Perhaps you’ve spotted at one time or another a fleet of shiny, sturdy Ottawa D-Squared Construction trucks barrelling down the road, kicking up a dust cloud.

At the rear of each vehicle is a message on display, in bright, bold letters. It reads: “They Said It Couldn’t Be Done!” 

Those conspicuous words are a reminder of what one can achieve through hard work, determination, ingenuity and an unwavering belief in oneself. They’re the story of Ottawa D-Squared Construction CEO Domenic Franco Madonna, a modern millennial success story.

“I can’t tell you how many times somebody told me I couldn’t do it,” said Madonna, 35, during an interview at D-Squared headquarters in the rural suburb of Greely. “If I had listened to any of them, I wouldn’t be where I am today.”

Madonna is a born-and-raised Ottawa entrepreneur and a go-against-the-grain kind of guy. At age 19, he launched his construction company with business partner Charles DePonte. They started in 2006 with one backhoe and a single-axle dump truck.

Today, D-Squared is one of the fastest-growing construction companies in Ottawa. Last year, it grew by 85 per cent.

The multimillion-dollar company has 300-plus employees, 75 dump trucks, 50 pickup trucks, 300 pieces of equipment, a licensed snow-dumping facility and two quarries. It’s in the process of launching its state-of-the-art asphalt plant, at an investment of $18 million. The new facility is expected to open this spring on a 30-acre lot that D-Squared bought on Boundary Road in Navan, near the Amazon warehouse.

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