Top General Contractors of the Southwest

2006: Another Banner Year for Contractors

by Scott Blair and Tom McClure

General Contractors in Arizona, New Mexico and Nevada saw double digit growth in almost every category, based on responses from more than 155 firms that participated in our survey of 2006 construction revenue.

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Southwest Contractor's annual survey of general contractors revealed another impressive year for firms performing work in Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico. The 2006 revenue reported by all firms participating totaled $14.8 billion, up 24% over the previous year. This wraps up five straight years of gains for contractors, with overall revenue more than doubling since 2001.

Phoenix-based Perini Building Company became the first contractor to report annual contracting revenue over $1 billion in the tri-state area since the annual survey began 10 years ago. Las Vegas mega-projects such as the $4.5 billion CityCenter, $2 billion Cosmopolitan and $400 million Trump Towers all broke ground through Perini in 2006.

"This represents the largest volume we've ever attempted to undertake in our history," says Dick Rizzo, chairman of Perini. "Getting those organized and out of the ground while getting budgets finalized and staffing increased have all been at the top of our priorities."

Despite the huge projects in Las Vegas, Arizona handily topped the revenue-by-state chart, with nearly $8 billion of work reported in 2006, compared to $5.5 billion for Nevada. Arizona's total was up over 27% from the previous year and Nevada revenue has nearly tripled over the past five years.

This stable growth has allowed companies to plan ahead effectively. "We have been successful in growing our volume each of the past few years in a planned and controlled manner," says Matt Tierney, western region vice president with Tempe, Ariz.-based Barton Malow Co. The firm ranked 50th overall with $84 million in 2006 revenue. "We established a detailed sales and revenue plan at the beginning of the fiscal year and through consistent implementation of our plan, our results were consistent with our goals."

Reno-based Q & D Construction, ranked 12th overall with $326 million, continues to find success through their diverse portfolio of projects, which includes both heavy highway and building construction. President Norm Dianda also credits the large number of smaller-sized projects the firm takes on as part of their success in 2006. "We delivered numerous expansions and upgrades for healthy local businesses, including many repeat customers," he says.

New Mexico firms reported another big jump in revenue this year. After a 40% increase last year, contractors enjoyed another 22% increase in 2006.

"We should have several good years of public and private work ahead," says Donald Power, chairman and CEO of Jaynes Companies, the top-ranked New Mexico contractor.

Among specialty categories, construction of site infrastructure and master-planned developments led the pack with an increase of over 50% from the previous year. General building, which includes offices, retail and other vertical construction, also saw big gains.

While revenue from transportation work jumped 23% in 2006, some contractors warn that challenges lay ahead for continued growth.

"A major challenge facing Nevada is the inability of governmental agencies to properly fund transportation," Dianda says. "With a $3.8 billion shortfall, Nevada highways will be set on a course of deterioration. Our quality of life depends on a quality transportation system."

Another challenge facing contractors in the coming year is the overheated labor market. "The ability to attract, train and maintain good talent continues to be Barton Malow's and the industry's greatest challenge," Tierney says.

Due to overwhelming response, we were unable to include the following companies which would have appeared 151st through 156th on the overall ranking: Architectural Resource Team Inc., $3.2 million; Wayne Rutherford General Contractor Inc., $2.7 million; Henry Benning Associates Inc. General Contractors, $2.27 million; Bloom Builders LLC, $1.8 million; Sullens Western Construction LLC, $1.3 million; Patton Johnson Contractors Inc., $1.1 million. Thank you to all the firms who took the time to participate in this year's survey.

While we make every attempt to contact all eligible firms, if your firm did not appear and you would like to be considered for future rankings, please contact Southwest Contractor at 602-631-3080.

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