Build Group entered Southern California in late 2016 and have embarked on an aggressive journey to match their success in San Francisco since their inception in 2008. The last two years have been fantastic and they remind me of some exciting days during the beginning of my career. During that time I was working for a company that was in the top three of the ENR list after a 10 year growth run and they were featured on an ENR cover story. It explained how that company’s growth originated from hiring the very best people in the industry and letting the company grow by their rate. I am excited today to be our leader of growth and a facilitator of our team’s talents and energies. It was the E.R. Street way then and has become my passion ever since. It’s just about creating a culture for people to thrive and enjoy the careers they chose.
At Build Group today, it is all about our culture; we are builders of great projects, people and client relationships. We simply look at our projects through the eyes of our clients and satisfy their needs with proactive problem solving, industry leading controls and teams led by dedicated work ethics and synergy. Our people are our greatest assets and we invest in recruiting, training and rewarding the best for delivering successful projects and supporting our growth.
We expect our people to grow into becoming the best people they can be and in doing so, we know that will support our growth. I had the privilege of meeting John Wooden while I was in college who, like E.R. Street, patented his success with a pyramid of fundamental values and his definition of success, in general, being the best you can be. Whether our Core & Shell Group building very big projects, our Special Projects Group building smaller seismic, renovation or interior improvement projects or turnkey concrete work, our team works together to “make things happen.” However, in the process, we also make it fun. Everyone here are good friends, enjoy work and treat each other with respect, like family.
Our mission, is “We Build, People, Value and Trust.” Our values include Excellence, Character, The Team, The Individual, Adaptability, Financial Responsibility and are underpinned by both Quality and Safety. We all learn and apply these in our Quarterly Town Hall meetings where we openly share best practices and lessons learned. Further, we discuss how they apply to our daily work decision making and growth planning. In order to reinforce daily, our people carry wallet cards with emergency procedures on one side and our mission and values on the other.
We have recently completed projects including Argyle House for Related Group in Hollywood, three Equinox locations, Irving Company office complex renovation among many others. We are now preparing for six new jobs this month including the Shoreline Gateway, 9401 Wilshire and UC Riverside Hotel.
Our results besides hiring great people and building great projects also include being named an LABJ best place to work among all construction companies for the last two years, and a fastest growing company with growth last year of 200% and next year also forecasted at 200%. Meanwhile our safety and quality results have been excellent too. Going forward, we strive to not only be a builder of projects and people, but to make a difference in the communities we are working in. We are also always seeking better ways to make a difference and improve the industry we serve.
Todd C. Pennington is President of Build Group. For more information, visit buildgc.com.
