One of the more common questions I have been asked by potential clients is how can Fortney & Weygandt, Inc. compete on bids for projects that are out of the range of our Northern Ohio headquarters. It is a great question, and the answer involves a 43 year evolution that Fortney & Weygandt, Inc began with our very first job.
As we continue to celebrate our 40th anniversary, we have looked back at all the clients that have helped get us to this point and shaped our growth from a retail focused company working in malls to a multi-faceted general contractor working nationwide in a variety of construction segments.
Weather conditions can often have negative effects on a construction project, particularly potentially delaying the intended completion date. Fortney & Weygandt, Inc. has projects spread across the entire nation and, as a result, we must monitor weather conditions from coast-to-coast. So when I speak to business associates in the Midwest and they remark that the weather has been great and that we must be rolling along quite easily, I have to educate them that we may be good in this part of the country, but we have issues elsewhere. Adverse weather conditions can easily cause delays which, in turn, affect a project’s completion schedule.
We often write about the importance Fortney & Weygandt, Inc. places on building mutually beneficial relationships with our clients. We firmly believe that loyalty and trust are the foundations of our relationships with our clients. Trust builds confidence and confidence builds repeat customers.
Since the mid 1980’s Fortney & Weygandt, Inc. has been active in retail rollout programs. These programs consist of performing the same scope of work in multiple locations across many states. The schedule for each specific location may be as short as one day or as long as three weeks. We have found ourselves adding cigarette display units in 1,600 locations in 6 weeks as well as performing 300 intense remodels in six months. No two programs are alike and the performance parameters are always a challenge.
We were approached by a potential client regarding a design-build project in an industry in which we had no experience building facilities. The project was a fast track conversion of an existing industrial building into 25,000 square feet of office space and 30,000 square feet of research and development laboratory.
The project was to be done in two phases. The first being the office renovation and the second phase addressed the challenging their Research & Development lab.
The construction delivery method was Design Build with shared savings. We met on many occasions with the clients engineers to develop a plan of action and construction budgets. We learned quickly that the client did not just want function – they wanted a showpiece for both phases of the project. We selected a design team that was a good fit and met on two occasions with the potential client.
