Taylor General Contractors

Taylor General Contractors (TAYLOR) is a second-generation general contractor with over 40 years of experience delivering satisfaction throughout Upstate New York. The firm specializes in the design and construction of office, commercial, industrial and institutional buildings, and strives to be the Rochester region’s leading commercial design-build contractor. TAYLOR has successful completed hundreds of projects since its inception as RJ Taylor, and maintains the resources to deliver enhanced execution during all phases of each project from the ground up. Rebranding itself as “TAYLOR, the Builders” at the beginning of 2010, the company maintains a renewed dedication to building value and valuable relationships into every project.

Jim Taylor, CEO, cofounded the company in 1984 and has transformed Penfield, New York-based TAYLOR into one of the market’s fastest growing companies over the past 26 years. “We focus on what people are building, be it medical offices, retail offices, commercial, residential, food processing, paper plants, affordable housing or institutional work,” says Jim.

As a general contracting company, TAYLOR will oversee a project from planning and permitting all the way to completion, and the company takes pride in finding the right solutions for each individual customer. TAYLOR’s exceptional coordination teams, its commitment to quality, service and safety, plus its well-established relationships with local suppliers and trusted subcontractors, have resulting in over 83 percent of the company’s first-time clients return for future building needs.

Expanding its services through strategic acquisitions and an understanding of the importance of having a rapport with local companies and community, TAYLOR offers diversity for municipalities, private businesses, retail and industrial clients. The firm regularly works on LEED-certified projects and also has plenty of experience working for many of the area’s charitable organizations.

“We do a lot of work for nonprofit service agencies, and that can be some of the most rewarding work we do,” says Jim. “We always put our heart into it and go out of our way to make sure that everything works out perfectly for our clients because we really feel like part of the organization. These are the projects my team really gets excited about because the clients are so personally invested.”

Picking Projects with a Purpose

Recently, the firm completed a new addition to one of PathStone’s properties. “We have been working with PathStone to collaborate on construction and provide some unique housing solutions for them,” says Jim.

PathStone is a nonprofit community development organization that manages and provides affordable housing solutions and home ownership programs to individuals in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Ohio, Indiana, Virginia, Vermont and Puerto Rico. TAYLOR built a new addition to the Ada Ridge Court in Monroe County, N.Y., in 2009. This project consisted of a 41,000-square foot facility to house an additional 49 apartments. To enhance the existing facility, the design had to complement the original structure and also provide enough space for a nurse call station.

TAYLOR takes distinctive pride in collaborating with owners and design teams on LEED-certified projects and has recently completed environmentally conscious work for a crime lab. “We just started a project with the Monroe County crime lab, and it’s fun to see the live CSI and ballistic ranges,” says Jim, “It will probably reach LEED Platinum or Gold certification as well.” The firm is responsible for a complete interiors for over 45,000 square feet with 30 percent of the building using recycled materials. The building also uses rainwater collection systems, highly efficient HVAC and lighting systems, as well as maximized day lighting to save on electricity consumption.

Earlier this year, TAYLOR also completed work on a LEED-designed building for the State University of New York at Cortland. “This was one of our more challenging and exciting projects, because there were some really innovative mechanical systems,” says Jim. “But we really enjoy the projects that require a creative product mix to be able to meet LEED standards.” The Professional Studies Building was designed to meet LEED Silver requirements, though the school has not yet pursued the certification.

Growing in Any Economy

Along with the recently constructed 20,000-square foot Professional Studies Building, TAYLOR completely renovated the interior of a Studio West Building, originally built in the 1940s as a manufacturing plant. Together, the two aspects of project totaled over $11 million. The new facility houses the offices for all six departments in the University’s Professional Studies program, and the building is partially heated and cooled by a system of 40 geothermal wells almost 400 feet deep. The building also employs light wells through its center in order to provide daylight to the center of the building in addition to increased thermal insulation. This extensive work, while complex and consuming, has been welcome, Jim reveals.

“We have been very fortunate, because last year was tough for our industry. We run a really light ship here so we have been able to change direction pretty quickly. We’re a very nimble organization and we can turn on a dime and diversify from our traditional markets to try something else,” says Jim.

Though the market has slowed, TAYLOR finds that there are some silver linings. “We have been able to hire some talented folks who would have been unavailable had the market not turned because they would have been happily employed elsewhere,” explains Jim. “Also, because we have been reaching out geographically, we have been able to form really great new relationships with some regional subcontractors, which we expect will solidify our reputation in those areas.”

Combining a core group of seasoned employees and an expanding list of valued subcontractors, TAYLOR will continue to find success in all directions. The company assures that there is no such thing as a “typical” client, though every client shares one common attribute: satisfaction. Founded upon values of integrity, ingenuity and dependability, Taylor General Contractors has proven itself a smarter way to build.