Shinstine/Associates

Specialty: Churches, schools, clinics and multifamily
Principals: Pat Oda, Doug Shinstine, Brody Stohr, Mike Cathey and Morgan Shinstine
Year founded: 1965
Local office: Puyallup
Largest project in 2002: Expansion of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Tacoma, a 25,000-square-foot addition that included a school, gymnasium and community center

Shinstine/Associates has had various focuses over the years, but one thing that has remained constant is its attention to customers.

Oda

“Our goal is to make it so a customer is so happy with us, they will recommend us to somebody else,” said Pat Oda, general manager. This, he added, has helped during the economic downturn.

Today, Shinstine/Associates is known as a builder of churches. About 70 percent of the firm’s business is in this sector, according to Oda.

The church work started in the 1980s when an architect asked Shinstine officials to help build Sammamish Hills Lutheran Church. It was a negotiated project, meaning that the architect and builder came on board at the same time. The builder helped evaluate materials not only to stay in the budget but to ensure the church’s vision was realized.

“The church recommended us to other churches, and it has just kind of snowballed from there,” Oda said.

Shinstine works on other sorts of projects. It is getting ready to start construction of a 34-unit, low-income housing project in Sumner for senior citizens. Also in Sumner, Shinstine is preparing to build a concrete tilt-up office/warehouse. A dental clinic in Puyallup and an auto service center in Yelm also are on the company’s project list.

And then there is the church work. This spring, Shinstine will build tenant improvements for a Tacoma congregation and later this year the company will do a large renovation for a Renton church. “For the next few months,” Oda said, “we’re going to be in pretty good shape.”

Shinstine is active with trade groups, such as the Associated General Contractors, and Associated Builders and Contractors. The company participates in ABC’s workforce sharing program, which W.G. Clark Construction began.

“We share carpenters and laborers back and forth,” Oda said, adding the program helps flatten out the peaks and valleys of the construction trade.

“I’d say that of the last three years, this year is the first time that we’ve had to actually lay some people off that we could not find temporary homes for.”

Some clients have hesitated to start projects either because of uncertainty over the economy or concerns about other factors, such as permitting.

“Because of my networking within the industry, I know a lot of freelance project managers,” Oda said. “When we do get busy, I can call them.” He explained that this way he can hire someone without having to worry about laying them off when a project is completed.

Oda says Shinstine will not be expanding into other markets. “We are still commercial contractors,” he said, adding that the company does not view a retirement center as being that much different than other projects “I don’t see expanding into something different.”

He thinks the construction industry will see a turnaround. “The gauge I use is how busy architects are,” said Oda, who added that of the five architects he has been talking to, only one is not busy. “I’ve talked to several who are hiring,” he said. “They’re a precurser to work.”