About Us
Our mission is to promote conservation through the reuse of building materials
Material reuse includes reclaiming, salvaging, deconstructing, repurposing, and upcycling items to keep them in use and out of the waste stream
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About Us
We’re always looking for ways to build a more circular economy
Running CJ means accepting donations of used and surplus materials at our large warehouse, and then selling them in our 30,000 sq. ft. store to new users. As our materials are a fraction of the cost of new, our mission has an environmental and social impact. As a nonprofit, we cover most of our operational costs with the revenues from sales and we hold an annual fundraiser, the Steel City Big Pour®, to cover the balance and to invest in improvements.
We hope you’ll visit us, or donate materials – we’re the largest and coolest reuse nonprofit in the Pittsburgh region!
Mike Gable, Executive Director
Melissa Mongelli, COO/General Manager
John Burrows, Retail Operations Manager
Kevin Parr, Warehouse Manager
John Gibbons, Assistant Warehouse Manager
Nicola Coohill, Business Manager
Terry Wiles, Community Outreach Coordinator
Brian Swearingen | Karl Zellars, Deconstruction Managers
Greg Webster, Donations & Logistics Manager
Benson Gabler, President
– Pittsburgh Living Product Hub Director, International Living Future Institute
Executive Board
Alexis Miller, Immediate Past President
– Director of Product Management at Schell Games
Susan Golomb, Co-Vice President
– retiree
Greg LaForest, Co-Vice President
– Associate Project Architect, Bohlin Cywinski Jackson
Eric Perz, Treasurer
– Director of Data Science, Brunner
Jennifer Garczyk, Secretary
– Director of Key Accounts, Red Bull of America
Mary Ann Bohrer, President, Bohrer Public Relations
Melissa Cicozi, Assistant Head, Carnegie Mellon University School of Design
Jerry DeRosa, Director, EH&S Affairs, Tug Hill Operating
Laleh Gharanjik, Project Manager/Estimator, Jendoco Construction Corp.
Elisa Goughner, Senior Project Manager, VHB
Beth Lentz, Marketing and Regulatory Specialist, Rimsys, Inc.
Tom Milani, CEO, Michael Brothers Hauling & Recycling
Bob Reppe, Assistant Vice President & University Architect Carnegie Mellon University
Kara Magoolaghan, Mechanical Engineer, Iams Consulting, LLC
Joe Picinni, Vice President of Property Development, Oxford Development Company
Brian Sullivan, Process Improvement Manager, Pensiamo
Patricia Tsagaris, Director of Retail, National Jewish Council of Women
John Wilds, Assistant Vice Chancellor (Retired), University of Pittsburgh
Marta Dalton, VP, Data Analytics & Customer Insights, Amyris
Simon Heath, Software Engineer, Near Earth Autonomy
Amanda Short, Sr. Director, Neighborhood at ToldRight LLC
Emeritus Board
Walter Burlack, Community Growth Fund
Reid Crosby, Proprietor, Artist/Craftsperson
Howard J. Wein, Esquire, Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC
Our Partnerships
We are a proud affiliate of PRC, Pennsylvania’s oldest grassroots environmental organization. Since 1939 they have worked to protect the Commonwealth’s resources for future generations through environmental education, recycling and waste diversion programs, anti-litter campaigns and much more. For additional recycling and reuse information visit the Pennsylvania Resources Council website.
We host several Goodwill job training and work program participants at Construction Junction, with their supervisors. The participants learn skills as they work to process doors, tile and flooring and deliver it to the store. We also offer seasonal opportunities as they arise, to participants in various Goodwill programs that aim to assist entry level participants and others with barriers to employment to gain work experience or to earn in a temporary position.
Project RE_ aims to introduce new constituencies to the reuse movement and to use opportunities arising from the growth of reuse to increase jobs for those with barriers to employment. It is a partnership between Construction Junction and the Urban Design Build Studio.
Trade Institute of Pittsburgh is a non-profit building trade training provider dedicated to providing opportunities for indiviuals with barries to employmen. TIP engages returning citizens to meet a growing need for skilled workers across the trades as the older generation of workers retires.
Doors Unhinged sources and distributes high-quality, reclaimed, commercial-grade, complete door systems, driving the circular economy in the construction industry and turning trash into a commodity. They rescue solid wood, glass, and hollow metal doors, frames and hardware from office buildings undergoing renovation before they’re disposed of. Doors Unhinged is based in Pittsburgh, PA, and was launched in 2018 by Andrew Ellsworth, LEED AP, Founder, CEO & all-around door geek.
The American Institute of Architects, Pittsburgh Chapter’s Committee on the Environment (COTE) works to advance, disseminate, and advocate—to the profession, the building industry, the academy, and the public—design practices that integrate built and natural systems and enhance both the design quality and environmental performance of the built environment. COTE serves as the community and voice on behalf of AIA architects regarding sustainable design.
Since its creation, the Mascaro Center for Sustainable Innovation has endeavored to create an integrated community of researchers at the University of Pittsburgh who focus their intellectual talents on rendering society more sustainable.