Arthur M. Hungerford III isn’t afraid to start fresh. The Atlantic Constructors Inc. CEO bought and sold his father’s small plumbing and air-conditioning company only to buy it again about four years later, after the firm had gone bankrupt. Then, after acquiring a firm with a subpar safety record, Hungerford cleaned house and launched a successful new safety program.
Hungerford also helped a minority contractor start a plumbing and HVAC business after growing tired of “pass-through” companies used to comply with project goals. Most recently, Hungerford, 61, reevaluated every process at his speciality contracting firm, from time sheets to mechanical prefabrication. “Nothing is sacred,” he says. “Just because we used to do it ‘that way,’ that really means we need to do it a different way.”