REAL ESTATE
{ SUBCONTRACTORS }
JERRY BARNIER
DAVID FAGAN
President Suntec Concrete suntecconcrete.com
President Cannon & Wendt Electric Company cannon-wendt.com
Barnier is an ex-farm boy from Washington state that couldn’t take the wet, so he headed out. After leaving and spending one season as a ski bum in Jackson Hole, he hitchhiked to Phoenix, where he started his career in concrete. In 1984, after working at Artcraft for a few years, Barnier bought their concrete division and started Suntec Concrete. Business advice: “This business is a lot of fun when you are part of a team that can build great buildings. And its art when that happens.” Trend to watch: “I think the mid-height multifamily construction will transform to manufactured modular units that stack. That trend will impact the structural frames we build.”
Fagan, the fourth generation of his family to be in construction, joined Cannon & Wendt in 1987 as a project manager, rose through the ranks and is now the company’s president. Over the past 10 years, Fagan has been instrumental in transitioning Cannon & Wendt from a single ownership company to 100 percent employee owned. Trend to watch: “A continuing shortage of skilled labor. A recent survey by the AGC found ‘nearly seven in 10 respondents are having trouble finding hourly skilled workers.’ As an industry, we must do a better job of attracting young people into our technical colleges and apprenticeship programs.”
JERRY BUESING
President and CEO Buesing Corp. buesingcorp.com Jerry Buesing, president and CEO of Buesing Corp., began working in the construction industry at 16 years old in Minnesota. After years in the industry, he and his brother founded Buesing Corp., which he later moved to Arizona, developing a reputation for taking on difficult projects. Source of pride: “I am proud of all our projects because they have all been completed successfully and safely. From our early projects, such as Bank One Ball Park (now Chase Field) and America West Arena (Talking Stick Resort Arena) to our most recent projects, such as Marina Heights and the Liberty Center at Rio Salado, Buesing has worked as a team to be part of the ever-changing Phoenix Metro area.”
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STEVEN HOOVER
President, maintenance division SiteWorks siteworksllc.net Hoover joined the team of landscape professionals at SiteWorks as partner and maintenance division manager in 2012. His years in the construction industry as both contractor and owner positions him well to grow the division. Business advice: “Realize the value of our service. As the economy returns, so must equilibrium in pricing. As demand for our service grows, so must the value for quality service. Price fairly, but accordingly.” Surprising fact: “My father was a mechanic and through years of watching him and learning, I found a love for building, tinkering and fixing mechanical things.”
JAMES DINAN
Owner, president and CEO Bel-Aire Mechanical belairemechanical.com Dinan is the owner, president and CEO of Bel-Aire Mechanical, which was founded in 1986. It is now the largest private and locally owned signatory mechanical/plumbing contractor in the state of Arizona. The company’s project markets are diverse and include hospitals and healthcare facilities, data centers, higher education, laboratory, casinos and resorts, corporate office and service/maintenance.
INDUSTRY OUTLOOK: “I believe the HVAC and the general construction industries will continue to see increased opportunities over the next 12 to 24 months. Going out from 24 to 60 months seems a bit more unpredictable. Expected tax reform, if it actually gets passed would be a very positive stimulus. Technology advances — both in the office and in the field — will continue to impact our means and methods. Finding more highly skilled and highly motivated employees to handle the growth opportunities and to replace the talents of our employees that have 30 or more years of experience will be challenging.”