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As Hennessy Construction Services celebrates 90 years, its third owner plots to pull it through the downturn of a lifetime.
The company's work has shaped the Tampa Bay area since the 1920s, when it finished St. Mary Our Lady of Grace Church in St. Petersburg with its signature bricks and octagonal roof.
Hennessy is now deep into construction of its highest-dollar project yet, a $30 million emergency responder building in Clearwater for Pinellas County Public Works that wraps up in August.
The Times recently sat down with Hennessy president and CEO Bronson Alexander, 50, who joined the company in 1988 and bought it 11 years ago. Here are edited excerpts from that chat:
How did you get started in construction?
My dad, a dermatologist, was very good with his hands, so that's how it all started. He could lay brick, do carpentry. There were tons of tools around. I got summer jobs after high school at Lakewood High School. They were some of the best college jobs at the time — you could make $4 to $5 an hour, and you could always get at least 40 hours a week.
What were your goals for Hennessy when you took over?
In the '80s, Hennessy was very involved with Florida Power Corp. construction projects. At the time I took over we worked a lot of small power jobs. It was just not how I thought we should be. We had been in St. Petersburg, and we didn't even have work in St. Petersburg.
How did you change that?
The first important project was the Greater St. Petersburg YMCA, which we finished in 2001. We weren't even on their first six-firm list, but someone dropped out. The rest, as we say, is history. I feel like we did a great job for them. It re-established us in St. Pete. We worked on Resurrection House just after the YMCA, then the renovation of St. Anthony's Hospital, then the Mahaffey Theater renovation, then the Hazel Hough wing of Museum of Fine Arts. We were getting glowing recommendations and referrals, and it's just been great.
The last few years have been rough for the industry. When was your peak?
Our peak businesswise was 2007, when we had $56 million to $57 million in revenue. It was the tail end of the Mahaffey and the startup of the Hazel Hough wing. We had 60 to 65 people.
How has it gone since then?
In 2009, our revenue was just a tad over $40 million. We're doing better than surviving, but it's definitely pretty tight times. Single projects are very few and far between, and the competition is intense. It's hard to win. You're not talking about making money anymore. It's "Can I afford the overhead?" Our goal is to keep the core staff together. Our number of employees is around 35. For 2010, we put together a $40 million budget, because we don't want to have goals we can't meet. We have $22 million booked, so we need another $18 million. And it's getting to March 1, so that's starting to sound optimistic.
What are things you've done to stick around?
Instead of a more formal cocktail party for Christmas, we went to Ferg's this year — it was probably as much fun as we've ever had. We're pricing as competitively as anyone, but trying not to push subcontractors too hard. They'll go out of business during the deal if you cut them too close. Then you're stuck with a mess.
How has your schedule changed the past few years?
It's gotten easier. Candidly, I don't want to put in the hours that I put in the first 10 years here, and I'm not. And I know that's selfish, but my kids are 10 and 11 now. I've been married 13 years. My life could not be better at home. I turned 50 back in March, and over the last year, I'm really backing down from the push, push, push all the time.
What's next for Hennessy?
We are building probably the most significant project we've ever built, right now. It's an 86,000-square-foot Category 5 hurricane building for Pinellas County. It's kind of our anchor. It's what's carrying us. It's a monument to technology — a tough technical building. Everything has to be perfect. It doesn't have marble floors and all that, but I couldn't be more proud.
Reach Becky Bowers at bbowers@sptimes.com or (727) 893-8859. You can follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/bbowerstimes.
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