W.B. Kibler Construction Company Ltd.

Bill Kibler launched W.B. Kibler Construction Company Ltd. in Dallas, Texas, in 1971, and he immediately established himself as a hands-on leader. According to Mitchell Meyers, a vice president with the company, Mr. Kibler could often be found on the job site with a tool belt and hardhat working alongside his employees. This diligence helped the company quickly become a preferred general contractor for large-scale, complex development and construction projects. “We started out doing interior build-outs, eventually we got the opportunity to construct a building, and things just took off from there,” says Meyers.

Today, Bill Kibler remains active in the company, though not on job sites. After hundreds of projects Bill acts as Chairman of the Board, while his son, Kirk, is CEO. The two Kibler generations, aided by other dynamic leadership, have established W.B. Kibler Construction Company as a broadly diversified company and a regional leader offering general construction and construction management services in the commercial, industrial, institutional and medical sectors. Projects have involved mid-rise office buildings, retail centers, tilt-wall warehouses, education and religious facilities, medical facilities, banks, restaurants, historic renovations, government buildings and multi-family complexes.

W.B. Kibler Construction Company prefers to operate through the design-assist and design-build delivery methods, and Meyers says that the biggest thing that sets W.B. Kibler Construction Company apart from its competitors is the relationship the company builds with clients, subcontractors, vendors and suppliers prior to construction. “To presume that we could build an $8 million building for someone before getting to understand what they fully want would be foolish. We interview our clients, get to know them and then find solutions for them. We offer the leadership and innovation to build relationships based on trust.”

3 Million Square Feet of Retail

Sharing the objectives and goals of the client throughout its teams, W.B. Kibler Construction Company has successfully completed hundreds-of-millions of dollars worth of projects that integrate value engineering and reduced burden on the client. “I’d say in the ’90s that we built about 3 million square feet of retail space alone,” reveals Meyers. “When the economy went south in 2007, retail and the private markets nosedived, so we shifted our focus to K – 12, higher education, religious facilities and as many federal and state projects that we can handle.”

In 2007, before the downturn, W.B. Kibler Construction Company started construction on one of the area’s newest and most popular retail projects: Rockwall Crossing, in Rockwall, Texas, which was completed in four phases and added almost 250,000 square feet of retail to an area that has roughly 170,000 inhabitants with an average income of over $85,000. The $30 million project faced several challenges during construction, however, including heavy rains, rapid increase in construction costs post-Hurricane Katrina, and the city decided midway through development that it wanted to revise its building requirements forcing the architects to make significant structural and design changes to meet the new, more stringent guidelines.

Successfully transitioning following the economy’s shifts, W.B. Kibler Construction Company’s team of professionals completed two school renovations for the Richardson Independent School District, coming in at a budget of $2.5 million, as well as executed a series of renovations in 10 schools and one new athletic facility for the Dallas Independent School District (DISD) for $30 million. “We upgraded all of the Dallas schools and made them ADA [American’s with Disabilities Act] compliant and built a new athletic facility for one of them. Both the Richardson and Dallas School Districts are great customers and we look forward to working with them again in the future,” says Meyers.

Historic Project

Meyers is especially proud of the company’s work on the First Baptist Church of Sweetwater, Texas, explaining, “We just finished an interior and exterior renovation of a historic church built in 1923. The building was really outdated and we thoroughly modernized the building, while incorporating the important historical elements of the structure. The end result was a beautiful church that retained its historic touches but fully functions in the 21st century.”

The company’s work has garnered it both satisfied clients and industry awards. W.B. Kibler Construction Company did work on the Museum of Biblical Arts in Dallas, and this project won the company the Distinguished Project Award – in the $5 million to $10 million bracket – from TEXO, the largest trade association for commercial contractors in northern and eastern Texas. Meyers notes that the company has also won numerous safety awards from the DISD as well.

W.B. Kibler Construction Company’s showcase work has helped attract further business, and despite the economy the company is still growing. “We’re expanding and we have a business development and marketing plan to be at $100 million in revenue within five years,” says Meyers. “In 2007 we did $23 million, and we 2011 we have been on track to be at $65 million-plus.”

Meyers credits the company’s continued growth to the seamless transition of business strategies from Bill Kibler to his son. “Kirk [Kibler] made the decision to keep our people throughout the thin economy, because he knew that it would grow again. We’re going to branch out into new markets and diligently and deliberately start building the relationships that have made the company a success.”

Led by a team dedicated to reinforcing team proficiency and delivering successful project results for clients, W.B. Kibler Construction Company continues to offer a single source of responsibility, cost savings and time savings, positively impacting the company’s ongoing competitive advantage.