Meet Your Neighbor: Iluan McCollum

In 1946, my grandfather and his six brothers started an industrial landscaping company in Jamaica, Queens. In their first 20 years, the company expanded and became the first and largest black owned construction company in New York. Today, L.B. Griffin Contracting has grown and he now manages several branches.

Working for the family business in my teenage years meant learning about an honest day’s pay. I became a jack-of-all-trades in a variety of fields, which allowed me to carve out my own career path.

Today, I’m using my talents and skills to give back to my community. As a part of QCH’s Maintenance team, I keep the organization’s multiple facilities clean, safe and operating smoothly. I love to problem solve and help people, and I’m not afraid of a challenge. I learned at a young age, nothing is impossible.