Hunter-Davisson says it became more competitive by offering controls and sheet metal work in-house, in addition to its engineeering, new construction, service and preventive maintenance departments.

As one of the largest locally owned contractors in the Portland, Ore., and southwest Washington area, Hunter-Davisson Inc. provides design/build services for mechanical systems, from small repairs or remodels to high-rise construction. The company’s six departments – engineering, new construction, sheet metal, controls, service and preventative maintenance – offer customers a full array of services and options.

Until recent years, Hunter-Davisson subcontracted out controls and sheet metal work, but the company realized adding those services would benefit not only clients, but itself, too. “We started to be more well-rounded so that we could provide all of our mechanical services in-house and not rely on subcontractors,” President Greg Pelser says. “We’re also more competitive because of that.

“Our sheet metal division does the ductwork for mechanical systems. In the past we have subcontracted most of that work out, and now we are doing more and more in-house,” he continues. “We fabricate the ductwork in our shop and install it on-site. Controls is another area where we used to subcontract a fair amount of our more elaborate control systems, and now we’re capable of doing any and all systems in-house: design, installation and service.”

Each Hunter-Davisson Inc. department is staffed with quality employees, ensuring success on its projects. Pelser says the company offers top benefits and wages in addition to supporting further education for employees, and those perks attract the best staff and results in little turnover. “Each and every department has the most talented individuals in the industry,” he says.

The company also maintains a quality assurance department that does in-house commissioning. “Just as each construction project unifies and coordinates the talent and technology of a broad range of specialty contractors and suppliers, every Hunter-Davisson Inc. project will bring the right combination of expertise to meet each customer’s specific needs,” the company states.

Hunter-Davisson Inc. recently demonstrated its skills on a project at Columbia Gorge Community College. The project – which began in March 2009 and was completed in December – called for the company to renovate the systems in three campus buildings, which all remained occupied. “We had weekly safety meetings to determine what the safety challenges of the week were and how we’d meet those challenges,” Pelser states. “We had very thorough scheduling and coordination with the facilities. We also did some off-hours work, depending on the critical nature of the area.”

The buildings received air-conditioning systems, extremely efficient systems and sophisticated controls. Pelser says another major challenge of the project was the gorge’s weather and temperatures, which dip into single digits in the winter and soar to triple digits in the summer. “We had to be careful of the ice from a safety standpoint, both from commuting and on-site activity,” he explains. In a recent interview with Construction Today, Pelser explains how the company is dealing with the slumping economy and how it ensures successful projects.

Construction Today: How is your market changing, and how is Hunter-Davisson adapting to those changes?
Greg Pelser: There is less new construction work than we have seen in some time. Typical­ly, we are used to customers that are looking for contractors who can deliver and promise to get the job done on time, within budget and maintain safety and quality work. Now it is all about price. Customers are obtaining multiple bids on almost all work. Relationships, past history and even quality and safety are taking the back burner with many of those customers. They are simply concentrating on lowest prices to get the work and survive the poor economy.

We try to be as competitive as possible. We have had to lower our margins to be more competitive. Actually, we have expanded our horizons in both types of projects and location of projects. We’re considering more work out of the metropolitan area than we have done in the past.

CT: What other challenges do you face?
GP: There’s less of a backlog of new work. In the past, we would have to determine which jobs to pass up in order to not exceed our work force capabilities. Now, we need to determine which jobs are important to land in order to keep our work force employed. Sometimes, it is so necessary to fill a gap in the workload that we may lower our margin to below our overhead. Even then, it does not assure us the job.

CT: How do you ensure that your staff is the best?
GP: We are members of Associated Builders and Contractors – Pacific Northwest Chapter, and we are a registered training agent. The apprenticeship training is occupational training that combines paid, supervised and on-the-job training with classroom instruction. The apprentice spends a specified amount of time studying theory and practical application in classes taught by journey-level instructors.

CT: Is Hunter–Davisson active in its community?
GP: We have a very proud tradition of giving back to the community. We support multiple community events and fundraisers throughout the year. Also, each fall we conduct a company community giving campaign. We ask employees to nominate agencies to come speak at our campaign meeting, where we provide to them a platform to discuss their mission and fundraising needs. Our employees are able to give any amount to any agency of their choice, and we offer a payroll deduction plan at no charge.

Each year, we continue to break records in our giving campaign. Even with the poor economy and the uncertainty of our workload, this year we again raised more donations than ever before. We donated a total of $26,318 (83 percent participation); $21,055 came from the employees, and the company matched 25 percent.

CT: Can you explain the company’s history?
GP: It was started in 1965 by Harold Hunter and Joe Davisson. They built a strong foundation for the company based on hard work, integrity and a lot of faith. Our second generation owners have continued to build upon that same foundation. The current owners are myself, Dave Wright, Jeff Davisson and Dean Glover.