Our History

In 1937 Darrell Ortiz’s grandfather and father migrated from Mexico to the United States, settling on Chicago’s East Side where they established a mechanical service company.

Darrell was only 12 years old when he acquired his first job, helping service dry cleaning stores for his father’s business. In 1967, he began his career in the industry with an apprenticeship with Pipefitters Local 597, working in numerous steel mills, power houses, and oil refineries before becoming an Area General Foreman at the Braidwood Nuclear Power Plant in 1976.

In 1989, after much prayer and with a desire to maintain his family’s entrepreneurial spirit, Darrell left Braidwood to pursue his own business. Over time, he built a diverse client base throughout the Chicagoland area and his company was praised for its high quality of work on a number of institutional projects in the city.

Pete, Darrell’s son, began his professional journey in 1998 working on construction sites as a welder while on summer breaks from Michigan State University. After graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Construction Management and serving his apprenticeship with Pipe Fitters Local 597, he went on to manage some of the largest mechanical construction projects in the Midwest.

In 2007, feeling the entrepreneurial itch once again, Darrell made a decision to found Ortiz Contracting Group.

With an industry-wide reputation for integrity, a strong work ethic, and for principled and dedicated leadership, as well as over 52 years’ of industry knowledge, Darrell is highly respected in his current position as Director of Ortiz.

Pete Ortiz, who currently serves as the company’s president, joined his father at Ortiz Contracting Group in 2015. By applying his expertise in the mechanical construction industry to Ortiz’s development and growth, Pete helped to triple revenue in his first year with the company. Over the last five years, Pete has focused his skills and knowledge on growing communities in Chicago. As an employer, he looks to hire local, talented minorities who embody the company’s shoulder to shoulder ethos, expressed through the values of teamwork, togetherness, and tenacity.

Ortiz Contracting Group is Chicago’s premier Minority Owned Mechanical Contractor and has worked on a number of exciting projects, including a $2 million piping retrofit of what was once the nation’s largest commercial bakery and the construction of a new luxury hotel on Chicago’s South Side. Ortiz currently has projects in the Fulton Market District, at the University of Chicago, and at O’Hare Airport.