On May 13, C.W. Driver, in partnership with Little Diversified Architectural Consulting, broke ground on the Kinesiology and Athletics Complex at Orange Coast College, a $36 million, 88,000-sf building within an Education sector that typically accounts for more than half of this Pasadena, Calif.-based general contractor’s annual revenue.
C.W. Driver, the oldest licensed builder headquartered in Southern California, is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, and is showing little sign of slowing down. The company, with seven offices and 365 employees across California, generates between $700 million and $850 million per year in revenue.
In a consolidating industry where firms are frenetically acquiring new practices and disciplines to stay competitive, C.W. Driver remains an anomaly: a GC that builds almost exclusively in one state. Its portfolio includes academic, entertainment and sports, retail, civic and cultural, office, commercial hospitality and gaming, healthcare, residential and senior living.
“It’s not that we haven’t tried in the past” to diversify, says Karl Kreutziger, the firm’s president, who spoke with BD+C last week. At one time, C.W. Driver was self-performing concrete and drywall. It also once had an international business in Singapore.
Kreutziger, who has been with the firm since 2011, attributes its longevity to sticking with its core competencies and focusing the bulk of its work in the Greater Los Angeles market. (Eighty percent of its revenue comes from repeat customers.)
The company also has management continuity, starting with its CEO Dana Roberts, who has been with C.W. Driver for 48 years. In the 1990s, Roberts brought in two partners: CFO Bessie Kouvara, who retired in 2017; and Executive Vice President John Janacek, who oversees estimating.
Karl Kreutziger, C.W.Driver's president since 2011, attributes his company's longevity, in part, to its careful selection of projects. Image: C.W. Driver
The company was founded in 1919 by John McDonald and Clarence Wike Driver, the latter of whom had been working for one of the oldest architectural firms in L.A. During its first decade in business, C.W. Driver worked mostly on smaller projects. Driver’s son, Douglas, led the company through its next era and was active until 1987, when he turned over the reins to Roberts.
At a time when recruiting and retaining talent are challenges for many AEC firms, C.W. Driver has been able to hold onto its employees in part by offering some of them ownership in the company. It currently has 25 owners. And over the past two years, says Kreutziger, “we’ve had some ‘boomerangs,’ people who had left the company and have returned.” The fact that it offers full health insurance to all of its employees doesn’t hurt, either.
Like other GCs, C.W. Driver must deal with labor shortages. Keeping its trades on board, says Kreutziger, starts with a focused business development strategy “that identifies the projects we can be successful doing.” That requires early involvement at the preconstruction level, and then “committing to our key trade partners,” he says.
To avoid commoditizing its services, C.W. Driver steers away from design-bid-build projects, which account for less than 2% of its annual revenue. And while it has done work in Nevada, C.W. Driver usually passes on projects outside of its primary markets because, explains Kreutziger, “we just can’t get the [subs] to go there.”
As it moves into its second century, C.W. Driver wants to continue to grow organically. Kreutziger says the firm has been spending more time lately on succession planning and employee training. It also wants to make sure it is ahead of emerging markets like modular and panelized construction.
The firm is open, albeit cautiously, to new ventures that include acquisition. In August 2013, C.W. Driver acquired Good & Roberts, a 34-year-old San Diego-based construction company, which helped to bolster a market where C.W. Driver had been growing since 2006.
C.W. Driver also operates Driver SPG, an internal group it formed in 2011 that specializes in tenant improvement projects ranging from $500,000 to $15 million. Driver SPG represents about $80 million of C.W. Driver’s annual revenue, and “there’s a lot of crossover clients,” says Kreutziger.
C.W. Driver is the oldest liscensed builder headquartered in Southern California, a state where the GC continues to do most of its work. Image: C.W. Driver
Related Stories
| Sep 2, 2022
Converting office buildings to apartments is cheaper, greener than building new
Converting office buildings to apartments is cheaper and greener than tearing down old office properties and building new residential buildings.
| Sep 2, 2022
New UMass Medical School building enables expanded medical class sizes, research labs
A new nine-story, 350,000 sf biomedical research and education facility under construction at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School in Worcester, Mass., will accommodate larger class sizes and extensive lab space.
Giants 400 | Sep 1, 2022
Top 100 K-12 School Contractors and CM Firms for 2022
Gilbane, Core Construction, Skanska, and Balfour Beatty head the ranking of the nation's largest K-12 school sector contractors and construction management (CM) firms for 2022, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report.
| Sep 1, 2022
ABC: Nonresidential Construction Spending Increases by a Modest 0.8% in July
National nonresidential construction spending increased 0.8% in July, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data published today by the U.S. Census Bureau.
| Sep 1, 2022
The University of Iowa opens the new Stanley Museum of Art, a public museum for both discovering and teaching art
The University of Iowa recently completed its new Stanley Museum of Art, a public teaching museum designed by BNIM.
| Aug 31, 2022
A mixed-use development in Salt Lake City provides 126 micro units with mountain views
In Salt Lake City, a new 130,000-square-foot development called Mya and The Shop SLC, designed by EskewDumezRipple, combines housing with coworking space, retail, and amenities, as well as a landscaped exterior for both residents and the public.
Mass Timber | Aug 30, 2022
Mass timber construction in 2022: From fringe to mainstream
Two Timberlab executives discuss the market for mass timber construction and their company's marketing and manufacturing strategies. Sam Dicke, Business Development Manager, and Erica Spiritos, Director of Preconstruction, Timberlab, speak with BD+C's John Caulfield.
Giants 400 | Aug 29, 2022
Top 50 Senior Living Facility Contractors + CM Firms for 2022
Whiting-Turner, Ryan Companies US, W.E. O'Neil Construction, and KBE Building Corp. top the ranking of the nation's largest senior living facility contractors and construction management (CM) firms for 2022, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Aug 29, 2022
Top 40 Student Housing Facility Contractors + CM Firms for 2022
J.H. Findorff & Son, PCL Construction Enterprises, Juneau Construction, and Sundt Construction top the ranking of the nation's largest student housing facility contractors and construction management (CM) firms for 2022, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report.
| Aug 29, 2022
Montana becomes first U.S. state to approve 3D printing in construction
Montana is the first U.S. state to give broad regulatory approval for 3D printing in building construction.