients and had to make extra concessions to get jobs. The foundation of his success in the early years was his confidence and perseverance. Starting out with smaller jobs and building a reputation as an honest and hard-working contractor he soon became a success and was coveting larger and larger projects. Even though he was in business for himself he always maintained a hands-on attitude working side by side with his employees.

1990's

Having attained a vast experience in the construction field, in 1991 the Argento Group is founded and serves as the foundation of the Argento company today. Enhanced by Argento’s reputation of the preceding years, the company quickly established strategic collaborations with some of the top architects in the highly competitive NYC construction landscape. Argento’s initial concentration was in the hospitality sector working closely with some of the city’s top award-winning architects on some of the hottest high-end restaurant projects of that era.

A turning point for the firm came in 1993 when Onofrio Argento was introduced to the late Gianni Versace. Enamored by this young man’s enthusiasm Gianni afforded the opportunity to Argento to bid on some of the initial retail stores that Versace was opening in the greater NYC area at the time. It quickly became evident to the Versace organization, that Argento was dedicated to quality workmanship and working within the stringent budgetary constraints of the organization. In the years to follow Argento proceeded to broaden the relationship, accomplishing many of the Versace retail build-outs as well as conducting extensive work in the various Versace Mansions throughout the USA and overseas.

In the late 1990s, eager to further expand his knowledge, Onofrio Argento enrolled in SUNY’s Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in the competitive Visual and Merchandising Program. The firm expanded their realm into high-end retail window designs. Some of the clients in this endeavor included iconic retail clients such as Cartier that utilized Argento’s services throughout the USA.
2000's

Having established an international reputation with some of the top luxury retail establishments Argento continues to broaden the scope of their services by providing maintenance and logistics services to their clientele. Keeping retail and hospitality build outs as the core business of the firm, Argento has eventually branched out to the high-end residential marketplace. In the recent years that have followed, the firm has completed projects in homes and apartments at some of NYC’s most prolific venues such as the Plaza Hotel, the Time Warner Center, the Galleria Building, and the Trump Towers.

In later years, the dynamic Argento Business Development team, headed by Argyris (Eddie) Argitakos, expanded to include activities in the greater Miami area under the area direction of Evelio Medina who also serves as the CEO of the Downtown Miami & Brickell Chamber of Commerce. Today, Argento General Construction LLC under the leadership of Evelio Medina-CEO, is focused in the Construction Management and Consulting arena with a particular emphasis in developing new initiatives to meet the evolving needs of the construction industry, both in private and public-sector projects.”
ARGENTO Into The Future

Argento’s breadth and depth of experience enables the firm to find creative solutions that are as impressive as they are budget-reliable. Argento is dedicated to client service through a process of clear communication, transparency and proven efficiency. Whether we serve as contractor, construction manager or concept designer, the firm’s clients count on Argento to be their one-stop shop for building, installing and/or maintaining the clients' properties with a strict adherence to budgetary and time constraints.

Ever evolving, Argento organized an Environmental Services division. Argento General Construction LLC is now certified by the NYC Small Business Services as a Minority-Owned Business Enterprise and by the United States Environmental Protection Agency as a Lead-Safe Certified Firm. Our firm is also licensed by New York State as a Mold Assessment and Remediation company. Argento maintains a large team of US EPA Certified lead-based-paint Inspectors and Risk Assessors that are highly dedicated professionals that have expertise in utilizing the XRF (x-ray fluorescence analyzer) method of testing, which is quick, non-destructive, and the preferred method by NYC Housing Preservation & Development as well as the USA Department of Housing and Urban Development. For more information go to www.ArgentoEnvironmental.com.

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