Reliance Build Inc. (RBI) is in the final stages of a $12 million, 32,000-square-foot office building for Bank of America in Phoenix. The project is slated to receive LEED Silver certification, says President Steve Stoaks, the first of its projects to do so. “We are very excited to be a part of it,” he adds.

To meet LEED requirements, the building has a highly efficient energy management system, as well as innovative lighting and plumbing systems. “It is also a very maintenance-free building,” Stoaks says. For example, its floors are made from exposed ground concrete, which require low maintenance, and every aspect of the building is made from natural products, all requiring little or no maintenance.

An important criteria for certification included keeping the job clean and orderly during the 10-month project. “We tried to keep the environment dust free as we [worked],” he says.

The project did not run into any major problems, he says, because its subcontractors were familiar with the construction methodology. “We work with a large group of subcontractors in that area and we put some of the best subs together as a team,” such as Bel-Air Mechanical and Swain Electric, he explains. “The subcontractors really know and understand that type of environment.” RBI enjoys working with a number of qualified subcontractors and those relationships are essential to the successful completion of all of its construction projects.

Stoaks says he hopes the company will work on more green projects. “To work on another bank green building would be really challenging,” he says. However, this is not the first challenging project it has done for Bank of America; the company has built 54 banks for it in the past four years.

Focused on Phoenix
The Chandler, Ariz.-based company does high-rise tenant improvements, medical tenant improvements, such as dental and doctor offices, and surgical centers and banks, as well as projects in the industrial sector and retail centers. The company provides general contracting and complete design/build services.

All of the projects are in the Phoenix area, Stoaks says. For the past eight years, Arizona Business Magazine has named RBI as one of the top-10 general contractors in the city, and the Phoenix Chamber of Commerce named RBI one of the top-10 finalists for the Small Business of the Year Impact Awards in 2007. “We really believe in the Phoenix market,” he says. “We might venture out within our state to maintain our current client base, but we believe our city will continue to give us work.”

RBI is finishing its first development, Paloma Kyrene Business Community, with sister company Dove Business Communities. The $15 million, 173,000-square-foot office and industrial condominium complex in Chandler is unique because the company used materials such as a tilt concrete and Mesastone for a sand-blasted block surface. “We put a lot of emphasis on the way the block and the colors coordinate,” he says.

The company performs personalized and project-specific planning on all jobs. “An innovative project management system and a collaborative approach with both our clients and subcontractors enables RBI to carefully plan each project, and then deliver a quality product that meets the original budget and timetable set by our customers,” the company says. “Effective project management maintains project schedules, controls costs and provides for open channels of communication to keep our clients aware of the status of their entire project.”

Feels Like Family
Stoaks founded the company in 1993 with his wife, Cyndi Stoaks, who serves as CFO. A daughter, Lynette Geller, handles other financial aspects of the company. Many of the company’s clients are from Stoaks’ past relationships, and he has worked with some of them for 15 to 20 years.

Many of the company’s employees have also been with the firm for many years, he adds. “There are many businesses that do not retain employees for a long time,” he says. “We really feel like we’re family; we take care of each other. And through that, we respect and take care of our customers.”

The company has no plans to grow into a $100 million company, he says. “We just want to be the best at what we can be, whatever level that is,” he says. However, the company does grow by 15 to 20 percent every year organically and by taking care of its customers. “We do what we say we’re going to do and we are a big believer in keeping our word in all aspects of construction,” he says.

The company also believes in giving back to the community, he says. Stoaks is a member of the Phoenix YMCA Metro Board and also works on its facilities committee.

Earlier this year, the company won the Impact in Community Involvement award from the Phoenix Chamber of Commerce. Recently, it donated a 5,600-square-foot building to Project C.U.R.E., a nonprofit organization that collects medical equipment and donates it to developing countries. The building, valued at $750,000, was located in the Paloma Kyrene Business Community. “We are very excited about our future here at RBI,” Stoaks says. “We have the team in place to accomplish just about anything.”