Parker Young Construction Inc.

For 30 years, Parker Young Construction has been providing disaster restoration construction and mitigation services to the greater Atlanta region. With three offices in Atlanta, Macon and North Georgia, Parker Young completes work in both the commercial and residential sectors. With a full-time staff of approximately 185 dedicated disaster recovery professionals, Parker Young believes the process of recovering from serious property damage should not be as painful as the loss.

Founders Jim Parker and Paul Young began their construction careers in the ‘70s, working out of a small office in Albany, Georgia. After moving to Atlanta in the ‘80s, the two partners recognized the need for a good construction firm specializing in disaster recovery and repair in Atlanta and founded Parker Young Construction in 1986. While performing disaster restoration work, the company slowly grew and eventually added mitigation work to its list of services.

In 1995, Parker and Young founded a sister company to Parker Young Construction called FireStar, which was formed to complete the Parker Young’s in-house restoration capabilities by adding water extraction and dehumidification, complete content and structural cleaning, document restoration and mold remediation services. With a staff of experienced personnel skilled in the application and use of specialized chemicals and equipment, FireStar specialists provide on-site assessments of damage and recommendations for action.

A talented team

The staff at Parker Young is what sets the company apart from its competition. At approximately 185 people, the workforce at Parker Young includes plumbers, HVAC technicians, electricians and other skilled trade workers. “We’re a one-stop-shop,” says Bryan Howell, director of business development for Parker Young. “If a client has a water issue at their business or home they don’t have to call a plumber in addition to the mitigation team, they can just call us and we’ll handle everything.”

With a strong name and reputation in the industry, Parker Young has been able to maintain strong employee retention, with the average tenure of current employees at 10 years, the company is known for being one of the best to work for in the Atlanta market. “We have some people still with us that have been here since day one,” says Howell. “We’ve also had some people leave and come back. The longevity and strength of the company has helped us maintain a strong workforce.”

While Parker Young is capable of completing a majority of the work in-house, the company will hire subcontractors to assist on larger jobs, which helps with efficiency. An advantage that Parker Young maintains over other companies is its response time. With its large staff, the company is not only able to respond to the job quicker, but also include comprehensive services.

“Whether the job calls for 10 or 100 people to respond, we can do either,” Howell explains. “We’re not sitting there waiting, trying to line up temp work or sub labor to respond to a loss or a claim. We can get out there and get people on the scene and begin mitigating the loss in just a couple of hours in most cases.”

As a relatively large regional company, Parker Young remains locally owned with the owners heavily involved and present at each job. The capability to self-perform a majority of its work grants the company amnesty when it comes to relying on other people’s availability. “We’re very flexible and are able to work around our clients’ schedules,” says Howell. “The fact that we don’t have to rely on subs allows us to create our own time schedule.”

Projects of all sizes

In March 2016, Parker Young completed an apartment building rebuild project in the suburbs of Atlanta. In spring 2015 a fire broke out in this multi-family complex and spread to the attic, which subsequently burned a majority of the roof off of the building. After the local fire department was able to extinguish the blaze, the structure was left with extensive fire, smoke and water damage.

“We had to go in and basically put it all back together with upgrades,” Howell recalls. “The project lasted approximately one year from date of loss to reconstruction completion. However, this included agreement on scope of work with adjuster, proper architectural drawings for permitting, code upgrade evaluation, selections and agreement on cosmetic upgrades and of course the rebuild itself. None-the-less the project turned out better than ever imagined and the client was left extremely happy, which is our one and only goal.”

The project was not without its challenges. Several of the apartment units had to be reinforced with extra support beams. “We found that the floors were actually starting to sag in some spots due to the weight of damaged debris and heavy amounts of water,” says Howell. “So we had to go in and reinforce those. Other than that, the project was relatively straight forward and something we see all the time and very successful at. We enjoy large reconstruction projects like this.”

While Parker Young will continue on the path that it is currently on, the company will look to develop additional work in the commercial sector. “We are starting to become really entrenched in the health care industry,” shares Howell. “We’re also focusing on relationships and partnering with clients by becoming their preferred contractor for disaster related mitigation and reconstruction projects.”

As Parker Young Construction maintains steady growth, the company will build upon the solid foundation and reputation it has created over the last 30 years through their quick response time and providing high-quality products and services to its many valued customers.