Brundage is also currently working with Mortenson to construct the University of Colorado’s new indoor athletics practice facility in Boulder.

Back to Basics

“We’re a different company than we were before the turn- around,” Hudek says. We have a very different philosophy, and it centers on servicing our customers.”

“One of the things Brundage did coming out of the recession was to focus on going back to basics by running the business efficiently, focusing on serving the client and being efficient with assets,” Bernardez says.

Brundage likes to get involved with customers at the preplanning stage of a job and help them see how the firm’s systems fit with the customer’s needs. The company was recently involved with a contractor up to a year before field mobilization on a large, complex project, helping with constructibility reviews to determine the most cost- effective way to pump the concrete.

Looking ahead, Brundage intends to maintain a strong foothold in its traditional markets while expanding in Northern California and leveraging its presence in Atlanta to become a bigger player in the Southeast. “We’re being extremely aggressive and organically entering new markets, where we see long-term and strategic growth,” Bernardez explains.

He says that Brundage has a core team that is firing on all cylinders. “It’s one thing to survive a difficult period, and it’s another challenge to grow a business. Now we have a stronger team, and we can better address work force shortages, training, offer employees career growth and focus on regional sales strategies and our business mix between residential, commercial and infrastructure,” he adds.

“At the end of the day, we know if we can make money on a project,” Hudek says.

The recent flurry of mergers and acquisitions among national concrete suppliers should have little impact on the firm’s growth, executives say. “We are closely connected to many that have been affected by this both positively and negatively,” Young says. “Since we don’t purchase the concrete, the cost of cement has no immediate effect on us.

“Our issue,” he adds, “is the same as everyone’s: recruiting and retaining quality help,” which is in part linked to an aging work force. As a result, Brundage has created a 45-second video that will be distributed through social media to target a younger audience of potential workers. While the firm has had some success recruiting through the military and trade schools, Young says that, like other industry firms, Brundage’s growth is limited by its ability to increase its work force.

“One of the challenges in this business is not just finding the right people, but about keeping the right people,” Bernardez adds. “We’re focused on being the employer of choice in this industry, and I’m spending a significant amount of my time looking at how to attract people, keep them and allow them the opportunities that we have here to grow and make it an absolutely undeniable fact that Brundage is the best place to work in this industry.”

“As your business is rapidly declining, you must hold onto people who believe in it and are able to commit to each other and to this change,” Young says. “This is key, and more than anything, that got us through the challenge.”