The sizes of Claggett & Sons Inc.’s projects vary from $1,000 to $25 million.

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As one of the oldest and largest contractors in central Ohio, Claggett & Sons Inc. says there is not much it can’t build in the commercial and industrial sector. “We are not a high-rise builder, but we can take on most any project in the industrial, institutional and commercial world,” Vice President Thaddeus Claggett says.

His grandfather, Lloyd Claggett, founded the company in 1953, but he had actually built his first house years earlier in the depression days. “He did it by borrowing a few dollars from his sister and would observe every evening what the guy across the street was doing who was building another house and then the next day, grandfather would do that same scope of work,” Thaddeus Claggett explains.

Lloyd’s son Paul joined the company in 1958 and became president of the company soon after that. Currently, there are nine Claggetts involved the everyday operation of the company.

“Basically, none of us can remember a time when we were not involved with the company in some capacity,” he says.

The company operates out of a 6,000-square-foot office, a 5,000-square-foot maintenance shop and 50,000-square-foot of warehouse space in Newark, Ohio.

The company typically works within two hours of its headquarters in Newark, which is 30 miles east of Columbus. It also has a branch office in Mt. Vernon, Ohio.

Claggett says low turnover and high level of self-performed work set the company apart from competitors. “A lot of GCs concentrate more on the management side of projects verses self performing large section of the work,” he says. “We can self-perform pretty much everything except for major mechanicals. We will sub out several divisions of the work on larger projects – we only have 65 to 75 guys – but self-performing the excavation and concrete all the way through to the building finishes is definitely one of our defining features.”

The sizes of the company’s projects vary from $1,000 to $25 million. “The reason for that is the range of skill sets and experience within the leadership of the company,” he notes. “We have senior people running larger jobs and junior people doing smaller projects, learning the ropes. Thankfully, we do not suffer from ego problems within the ranks and are able to shift with the ever changing tide of work.”
 
Maintain Stability
Claggett & Sons’ philosophy, Claggett says, is to serve its core market to the best of our ability every day. “We have the structure, capacity and even the willingness to grow, but that is not our focus,” he says. “It has been an incredible blessing for these past 55 years to ride the great ship of free enterprise in our wonderful country. However, it takes a great deal of diligence and wisdom to deal with all the issues that are thrown at us.

“We are simply looking to maintain stability and roll with the jabs of a sometimes-difficult business climate,” he adds. “The percentage of companies that fail is astronomical, so it’s an accomplishment if for nothing else than to maintain stability for our people and our clients.”

That stability is due in large part to the company’s long-term client relationships. “A lot of the work we do is publicly bid out, and the client may not have much of a choice about who does their work,” he says. “However, we have a number of clients for which we know their physical plant operations as well as they do. We’ve worked with them for years and we can serve them well. We appreciate the opportunity to serve clients that trust us with that kind of repeat business.”