Mr. Joseph Lovece, Jr. is the president and Chief Executive Officer of North Star Contracting Corporation, a multi-faceted organization concentrating in heavy construction, erection of bridges, subway construction, electrical construction and transmissions line building throughout the United States.

A long-time activist, Mr. Lovece has been in the vanguard of peaceful change in the construction industry with respect to affirmation action. Such activities by Mr. Lovece have been acknowledge by the Equal Rights Council in September, 1984 with its "Contractor of the Year" and "Man of the Year" awards, and by the Professional Women in Construction in December, 1984 with its "Meritorious Award" for his exemplary efforts in providing equal employment opportunities for minorities.

In January, 1986, Mr. Lovece was presented with the Congress of Racial Equality's "Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Award" for being the "Drum Major" in the construction Industry for Practical and Innovative Implementation of Affirmation Action Programs.

Mr. Lovece was also honored in April 1986 by Boys' Towns of Italy as "Man of the Year" and the "Business Man of the Year" Award from the National Council for the Furtherance of Jewish Education.

In addition to his pioneering efforts in the field of organized labor, Joseph Lovece has been equally a stalwart leader in civil rights issues in America.

For many years, Joseph Lovece has been a volunteer and senior advisor to the National Chairman of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) on civil rights and labor issues throughout the nation.

During the summer of 1995, Joseph Lovece played a pivotal role in CORE's "Race Relations Boot Camp" to which five white youths from Greenwich, Connecticut were sent by local law enforcement and school authorities as a result of their crude racial remarks which had been cryptically inserted throughout their high school yearbook.

Most recently, he has made several trips to Nigeria as part of an official delegation monitoring the country's elections during its transformation process to civilian rule.

Mr. Lovece is a member of several industry organizations, including the Moles, the National Line Construction Chapter of the National Electrical Contractors Assoc. and the Construction Industry Council.