Equipment World Digital Magazine
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contractor of the year finalist | continued Thibault's relationship with a local Freightliner dealership helped him win this multi-year contract with a sizeable site development and storm water drainage component. "He's a phenomenal guy, extremely responsive and quick to return a phone call. We were running our business while the construction was going on, so they did a lot of work overnight. He was very involved with overall project management and made time to meet with General Motors upper management and look at the other dealerships. GM mandated all the finishes and he found ways to meet all their requirements and save money." Avoid low-bid battles Another advantage for a contractor working with other medium-size businesses is that they don't have to slug it out with bottom feeders in a low-bid environment. "We do some hard bidding, but most of our work is negotiated, or bid-negotiated, Thibault says. "We even do a few cost-plus contracts." To get to this level a contractor has to have superb customer service and unquestionable ethics. "On ethics he's an 11, on a scale from 1 to 10," says Brad Edwards of Bradley Motors. "He treats everyone with respect and he always looks out for the best interest of his customers. When times were tough he could have taken an easy road out, but he didn't take advantage of anyone. He's just an all-around good guy." 48 December 2013 | EquipmentWorld.com Keep the crews busy During the recession, Thibault also kept his crews busy, by limiting the number of subcontractors he used. Whereas before he would sub out the drywall, during the recession he kept his guys on the payroll by having them do the drywall work. "No sense letting the subs add their 20 to 30 percent markup to my costs," he says. Thibault's customer service is also enhanced by his five-person design department. On many jobs this saves the cost of hiring an architect and his team can deliver results quicker and more accurately. Fewer mistakes and miscommunications on the plans translate into fewer mistakes, cost overruns and delays in the field. And as the economy began its slow crawl out of the recession, Thibault was prepared and eager to take his company to the next level. The earthmoving side of his business had been relatively small and here he expanded aggressively. Before the recession he had two skid steers, a telescoping forklift and a backhoe. Since 2011 he has bought three excavators (a Cat 345C, 345D and 325D L), a wheel loader, backhoe, two new Cat skid steers, a new telescoping forklift and four semitrucks with side dump bodies. "The excavation side of the business is working out well," he says. "It's high risk, but its also high margin." Adding jobs and payroll Today, Thibault has almost doubled his payroll from where it was during the recession, bringing the head count up to 64 people. He hired an architect, a vice president of operations, a CFO, a full-time safety manager and several new project managers. He also hired a property manager to run his 13 commercial and retail developments and has separated that part of the business from the construction side on the advice of his accountants. The sitework for Thibault's biggest contract to date, the Transwest Trucks dealership, is done and awaiting permitting for building to commence. It recently won the Brighton (Colorado) Development of the Year award. The company currently has five 7-11 stores on the books and three crews doing nothing but Love's Travel Stops remodelings. Some of Thibault's more complex projects recently include building a chrome plant for chrome plating drilling pipe and radiation bunkers for testing electronic components used in outer space. He's also