Case Studies Best of the United States 2017

One Sunday night Victor Fernandes was watching “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” with his family and said he would love to contribute to a show like that. A few weeks later, out of the blue, his business, Fernandes Masonry Inc. got a phone call. A general contractor working with the show—which surprises people by renovating their […]

Paul MacQuinn says he was stunned when, in 2004, his company received an order from the White House. President George W. Bush’s second inauguration ceremony was approaching. His wife, Laura, wanted to pave the ceremony with a type of pink stone that could only be found in Harold MacQuinn Inc.’s inventory. “My estimator came up […]

When Dennis Kane was young, he never understood why his father hated firing people. As the head of a successful trucking business with more than 1,000 employees, Kane assumed it was just another part of running a business. “But my dad would say, ‘No, you don’t understand. You’re not just firing the employee; you’re firing […]

When founder Leonard Nagel started Leonard’s Carpet Services in 1960, he set out to be a carpet installation supplier, nothing more. Within a decade, his company had not only become one of the largest carpet labor suppliers in southern California, it was also providing other services. That’s been the trend going on six decades: growth […]

More than revenue, more than growth, Milestone Contractors measures its success by worker safety. “Everyone goes home the way they came in,” says Scott Cornelius, vice president and Indianapolis area manager at Milestone. This is important for the Indiana-based company because it specializes in highway and road paving, where speeding trucks, heat stroke, blizzards and […]

When contractors finish a construction project they get what’s called a punch list. It includes everything that isn’t up to code or the original specifications, and it can be a huge drain of money and time. Not for Northwest Partitions. “We pride ourselves on doing it right the first time so it’s not uncommon for […]

For more than a century, O.C. McDonald Co. Inc. has been one of the Bay Area’s leading plumbing, process piping and HVAC contractors and service providers. Located in San Jose, California, O.C. McDonald is known for its quality workmanship and has accomplished some of the most complicated installations in the valley. By building a reputation […]

After more than 91 years in business, OGB Architectural Millwork remains a premier manufacturer for a broad range of woodworking disciplines. Located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, OGB provides its services for both small- and large-scale projects catering to the health care, retail and education markets. Founded in 1925, OGB has grown with its parent company, […]

When a former competitor asked Michael Thomas to start a construction business during the height of the economic recession, he said yes. It wasn’t the logical response—at the time, other companies were laying off or going out of business—but it’s worked out nicely. President and CEO Michael Thomas founded Pier Construction & Development LLC in […]

Reveal Windows & Doors by Pacific Architectural Millwork is carving a niche for itself and opening doors to untapped design possibilities with its “timber curtain walls,” a product that, until now, has only been produced in Europe by companies like RAICO. From the exterior, these look like traditional curtain walls, which use aluminum frames to hold walls […]