Nuprecon/CST Holdings

Specialty: Demolition, environmental abatement and preparing the way for new construction

Management: John Hennessy, CEO; Dave Whitley, chief operating officer; Pete Wold, vice president

Founded: 1986

Headquarters: Snoqualmie

2008 revenues: $162 million

Projected 2009 revenues: $250 million

Current projects: Hamilton Middle School; 1001 Fourth Avenue; Nakamura Courthouse; the Joshua Green Building; Pier Bravo at the Bremerton Naval Station; John Wayne Airport parking garage deconstruction in Orange County, Calif.

Photo courtesy of Nuprecon Nuprecon last year demolished the Summit Ridge building in Bellevue to make way for Summit III, a 330,800-square-foot office tower developed by Bentall Capital, designed by LMN Architects and built by Sellen Construction.

In today's economy, it might not seem like the best time to grow. But Dave Whitley, chief operating officer of Nuprecon/CST Holdings isn't worried. The company acquired Maryland-based Marcor Remediation in February to become the nation's second largest full-service demolition and remediation company.

Marcor is the second major acquisition the company has made in two years; it also acquired California's CST Environmental in 2008. The acquisitions helped triple the size of the company in two years and expand its geographic footprint across the entire country.

Now, Whitley said, the company is truly national with more than 20 offices. "It completed our strategy for a geographic footprint," he said. "It was the right timing for a right deal."

One-stop shop

Nuprecon does demolition, environmental abatement and site preparation. Because it is the first company on a project site, Whitley said Nuprecon began to see a softening in the market as early as 2006. "We see it before others but we also come out of it before others do," he said.

The company spent much of 2008 planning for the downturn by modifying its resource base, strengthening client relations and becoming more of a one-stop shop for customers. It's still affected by the economy with mothballed, slowing or tightened projects. But Whitley said, "(I have) no worries that keep me up at night. ...It's just that nothing's very easy right now. You have to be better than everyone else."

More competition

Because of the tight economy, Whitley said everyone is heading to the public sector, where Nuprecon has always worked. Whitley said the new companies are adding cost competition that is misrepresented.

"In my opinion, they don't know what they're getting into," he said. "They're putting a lot of price competition in the marketplace but they're also going out of business because of the mistakes they're making in practicing and miscalculating the cost to compete in that arena."

Whitley said the initial low price isn't always the best price, and Nuprecon/CST is concentrating on communicating its value to potential clients. The company's reputation, Whitley said, is one strength. Another is its bonding capacity of $50 million or more, a feat few subs can claim in this stringent environment. Nuprecon also has $75 million worth of insurance.

"Construction is not just about price. Construction is about risk management and product," he said.

Whitley sees a number of companies failing. But he sees companies with good cash flow, and "2020 vision a year ago" pushing through.