July 2024 | Twenty-one years ago, Contegra Construction was comprised of a single double-wide trailer in the vast expanse of the 2,300-acre Gateway Commerce Center in Edwardsville, Ill.  Now, it’s ranked as one of the largest commercial/industrial builders in Metro St. Louis, earning $321 million in revenue with construction projects in 27 states and a vision fortified as a new employee-owned company.

Contegra had been contemplating an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) for many years. The overall health of the business and its strong project backlog made the timing right to reward employees for consistently putting their clients first. Contegra’s national clientele took notice of this new phase of service that binds employees even more to achieving customer goals. “When our clients succeed, we succeed,” notes founder and CEO Eric Gowin.

Gowin says that Contegra has always been a firm that learns as much from its clients as it builds for them. “Each project contains knowledge that can be applied to proficiently advance future projects,” noted Gowin. “The ESOP binds employees even more to that cultural underpinning.”

The ESOP also advances and fortifies a strategy to establish a culture of doing business focused on creating the best experience for Contegra’s customers.  “As an employee-owned firm our professionals are even more personally dedicated to creating this experience by taking a personal stake in the future of our business,” said Gowin. “We are in a much better position to attract and retain the best and brightest talent, giving them a real stake in our success and those we serve.”

Perhaps most importantly, Gowin says employee-ownership improves its adaptation to the nation’s building needs. That’s been evident since that most confounding of years – 2020.  Contegra’s reputation as a major builder of distribution centers was well established by then, but more small manufactures began tapping its customer-focused design/build and engineering prowess.  In 2022, Contegra completed its first “reshoring” project – a complex retrofit of a warehouse for Columbus, Ohio-based American Nitrile. It brought the much-needed production of four billion medical/research gloves annually back to the United States.

Others embraced Contegra’s collaborative approach to deliver not only optimal manufacturing space, but support space to sell the proficiencies of its manufacturing process and unite and bind the company culture.  This took shape in several projects since 2020, including:

• Melton Machine’s high performance, energy efficient 367,000-square-foot facility in Washington, Mo.;
• Automotive LED lighting manufacturer Diode Dynamics’ new 70,000-square-foot headquarters and manufacturing facility in St. Charles, Mo.;
• A 35,000-square-foot fabrication facility for rebar-maker for Nu Way Companies in Troy, Ill.;
• A 220,00-square-foot production facility for metal coil coater AZZ Precoat Metals in Washington, Mo.; and
• Projects for Patriot Machine, Elite Tool and Manner Polymers.

Gowin said it was never the intent to grow so fast. “We embraced a more methodical approach that continuously improves our solution-driven services,” he notes. “Now we are in a better position with the ESOP to tap the best ideas from our employees to fortify a bright future for Contegra and those we serve.”

Article courtesy of Construction News and Review