GVR Services Center Inc.

Founded in 2009 by Anjali Poola, GVR Services Center Inc. provides construction and grant management that supports projects and companies that redevelop, rehabilitate and renew communities. “We especially look to support projects that create housing for families, senior citizens and veterans,” says Poola. “Employing the nation’s veterans through our projects is also a major focus of our business.” Located in Houston, Texas, GVR employs seven people full-time, and maintains partnerships with roughly 50 contractors and suppliers.

GVR Services works with multimillion-dollar projects and real estate developments that specifically meet eligibility requirements for current funding priorities in multiple U.S. government agencies. “Several of GVR services provide guaranteed funding from the government to eligible clients,” says Poola. Many projects from applicants are services that the government wishes to purchase.”

Going green

As a green company, GVR Services seeks to fund projects that use LEED construction methods and aim to reach a Platinum Certification level as recognized by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC). Whether it involves streets in a neighborhood or multiuse projects in urban or rural areas, GVR Services looks for projects that will have the greatest positive impact on communities and the environment through preservation, conservation and restoration. “We look for clients with a vision,” says Poola. “We particularly seek to help fund projects that restore, rehabilitate and renovate existing properties into energy efficient or energy independent facilities.”

With the amount of large and diverse projects that GVR Services completes, the company has established a solid network of suppliers and subcontractors. “We are a construction management firm so we sub out most of our work,” says Poola. “We have established many partnerships and are always interested in starting new relationships. We work very hard to maintain a strong working relationship with our subcontractors. They can make or break a project and they are representing us on each job.”

GVR Services has been involved in several recent projects that include a senior housing project in Austin, Texas, which caters to veterans. “We are also working on developing a community on 560 acres of land in Southern Texas,” says Poola. “This community will include commercial development, health care, educational facilities and residential properties.”

A great location

Starting a construction company in the middle of a recession is considered by many to be a bold move. Poola says that the only major challenges the company has had to overcome when getting started was maintaining consistent cash flow, as well as a steady line of credit.

Fortunately for GVR Services, Houston serves as a prime example of how many areas of the country are not just surviving, but also thriving. Houston is currently creating a name for itself as a center for strong global commerce and companies from a range of industries are beginning to recognize that.

In April 2015, Air New Zealand announced it will initiate nonstop service between Houston and Auckland in December. When this takes place, Houston will be home to the only airport in North America that serves all six inhabited continents. Only four other cities in the world can make the same claim – Dubai, Doha, Abu Dhabi and Johannesburg.

In January, Japan-based Daikin industries announced it would invest $417 million to expand its local Goodman Manufacturing Operations in Houston. Upon completion, the new facility will be the most technologically advanced HVAC manufacturing center in the world.

The announcement of foreign investments in the city is a display of global confidence in Houston. With a strong energy sector thriving in the city, the boom in horizontal oil drilling and hydraulic fracturing has created more than 500,000 jobs since 2005. Corporations such as Haliburton have helped to increase the median annual salary in Houston to $71,000 which placed the city at the No. 1 spot of Forbes Magazine’s list of America’s Fastest Growing Cities.

GVR Services will capitalize on the booming economy in Houston, though Poola says the company is planning to expand its geographical footprint. “We plan to continue our work with renovating and creating new communities, but hopefully on a larger scale,” says Poola. “We have two more projects in the works that similar to the senior housing community in Austin that will get us started in that direction. ”

As the company continues to expand, they will maintain the ethics and morals that have served as the foundation of GVR Services Center Inc. since the very beginning.