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Graham Group ltD. (u.s.): ThE BEST JOB pOSSIBLE

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Graham Group Ltd. (U.S.)

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The Best Job PossibleProduced by Robert Benson & Written by Kelly Matlock

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Graham Group Ltd. (U.S.)

In 1926, in remote Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, P.W. Graham and his sons launched a general contracting company with the promise to do “the best job possible.” This resolve has turned into the wildly successful Graham Group Ltd. companies, a $2 billion dollar outfit operating out of 14 offices across Canada and the U.S., with a diverse project portfolio spanning most sectors of the North American economy.

An industry leader, Graham has cutting-edge technology, 80 years of expertise, and a wealth of operating equipment to facilitate large and complex projects. Graham has a passion for seeking out challenging projects, which requires the company to have skilled employees and resources on hand. Graham has a manufacturing arm and owns an extensive amount of construction equipment, ready to deploy as each project demands. According to the company website, “Owning a large and diversified fleet allows us to take jobs others avoid. We mobilize assets quickly, and maintain them from equipment support facilities that complement our regional offices.”

Although the company got its start in Canada, it has become a well-known bolster of the U.S. economy in the Northwest and Midwest regions. Graham Group Ltd. (U.S.) is thriving thanks to a fortuitous start aided by Doug Sherrow, chairman and CEO of Graham Contracting Ltd. and Graham Construction & Management, Inc. Sherrow says the now $300 million dollar operation began rather modestly, explaining, “I met Tom Baxter, who was the CEO at the time [and] through developing the relationship with Tom I was asked to start the U.S. group. I had never been asked to do something along those lines. My training was as a structural engineer out of the University of Washington. So I just rolled up the sleeves and attacked.”

Attack he did; the entire Graham Corporation in 1992 was approximately a $200 million dollar company, and is now a $2 billion dollar company, an increase of 1000 percent in the last two decades. U.S. offices are located in the Pacific Northwest (Seattle and Spokane, Washington), as well as in the Midwest in Omaha, Nebraska, and Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Seattle office, head corporate office, is home to Sherrow and another invaluable person to the Graham Group U.S.: Greg Toy, the director of business development.

Toy tracks industry trends and makes sure Graham is leading the way in innovation. “Project delivery methods are changing in the industry to a more collaborative method, and that reflects itself in the design-build, public-private integrated delivery which is a new contract form,” Toy explains. “Providing that, our exposure to it and utilization of these more collaborative approaches is exciting.” Looking for new ways to maintain growth through the weakened economic climate is a priority, and Graham has every intention to expand business in the U.S. “Quite frankly, we have found niches that are exciting. What’s been created is the need for partnerships, and the redefinition of delivery processes. We’re looking to a bright future, all our offices are secure, healthy and in growth mode,” Sherrow adds.

Growing a Family of Companies, and a Company of Families

Valued partnerships are one way Graham ensures success and growth; another way, also utilized by Graham, is to

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invest in employees and in return have vested and talented employees who grow with the company. Graham subscribed fully to this philosophy by turning over the company to the employees in 1985, and motivating through ownership. For over 20 years the company has been employee-owned, which insures pride of ownership and personal attachment, reinforcing employee commitment to complete successful projects.

“The company transitioned from a family-owned business started in the 1920s and grew and transformed itself into an organization that was ultimately reorganized in 1985 into an employee-owned company, when Tom Baxter took the operational helm,” Sherrow says.

He also highlights the fact that Graham Group has “created a culture where executive leadership is accessible and fairness and integrity is integral to who we are. Employee ownership isn’t heavily skewed or weighted towards a few individuals at the top.” The corporate culture of Graham allows not only ownership and ambitious career advancement, but facilitates educational, professional growth opportunities and encourages community involvement.

Graham Group understands that its people are the most important asset, and employee expertise is the bulk of this worth. Expertise is facilitated through an in-house corporate learning program known as Graham University: “It is a tool we offer for the younger individuals coming in and we take great pride in giving them the education they need to not only enhance the company but also build a strong foundation for who they are,” Sherrow says. The program is designed to identify, document and disseminate the expert knowledge and best practices Graham has acquired and refined through more than eight decades of

general contracting, project management and construction engineering.

The integrity the company was founded on 80 years ago continues to guide business, throughout all operations. Sherrow explains that “it’s the Graham family. People feel good about who they are.” Employees are encouraged to participate in events benefiting the communities where they do business. “We’re putting together a group of volunteers for a community enhancement project at [Seattle’s] Ryther Child Center,” explains Toy. “[Ryther] provides housing and in/out patient programs for children and youth with mental illness, and emotional/physical effects of chemical abuse.” Graham has founded fellowships and scholarship programs to promote the industry in the academic community, as well.

Thinking Inside and Out of the Box

Having 14 offices across the US and Canada requires precise operating systems to preserve the high standard of business and integrity Graham maintains. Consistency and organizational excellence has been achieved through Graham

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Group’s development and use of Toolbox, an award-winning suite of integrated software applications tailored to the construction industry -- originally crafted by Peter Graham in 2000. “The vision that Graham had was to standardize how we work between our offices. It establishes the language all our offices can use to communicate with each other and with our clients. There’s consistency and continuity between Canada and the United States,” Sherrow assures.

Toolbox is utilized in a myriad of ways: to review and adjust contracts and payment; to control documents through support of drawings, punch lists, RFI’s, and submittals; to track distribution, improving accountability; to facilitate field administration with online access to over 80 percent of jobsites; to ensure cost control; to support construction management; to track safety issues; to enhance collaboration with subcontractors and project partners though a secure project Web site with live webcam available. “Peter Graham was one of the first [among leaders of]

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Founder : P. W. Graham & SonsFounded : 1926

$2 Billion Company

COMPANY AT A GLANCEcompanies in Canada to computerize his business; we essentially retooled the business in 2000,” Sherrow remarks. “Now we sit in 2009 continuing to develop that, modernizing and upgrading it to be the best the industry has to offer from an IT and construction management investment.”

Continuing to improve award-winning software is reflective of the mindset of Graham Group leadership. “We always look at new ideas, and to better ourselves in terms of leading technologies,” Sherrow notes. “Just because we did it one way in the old days doesn’t mean we’ll do it that way in the future, we’re very progressive in that sense.” Acute leadership knows that change is the only constant, and currently this speaks to industry trends toward sustainable building. Green building practices are particularly prevalent in the Northwest U.S., home of corporate headquarters. “In the Seattle office, I’d say [project managers] are close to 90-percent [LEED certified],” Sherrow says. “We have opportunities in a design-build phase that are certified Gold, so we’re in it every day and committed to providing that to the community, should they ask for it.”

An ability to adjust proves that there is no rigid corporate dogma in place, and employee input for improvement is welcome. “We’re pretty flat, in that the idea is, in the company if people have an opinion they can feel comfortable in doing so. And that is a healthy environment,” notes Doug. Beyond internal workings, an exchange of industry ideas and facilitation of processes is also achieved externally, between organizations, through group associations. Graham Group is an active member in the AGC, the Association of American General Contractors. “Two of our offices have individuals that are on AGC boards,” Sherrow remarks. “It helps the organization and the individual grow. Part of the reason you do it is from the networking perspective, but it’s also a give-back. Part of it is to get your ideas and concerns integrated into how policies and procedures progress.

“In the early days it was a bunch of entrepreneurial young men driving the business,” Sherrow concludes. “We were figuring out how we were going to grow Graham, and find our futures.” Those same entrepreneurs now see the future is here and it’s promising — Graham Group US is fueled by solid ambition and stacked with expertise. The company boasts an impressive and diverse portfolio and it seems modest to state its ambition as “to do the best job possible”; Graham Group not only continues to strive to be the best, providing the best value for clients, but simultaneously facilitates employee expertise and ambition while growing operations, bolstering the U.S. economy and last but not least, giving back to the community.

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