For Rob Hague, the new owner of Medina Construction, in Salina, Kan., 2008 was not a good year. “We experienced a big slowdown in fall and through winter,” he says.
This was also a time that the company was in transition, as Bill Medina, the former owner, was finalizing Hague’s purchase of the company.
Though the firm laid off staff in the field and the office, it was still in debt. Hague has to take out a bank loan to pay off 2008 debt and complete the buyout. Even in this tough economy, Hague was able to secure a loan. The owner of the bank is a Medina Construction client and believes in the company.
Since the strongest slowdown was on the residential side in both new construction and remodeling, the company focused on its other revenue source -- commercial jobs. “Because we are diverse, we can move back and forth based on which market is busy,” Hague says.
Interestingly, many of its commercial clients are banks that are adding a new branch or updating the main office. “We have four bank projects that were all started or finished in the past year,” he says.
Other sources of commercial work include projects for the state, which lists available jobs on a website, and projects from architects with whom the company has established strong relationships.