Columbia Construction

Source: Construction Digital

Date :3/18/2008 4:08:21 AM

Columbia Construction is focused on satisfying its customers’ needs and delivering quality every time. Exec learns about its commitment to innovation in environmental design

Written by Ian Armitage and Produced by Sean Bakke

Established in 1925, Columbia Construction Company (CCC) has a reputation for quality, innovation and teamwork. It provides unparalleled preconstruction and construction services across a wide range of building types.

“We have been delivering quality projects for over 80 years,” explains Bruce Gordon, President at Columbia. “We remain family owned and the business was actually started by my grandfather. So, I have really grown up here.”

Bruce joined the firm straight from college, although he spent many summers as a youth working within the company. Over the years, he has amassed vast experience, working on various different types of construction, a trend that has picked up increasing speed in recent years. He knows the business inside out and says: “Columbia has grown and evolved. We have developed a wide range of experience within. To give you some examples: the academic, residential, corporate, eldercare, science & technology, hospitality and manufacturing/distribution markets.”

This, he says, is a far cry from when the business focused solely on the healthcare market when he was a youth: “These changes have been driven by our own interests and by changes in the market place. We needed to become more diverse, and we are.”

According to Bruce Gordon, therefore, no matter how big, or how small the project, “columbia is able to provide unparalleled preconstruction and construction services”. An impressive and distinguished portfolio of satisfied customers supports this claim.

A changing industry

Known as an innovative leader, Columbia is particularly skilled at managing schedule, cost, quality, safety and client satisfaction, 70 percent of Columbia’s work comes from repeat clients and most of its projects are performed on a negotiated basis. Although a New England-based company, Columbia has worked with select clients in OH, NY and as far south as VA and Washington D.C. A popular choice, CCC is flexible and well-equipped to perform budgeting, scheduling and other preconstruction services. “We are viewed as a proactive player throughout design and construction, and demonstrate keen attention to detail,” explains Bruce.

This level of attention to detail has driven the evolution of Columbia’s business particularly in recent years. “We are very involved in LEED and the environmental aspects of our industry, for example,” explains Bruce Gordon. “We have been at the forefront of those changes, looking at how buildings are built and how we go about building them.”

LEED, or the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design’s Green Building Rating System, as it is more formally known, encourages and accelerates adoption of sustainable green building and development practices. Architects, real estate professionals, facility managers, engineers, interior designers, landscape architects, construction managers, lenders and government officials all use LEED to help transform the built environment to sustainability. State and local governments across the US are adopting LEED for public-owned and public-funded buildings and there are LEED initiatives in federal agencies, including the Departments of Defense, Agriculture, Energy, and State.

“Being in the industry as long as we have, you see things change – LEED is a perfect example,” continues Bruce. “Even today, a lot of people in the construction sector still do things the same way they were done 20 or 30 years ago. Not us! We embrace change, if it benefits our clients. LEED is not a fad, it has been welcomed by our clients, who recognize a need to adjust the way we approach construction. We have a couple of LEED accredited professionals, which has added significant value to our client’s LEED projects. Our architectural partners especially appreciate that we are educated and savvy about the process – we add value to them as well.”

Embracing technology

Columbia excels at providing practical hands-on information during all phases of a project, helping clients and architects make informed, knowledgeable decisions. This results in greater value and higher quality for every dollar spent.

“We want to give every client the highest level of service and quality, no matter the type of construction,” comments Mr. Gordon. “We achieve this by investing in technology as a way of providing the entire project team with accurate and timely information.”

Columbia’s IT department, according to Bruce Gordon, is extremely strong and the company has “created a number of IT tools that we use to improve the way we function.”

For instance, employees have access to a building information management (BIM) system, as well as several other web-based project management tools. “After having looked at some of the products that were available out in the market several years ago, we developed our own in-house Extranet,” he says. “We host it, we modify it and we maintain it - every project that this company runs is managed through this proprietary project management system. All of the records for every project are kept on that system and at the end of the job we burn a CD/DVD and give it to the client so they have a complete record of the project. It is real time. It works 24/7. All you need to do to get on it is have access to the internet and an access code.”

Such tools help Columbia fulfil the goal of satisfying clients. Although keeping clients happy is paramount, Bruce’s mission is two-fold. He is just as focused on ensuring that Columbia remains a good place for people to work. “Loyal, experienced people means you can better serve clients,” he says. “We gain a lot of work based on reputation and performance, and customer interaction plays an important role in that – hence our investments in improving IT infrastructure and our desire to retain our best people.

“Our firm has been strategic about its steady growth, and that will continue, despite the general concerns over the economy, which we haven’t been affected by yet. But, we’ve never tried to grow too fast precisely because you lose quality control and you aren’t as selective about who is working for you and representing you in the marketplace. You lose focus. So, we have been trying to control that and have been successful in doing it,” adds Bruce.

His plan is to continue to grow at a modest pace, and to work on high profile, challenging projects that showcase Columbia’s strengths. “People that appreciate a good job and are interested in doing the right thing for the environment, are the types of clients we are looking for,” he says. “Obviously we need to make money, which is what we are all in business for, but we want our clients to make money as well. That is our goal. We don’t do a lot of ‘plain vanilla’ and enjoy the creative side of construction.”

Historically, Columbia has embraced topics its competitors have shied away from. This has helped define a culture and create a business that pushes the frontiers of construction, which results in continually improving service to its clients.

“This will go on,” concludes Bruce, “precisely because we want to create raving fans, exceeding their expectations. Obviously, as an industry, we all see the cost of construction rising every year. That creates some difficulty. Projects have to be affordable. So there is a challenge as to how to build less expensively and stay below the rising inflation rates to make a project economically viable. I’m confident that in everything we have done so far – whether it’s investing in leading-edge technology, LEED, or in satisfying our clients – we are moving in the right direction.”