Saybr Contractors

Specialty: Building construction, fueling systems, environmental remediation

Management: Karen Say, president and CEO

Founded: 1997

Headquarters: Tacoma

2007 revenues: $16 million

Projected 2008 revenues: $20 million-$30 million

Current projects: On-going contract with the U.S. Postal Service to conduct construction and maintenance repairs on 1,000 postal facilities in Western Washington and Oregon; on-going contracts with the U.S. Federal Highway Administration to conduct emergency repairs to roads in national parks and forests; projects with Clean Energy, Safeway and Propel Biofuels

Photo courtesy of Saybr Contractors Saybr Contractors replaced the cupola on the Raymond post office.

Karen Say, president and CEO of Saybr Contractors, isn't that worried about the downturn in the economy as her company's backlog looks good for the next two years. One of the driving forces behind that is Saybr's specialization in alternative energy.

Saybr began as a petroleum contractor in 1997, but has diversified into other markets over time. In the last few years, the company has increased its work with both biofuel and natural gas projects.

"We have a niche in alternative energy," Say said. "That's certainly an area of our business that expanded tremendously."

Alternative fuels

Say

Saybr installed the first public-private compressed natural gas station near Sea-Tac Airport for the Port of Seattle about five years ago. Since then, it has installed a number of natural gas fueling systems for Clean Energy and five biofuel stations for Propel Biofuels.

Both companies plan to expand, and Say said she hopes to do most of their project work. There's a huge market here, as Propel alone plans to install about 160 biofuel stations around the Puget Sound. It's a field many contractors have been reluctant to move into, Say said, which has helped her company corner the local market.

Federal work

But other markets have also contributed to Saybr's secure footing. About three years ago, Saybr started focusing on repair and alteration contracts. "Targeting those types of contracts have allowed us to grow," she said.

In that field, Saybr has contracts with the U.S. Federal Highway Administration, Department of Agriculture and Army Corps of Engineers.

Saybr also has ongoing construction and maintenance projects at Fort Lewis, Bangor and other military installations. Work there has increased to support troops overseas, Say said. Saybr has also installed biodiesel, ethanol and natural gas stations for the Army, Navy and Air Force.