2 min read March 2023 — Joeris General Contractors, founded in 1967, is a leading builder in Texas. Invest: spoke with company President Ken Fuller about the organization’s achievements and challenges over the past year as well as the near-term outlook for the company and the overall construction industry.
What are some of the highlights and achievements for Joeris over the past year?
The past year has been our most decorated in terms of what we have done as a company. We were the AGC Contractor of the Year, San Antonio Business Journal Contractor of the Year and Business of the Year, and ENR Texas and Louisiana Contractor of the Year. It was an amazing year for Joeris General Contractors.
What sets Joeris apart from others in the construction market in San Antonio?
I believe that it is based on the foundation of how this company was started. When Leo Joeris started the company, he founded it in the spirit of servant leadership. It was over the top. We were a really small company at that time. There is a special sense of relationship in this company that attracts people. It is still the heart of who we are. We have worked really hard on the culture of the company and maintaining that leadership mindset.
What is the state of the construction industry in San Antonio now?
The demand for people and construction is at the highest level we have ever seen. That means there is huge demand for our services. We are focusing on our customers, our people and the design teams. There are so many companies moving to San Antonio and requesting our services, that we are having to be very strategic in our pursuits.
As a company, we have a responsibility to deliver the product the customer has put their money and effort into and to ensure the success of the project. The challenge is about trust. The people need to know that we have their best interest at the forefront. We take that responsibility seriously.
What projects are you most proud of or have contributed the most growth in your portfolio?
I want to think about that in terms of relationships and how that impacts the growth of the company. The new Jefferson Bank headquarters is a large project Downtown. The University Health Women’s and Children’s hospital is a $550 million project and a joint venture with JD Dunn. We are also building high schools in San Antonio. These are all very large projects. We pride ourselves on supporting the project owner in whatever we are doing. They might need something very small. These are $15 million to $20 million small projects to build a structure across the state that strengthens us. We are also working closely with HEB and Coca-Cola warehouses doing whatever they need. We want to have a long-term relationship with our clients in which we help them find solutions.
How do you create a company culture that can retain talent?
Culture has to be set up in such a way that people feel valued. Work and life is not fun if you do not feel valued. We are constantly working on these values. Our decision-making is based on these values. Money will take care of itself if decisions are based on values. To help us get where we are, we worked with three different consultants: a facilitator for leadership consultant, a values-based leadership consultant and an executive-reinvention consultant. We worked with them to get to the point. From this, we established our own training programs. This starts from the moment the person is hired. We teach them about our values and their importance in the company. The next step is to customize this and create continued education and training while they are working for us. We want diversity and it is key to have the people buy into the culture and the values to be a part of our company.
How is Joeris taking corporate responsibility and greenspace into consideration with the design of its projects?
When we do design work, sustainability is a big piece. The Credit Union building is one of the foremost buildings in the world in terms of sustainability. We have a zero-footprint building. Everything has to be recycled. When we do design work, we need to align ourselves with engineers and architects, who live in that space. We demonstrate the responsibility that we have in certain areas and then they adopt it.
What are the biggest challenges that Joeris is currently facing?
The biggest challenge that we have is keeping our people from being poached. Other companies are after the Joeris people all the time. They are being offered significantly higher salaries. We need to remain up to date on the market value of employees in the sector. We are doing raises two or three times per year. We do our best to stay on top of that. We are also seeing that people are looking at life at work in a different way as a result of the pandemic. Work-life balance and making sure that people are in a good place are priorities for us.
What is your outlook for the San Antonio construction industry overall for the next two to three years?
We are going to grow by 2 million people in the next 20 years. The state of Texas is going to double in population. As a result, the outlook for the construction industry is exceptional. There is $1 billion of work available over the next 10-15 years. In the short term, we have well over $1 billion on the books. The next few years are already set up to be our biggest years.
People need to know one special thing about San Antonio. The city was based on faith-based missions. This religious spirit shows up every day. The spirit of San Antonio and its people are different. I hear this a lot from people who come from out of town. The San Antonio mission and spirit has never left us. It is at the heart of the city.
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