3 min read January 2023 — Invest: spoke with Andrew Pearl, vice president and division manager of national construction company Swinerton, to discuss the firm’s outlook as it sets up shop in the Northeast, which he considers a thriving region for construction services. “We like to think of ourselves as a community builder,” he said.
What sets Swinerton apart from its competitors?
From the outside, we may look a lot like competitors of our scale, but the difference is that we’re an interconnected network among our 19 offices. We’re a truly collaborative and transparent company and that is driven by the fact that we are 100% employee-owned. That’s close to 5,000 employees who are part of the ownership. Our national accounts give clients the opportunity to call one person who can dispatch work across our network and share best practices from past projects. It’s a platform we’ve come to fine-tune over the past 10 years. For a client that has service needs in multiple locations, it’s an especially great resource for them to draw on. We also lean heavily on the technology front and have an innovations lab where we’re constantly exploring new tech like automated intelligence, robotics and blockchain.
How has the growing population impacted demand from clients?
The first part is always housing, which is a constant need, and the supply never seems to be enough, even with the tremendous amount of investment in the region’s multi-family housing segment. But there are a lot of things that come with population growth. Infrastructure is constantly being taxed and needs to be upgraded and maintained. As a result of the influx of multi-family housing, there’s been a lot of growth in the self-storage sector. We’re seeing a lot more multifamily units built with smaller units and less space, so tenants need the extra storage. Single-family units have garages and basements where personal belongings can be stored but that isn’t available in many multifamily complexes, hence the need for additional storage. It’s an interesting consequence of that population growth and a reminder of how we need to be aware of the shifting sands of the economy.
How is Swinerton committing to social responsibility?
At the national level, we have a sustainability director working with all our offices to make sure the corporate social responsibility mandates and policies are being implemented across all projects. We’re tracking all our sustainability efforts, including whether we’re purchasing the right materials and building in the most efficient and environmentally friendly ways. The firm also focuses on how we divert construction debris and recycle and reuse certain materials.
We like to think of ourselves as community builders at a local level, committing time and resources to engage with our region and people. There is an emphasis in hiring locally as well so our employees are proud to support our efforts and grow that hometown feel.
In a materials sense, Swinerton is able to offer mass timber. New Jersey has adopted the International Building Code where we can build up to a certain height with mass timber, also referred to as tall timber structures. That’s important to us because we have an affiliate company, Timberlab, that focuses exclusively on mass timber construction. They source the lumber, engineer and fabricate it, then install and erect these structures all across the country. We’re excited that New Jersey is entering the mass timber arena because it is such an environmentally friendly technique and it’s aesthetically beautiful.
What are some new projects in the pipeline?
Swinerton released a plan in 2015 called March to 2030 with the intention of putting the company into its next chapter. We want to see more geographic diversity, which we’re doing in our expansion offices. We have been around since 1888 and have weathered a lot of storms while experiencing a lot of successes as well. But we always have to look forward. We’re securely in the Southeast and now in the Northeast with New York and New Jersey as our most recent offices. Another highlight is that the company has diversified its portfolio of service offerings. We are well versed in public-private partnership arrangements, which continue to surface in New Jersey, specifically with municipalities seeking to repair or replace aging assets. Right now we are tracking several exciting opportunities in that sector. Other sectors such as self-storage and multi-family housing don’t show signs of slowing.
What are the biggest challenges you foresee over the next year or two?
As much as construction can be an innovative industry, it can also be very slow to adopt change and new entrants in the market. If you ask anyone on the West Coast, they know Swinerton as a household name. But on the East Coast, we’re very much a new player in the arena. It takes time to build relationships and establish trust with clients and trade partners. We want people to know we’re in it for the long haul. From an industry perspective, the workforce continues to see a long-term decline. We’ve taken that on as an industry leader and have our own craft services team focusing on recruiting, retention, training, and career development so we can deliver on projects with quality and efficiency.
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