2007 Surveys

Express Construction


Specialty: New construction in office, retail, large mixed-use; tenant improvements, renovations, seismic upgrades
Management: Grant Larsen, president; Jerry Surdyk, senior project manager; Tom Bennett, director, special projects
Year founded: 1984
Headquarters: Mercer Island
2006 revenues: $35 million
Projected 2007 revenues: $40 million
Current projects: Seattle Mental Health Campus, Auburn; north Lake Union office, Seattle; Ferguson Plumbing tenant improvement projects throughout Washington, Oregon and California

 

Photo courtesy of Express Construction [enlarge]
Express is close to finishing a new campus for Seattle Mental Health in Auburn.

Grant Larsen, president of Express Construction, is looking forward to a busy year, but worries about outstripping the subcontracting community.

“There’s only so many subcontractors and suppliers out there who can keep up with the pace,” he said. “We’re hoping we don’t outstrip our other clients.”

Growing markets

Express Construction does retail, commercial and tenant improvements but Larsen said multifamily projects is where the company really kicked off last year — and that, combined with small commercial buildings, is where the company is really growing.

Sustainability has also been a big trend that is slowly seeping into different areas of construction. Larsen said he hired the company’s first LEED-certified project engineer last year so the company has all the tools in-house ready when clients ask about LEED projects, which they are.

“(There’s) no question about it — it’s what’s happening,” he said. “We are definitely focused on targeting and on going forward and doing that type of project.”

Health care worries

Larsen is also worried about state health-care legislation that would require small businesses to provide it to employees. Express Construction already provides health care, but Larsen said he worries about how it’s going to affect smaller businesses in the construction and subcontracting community.

“Because every small business might not be able to afford it, it forces them to participate when maybe they can’t afford to do so,” he said.

Finding workers

Due to the company’s growth, Express has been able to hire better-qualified people and move into different projects.

It’s been extremely hard to find those people, Larsen said, with the exception of recent university graduates.

“We’ve been very successful in getting great talent out of the universities,” he said. “There’s been a sense that some of these kids expect to be paid and don’t really have to work for it. I’m not seeing that with the people we’ve been lucky to have hired.”

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