Jaynes Companies

New Mexico's Top GC Builds Towards the Future

by Scott Blair

Albuquerque-based Jaynes Companies tops the ranking of New Mexico contractors with over $266 million in 2006 revenue from the three-state region.

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For the seventh year in a row, Jaynes Companies ranks as our top New Mexico-based company. The firm reported $266 million in tri-state revenue and $209 million from projects in New Mexico for 2006.

The company invests in training to instill strong teamwork between the project manager, superintendent and estimator, says Donald Power, chairman and CEO of Jaynes. Selecting subcontractors with the same dedication is also part of the equation.

"Everybody has to have the same commitment to the owner," Power says.

"We all want to give the owner a project that has the best-quality construction that is built safely, built within their budgets, and within their schedules."

The company's most prominent project currently underway is the $234 million UNM Children's Hospital expansion, which adds over 475,000 sq ft of clinical space to the Albuquerque facility. Started in 2004, the project is expected to wrap up in late 2007. Jaynes formed a joint venture partnership with Kansas City-based J.E. Dunn Construction for the project. "We've had nearly 550 people on the job at any one time, in an extremely small, confined site," Power says.

Jaynes Structures, one of five divisions of the company, began construction on Albuquerque Studios at Mesa del Sol in mid-2006. The first phase of the $74 million movie studio was recently completed.

Even though the project wasn't technically design-build, Jaynes became involved early, even before the project had been finalized. "We worked with Jaynes from the very beginning as far as scheduling and budget issues because it was such a short time frame," says Christopher Gunning, AIA, with Dekker/Perich/Sabatini. "It's been a good experience with both the client and Jaynes."

"If we've had a better accomplishment in 2006, it's been our commitment to get involved sooner in projects, so that owners could use our years of expertise," Power says. "That's the real value in a contractor, to be involved in no less than a design-assist method."

As with many companies in the construction industry, manpower is one of Jaynes' primary concerns for the future. Yet even though Albuquerque's unemployment is near all-time lows, Jaynes has found ways of tackling this issue on multiple fronts through finding new talent and retaining existing employees.

Recruitment from construction and engineering schools around the country is one of the firm's strategies, Power says. Being an employee-owned company also encourages younger employees that they have a stake in the firm's future success.

"We want to continue our succession plan and make it clear for all the younger employees to see where their future lies at the company. They are looking to see some benchmarks so they can advance their career within the construction industry."

The company stresses the importance of training and continuing education at all levels to help employees be better equipped to handle new construction techniques and the changes happening in the industry.

Power stresses that his company is really in the people business. "It's how we treat our customers and get them to come back to us," he says. "But after you take care of the customer you have to look at how you take care of your employees. Those are the important issues."

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