Meeting clients’ expectations drives Swope Construction’s business. Providing customers with the best quality and working with good people will take care of the company’s growth, its president says.

Profits take a backseat for commercial general contractor Swope Construction. Instead, it's all about quality and making customers happy, President Chandler Swope says. The company's revenues were $1 million during its first year in business in 1984. Today, its annual revenues have climbed to $30 million, and Swope says he expects to exceed it this year. The reason for this success, he says, is its reputation.

Building in West Virginia and Virginia, Swope Construction performs commercial work that averages $5 million to $15 million. Its region has experienced moderate growth for the past 20 years, Swope notes. “We're in a rural area,” he states. “There's a lot of competition because the market is limited. But we don't really care about [how much we make] a year - we just want to do a great job.”

One of Swope Construction's strategies is to make sure it has the people it needs. “Rather than bidding for all available jobs, we only bid if we're sure project managers and superintendents are available,” Swope explains. “Until I know I have the management capability available, I don't bid.”

Swope says this strategy has worked for the company. “Even though it doesn't push for annual sales, it pushes quality to the maximum,” he adds. “It's kind of backwards, but I've seen other companies get in trouble because they bid [on every project] even though they don't have the management team. We try not to take on more work than we can handle, and it has paid off - we have better-quality work and satisfied clients. We don't adapt our strategy to the market, we adapt the market to our strategy.”

Aside from its commitment to quality, Swope says, innovation sets the company apart. “I'm a real believer of information technology,” he states. “We instituted AutoCAD drafting 23 years ago even before architects had it. We had always made a policy to institute modern technologies as they become available. That's part of why we've been successful.”

Two of Swope Construction's recent projects stand out because of their tight schedules, Swope says. The Glen Jean Armed Forces Complex in West Virginia, completed in 2004, was an $18 million project with an original timeline of 24 months. But, it had to be extended to 32 months due to new building codes instituted after 9/11. “We [initiated] an informal partnering process with the West Virginia Army Reserve,” he says. “We decided to make friends with everybody [vs.] having a formal partnership. We did it all on our own and it worked out.”

Swope Construction completed the Glen Jean project in only 19 months. “We were told by the Army Reserve that this was the premier project they have ever done in West Virginia,” Swope says. “To take on a government project like that is quite an achievement.”

Another project is the VPI Graduate Life Center renovation for Virginia Tech, a $2 million project that was completed in August 2006. “We bid in April to finish the project in October,” Swope states. “In May, we were a month behind schedule due to unknown site conditions, but we found a way to accelerate the project by putting a team together to [work on] scheduling.”

Swope adds that the project had to be completed two months ahead of schedule to cater to Virginia Tech's unexpected critical occupancy deadline. “The building was occupied in August 3rd,” he says. “Virginia Tech was very pleased [with] our good management [team] and good cooperation. We're always proud of meeting [our clients'] expectations.”

Providing Best Value
Swope says the company's greatest asset is its people. “You really need good contractors to give the customers the best value,” he states. “Our profitability will take care of itself if we take care of our customers, and it takes good people to do that. We had to kiss a lot of frogs to get a prince or two, but now we've got nothing left here but princes.”

He adds that the company gives one-third of its profits to its employees for their year-end bonuses. “If you attract good people, they will in turn do very good work,” Swope stresses.

In addition, Swope Construction looks after its employees' safety. The company employs a full-time safety manager, which is unusual for a firm with 60 people on staff, Swope notes. “We try to be the leader in safety,” he says.

Passion for the Job
Swope Construction says 2007 looks promising. “We already have work booked to top $30 million,” Swope says. “Whether we sustain that for 2008, that remains to be seen, but we just have to wait and see.”

Profits, however, will still take second place. “Growth should be a result of doing good work, not the goal,” he explains. At age 64, Swope says, he has no plans to retireme any time soon. “I enjoy working with [my people] so much to even think about retiring,” he notes. “If I do decide to retire in the future, I have a good team that knows how to do things right, so I have no worries.”

Swope adds that he enjoys doing good work for people. “How much money you make is a lot less important than the difference you make,” he emphasizes, “and I feel like I've made a difference in this company.”