COVER STORY
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BY JONATHAN KOZLOWSKI
A CUSTOM
FOUNDATIO A profile of contractor Custom Concrete and the project that won them the Concrete Foundation Association’s 2020 Commercial Project of the Year Award.
T
he commercial and residential contractor, Custom Concrete is a family-owned and operated company going on 50 years young. They celebrated their quinquagenarian anniversary in April 2019. For three generations the company focused primarily on residential foundations. To further diversify work offerings, about eight years ago they added a commercial division. Six years later, it turned to be an advantageous decision and became its own standalone company within the Custom Concrete umbrella. Including
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the subcontractors, the company is comprised of roughly 250 employees, about 50-55 are in the commercial division. One of the largest challenges for Custom Concrete has been personnel. They’ve found a short-term solution with subcontracting more, but then discovered that’s a double-edged sword: even the subcontractors are challenged with personnel. On top of that, COVID. While the business was able to qualify as essential, they discovered like many other
The purpose of the foundation was to be home of a heavy stamping machine for an automotive manufacturing plant. Precise accuracy was key to sucess. Photos courtesy of Custom Concrete
concrete contractors around the country, that a number of clients did not. While they experienced some stalled projects or some projects not move forward at all, others ramped up and were able to pivot their strategy to take advantage of those opportunities when they came by. One tactic was to bid more aggressively—or more robustly. They pursued where they could in the opportunities within the commercial market like warehouses for Amazon and Walmart. The pandemic also brought an opportunity in the construction of a laboratory for diagnostic equipment for COVID testing. It is this Commercial Division that earned the company its recognition from the Concrete Foundations Association (CFA). Its commercial project for
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1/11/21 11:52 AM