About MBDI

Leadership Team

Christopher Black, President and Owner
Level 5 Construction Company

Christopher Black is the President and owner of Level 5 Construction Company (L5C), a union specialty trade carpentry firm that provides drywall, acoustical ceilings, and plastering work to its valued clients. L5C is certified as a Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) by New York City and New York State. The L5C team delivers an exceptional finished product throughout the tri-state area, and has created beautiful spaces for some of the largest corporations and private clients in New York City. In the first two years since L5C’s launch, Mr. Black has successfully overseen $14 million in projects.

Christopher Black is well known and respected for having successfully owned and managed New England Construction Company Inc., also a certified MBE, for the 25 years prior to L5C’s launch. Mr. Black’s industry experience, managerial and technical expertise, relationships with large construction managers and developers, and the depth of his management team position L5C to achieve outstanding results. Mr. Black offers sound, trustworthy advice and solutions to clients, taking a proactive approach to day-to-day problem solving as he grows the business.

As a sizable MBE known for delivering an exceptional finished product, L5C occupies a market niche that is in high demand. NYC has aggressive black-owned MBE participation goals, requiring 8% participation on all NYC construction procurement. L5C is one of a handful of black-owned MBE contractors in NYC with capacity over $15 million, and the only such firm in the drywall and acoustical ceilings arena, presenting tremendous opportunities for securing government contracts and subcontracts on public projects. In fact, certain prime contractors that would otherwise compete with L5C are instead approaching L5C to work collaboratively in order to meet MBE goals without sacrificing quality.

L5C’s management team strives for a positive a double-bottom-line: achieve a market rate or better return to investors, while creating much needed economic development as they hire and subcontract within the minority community.