A Greater Austin Development says it will stay ahead of the competition with its high levels of quality and safety, as well as its speed.

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For A Greater Austin Development Co. , diversity has been a key trait, CEO Bobby Finley says. Instead of specializing in a single sector of concrete work, “We do all of them,” he says, explaining that the company specializes in performing residential, industrial, commercial and infrastructure work.

Finley founded the Austin, Texas-based subcontractor in 1984. A longtime veteran of concrete construction, he entered the industry when he started working for a family owned concrete firm in 1977.

When the firm branched out into other types of work, Finley was hired by one of the firm’s clients, a dirt contractor.

After a year-and-a-half, “I realized I could do it on my own because I was running a separate concrete company for a guy I never saw,” he says.

Finley then formed A Greater Austin Development, which only provides concrete contracting. “We do bridges, small dams, parking garages, treatment plants, subdivisions, tilt walls [and] buildings,” he says. “Just the concrete [and] nothing else.”

A Greater Austin Development has stayed flexible in its work due to the staff it has assembled, Finley says. He explains that the company has recruited workers from many different industries who have since “become division managers in the company or general superintendents in the field.”
    
Making Greater Austin Better
After 31 years, Finley still enjoys working in the concrete industry. “It really is fun,” he says. “I like opening up the trade magazines and seeing what some guy out there has come up with in the concrete industry to make it a better job.

“I’m all about making these jobs better for these guys in the field,” Finley continues. “If we make money, they make money.”

For the last nine years, Finley himself has focused on improving the technology that A Greater Austin Development uses to collect information. In his experience, he says he has found that “data is something that doesn’t move very fast in a traditional construction company.”

For example, the company uses wireless remote data collection devices that can send information to A Greater Austin Development’s servers.

With these, “Our employees in the field [can] send their information to their field superintendents, who review their time cards and quantity production reports,” Finley says.

In addition, A Greater Austin Development utilizes software from Heavy Construction Systems Specialists (HCSS) Inc., a firm based in Houston. Finley notes that A Greater Austin Development uses its HeavyBid software when making bids, and its HeavyJob software for data collection.

On Its Way
With these additions, Finley says, A Greater Austin Development has made its production and timekeeping processes 100 percent paperless.

However, “In equipment reporting and housekeeping, like vacations and sick leave, we are not,” Finley admits. “We are probably 25 percent on our way to being completely paperless with our housekeeping in the field,” he says.    

Keeping Track
A Greater Austin Development is also looking at implementing another product from HCSS that is called The Dispatcher, Finley says.         

“The Dispatcher is something you use to keep track of all your equipment,” he says, noting that the software can keep track of equipment maintenance as well as the number of hours the equipment has been used.

A Greater Austin Development’s IT department has been key in implementing these new technologies, Finley says. “We call them ‘the Black Ops guys,’” he says, noting that its IT associates have signs on their doors with their nicknames. “They have fun with that.”

Local Work
Throughout the years, A Greater Austin Development has kept its operations within Texas, as it has served clients in its home city, as well as San Antonio, Laredo and Waco. In addition, “We’re fixing to be in El Paso [someday],” he says.

The company’s recent work has included concrete for Dell Children’s Hospital in Austin, Finley says. “We were on the initial phasing of the project, and then we were involved in a lot of the architectural concrete throughout the remainder of the hospital,” he says.

Finley notes that the company had a contract of $4.5 million on the project.

The company also was the structural concrete subcontractor for White Con­struction at the Rio Grande Detention Center in Laredo, Texas. The Geo Group Inc., a firm based in Boca Raton, Fla., is the owner. “They manage prisons all over the United States,” Finley says.

Facing the Challenge
Like many, Greater Austin Development is facing the challenge of the rising cost of fuel. “[It is now] three and a half times what it was a few years ago,” Finley says. “Today, our fuel bills are around $26,000 a week.”

To cope, the company has focused on proper maintenance of its trucks, as well as no idling policies. “We’re just dealing with it,” Finley says. “We’re sitting here with all these diesel trucks, and if you go to the market and try to sell one, you’re not going to get anything for it,” he says.

Staying Ahead
The slowdown in the residential market also has affected Greater Austin Development. However, “I welcome the slowdown,” Finley asserts. “It gives us time to reflect back on some of the mistakes and processes we [did] in the past.”

With the help of the IT department, “[We have] the power to make changes and implement new procedures that we didn’t have time to do before,” Finley says, noting that when Greater Austin Development was in a reactionary mode when it was busier.

Despite the slowdown, Greater Austin Development plans to remain a company that sees sales of $70 million to $75 million per year, Finley says. He notes that the company will stay ahead with its high levels of quality and safety, as well as its speed.

“Obviously, getting [the project] done quickly is something that our customers desire,” Finley says, noting that Greater Austin Development’s technology allows it to stay ahead with its coordination of resources and people.

“The whole thing revolves around the IT,” he says.