MAPP Named 2025 Company of the Year by Baton Rouge Business Report

MAPP has been named the 2025 Company of the Year in the 100-or-more-employees category by the Baton Rouge Business Report — a distinction that reflects not just where the company stands today, but the story of how it got here.

MAPP's story dates back to 1991, when Mike Polito — a Baton Rouge native and 1984 LSU Construction graduate — crossed paths with Cajun Industries' Lane Grigsby at a construction awards ceremony at Drusilla Restaurant. That conversation helped set Polito on the path to launching his own company. After building experience with two of the country's largest construction firms, he stepped out on his own, and MAPP Construction was born. What started as a single founder with a vision has since grown into one of the region's most respected commercial general contractors, now recognized as the third-largest in Louisiana, with a footprint that extends well beyond it — including offices in Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Dallas, Austin, and Atlanta.

"This year, we were honored to be named the 2025 Company of the Year by the Baton Rouge Business Report," MAPP shared. "From our beginnings in Baton Rouge to projects across the country, MAPP's story has been shaped by the vision of our CEO, Mike Polito, and the dedication of our people." That growth hasn't come at the expense of what made MAPP successful in the first place. What began as a local contractor has become a company known for being a different kind of contractor — one defined by professionalism, strong partnerships, and a commitment to delivering projects with excellence, whether that's a complex renovation or a state-of-the-art, ground-up facility.

The Company of the Year award is part of Business Report's Business Awards & Hall of Fame program, one of the publication's longest-running recognitions. While Business Report doesn't publish a detailed scoring rubric for this category the way it does for some of its other honors, the distinction generally reflects sustained growth and business success over time, leadership and vision from company founders and executives, a strong company culture and how an organization treats its people, community impact and civic involvement, and a track record that speaks to real vision, innovation, and impact on the Capital Region. It’s recognition earned not in a single year, but over decades of consistent work.

For MAPP, this award is a reminder that construction has always been about more than the structures it leaves behind. It's about leadership, collaboration, and a genuine commitment to elevating the industry — values that have guided the company since that first conversation at Drusilla Restaurant more than three decades ago, and that continue to guide it today across every market MAPP serves.

"Here's to continuing to build better, together."

Read the full feature from the Baton Rouge Business Report here.