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Ferma Corp. is one of the largest demolition companies in the nation, according to President Marc Ferrari – it’s also a role model for the industry.

“Our always-improving model of how we do business is something we constantly see followed in our industry,” he says. “I know we’re doing things that others aren’t because we get a great deal of inquiries from out of state and out of the country.”

The firm is one of the largest demolition contractors in the Bay Area, Ferrari says, and he credits the company’s history of innovation and pioneering policies. Ferrari is the third generation of his family to be involved with the company founded by his grandfather and uncles in 1963. Originally intended to provide site preparation services for property development endeavors, the company’s first demolition contract was to demolish a national supermarket chain store in Los Altos, California. That soon blossomed into more complex work, Ferrari says.

In addition to demolition services, Ferma Corp. is also a full-service general engineering firm. The company provides services that include site preparation, excavation, grading, shoreline reinforcement, paving and underground work. Ferrari says the company provides additional services upon request in order to give customers “the complete package.”

Leading the Way
Name an aspect of the demolition industry, and it’s a good bet Ferma Corp. has been on the cutting-edge of it. For example, many in the construction industry have been scrambling to incorporate environmentally friendly policies and practices into their organizations. Ferma Corp., on the other hand, has been waiting for them to catch up to it.

“Green has been a hot topic as of late, and Ferma has been recycling for 20 years,” Ferrari says. More recently, the company began using specialty equipment to separate materials on-site and putting some of that material to work as fuel. “What might have found its way into a landfill is now being used to make electricity and being recycled back into new products,” Ferrari says. Using the equipment on-site also cuts down on the logistics of hauling mixed materials to various locations or to a second location for separation. This saves on fuel and reduces unneeded vehicles on our already burdened roads.

Ferma Corp. has also led the way in terms of automating its processes. Ferrari says the company has incorporated automation to cut down on the cost of manual labor. “Because we are a union company, labor is a premium for us,” he says.

Working in California is another great incentive to operate an up-to-date fleet, Ferrari adds. “Lots of guys who run older machines don’t meet California’s especially stringent [emissions] requirements.”

Ferma Corp. is constantly upgrading its fleet, and currently more than 90 percent of the company’s equipment meets the state’s future emissions requirements.

Quick and Accurate
Ferrari says what distinguishes Ferma Corp. in the marketplace beyond its equipment is its capabilities. He says the company’s ability to take on almost any kind of job and accomplish it quickly, safely and exceed the customer expectations is what makes it a leader.

“A lot of our competitors have certain types of jobs that they will do,” he says. “Ferma will do [any job from] a 1,000-square-foot house demolition up to multi- million square feet projects.”

The company cites its work demolishing a vacant department store in Saratoga, Calif., as an example. Ferma Corp. was able to completely demolish and remove the building within 10 days, and was so successful that it was awarded contracts to handle two similar buildings.

In 2005, Ferma Corp. won a contract at Stanford University to demolish its existing football stadium to make way for a new one. The project called for the removal of more than 84,000 seats and the press boxes, and despite the tight schedule Ferma Corp. succeeded. “They gave us 12 days and we finished it in nine,” Ferrari says.

Looking to the Future
Ferrari says competition has increased in the demolition market, but most new competitors don’t have the capabilities of Ferma Corp. “There’s a push from other [companies] that have not done demolition in the past.” he says. The slowdown in the housing market has caused many contractors to look for work in other areas such as demolition, in order to keep their companies busy, but Ferrari says that some of these companies are not fully equipped for the requirements needed.

To push through the onslaught of interlopers coming in from other sectors, Ferrari says Ferma Corp. will have to tighten its belt and rely more on its innovation to stay ahead. “I think we need to be a  little more humble and, at the same time, keep our crews out there perfecting our always improving model,” he says.

Beyond the competition, Ferrari says Ferma Corp. is also working to achieve greater things for itself and the industry. The company has a firm commitment in R&D to find better ways to work safer, more efficiently, and reduce the waste factor being generated from the demolition industry. “Demolition has been viewed as unsophisticated, and we’re trying to change that,” he says.