Big-Time Builder: Harris Construction Hits $100 Million Mark

By Halley Cornell

Medical buildings, institutional structures, industrial complexes and food-processing plants have contributed to a Harris Construction portfolio exceeding $1 billion. Photo courtesy of Harris Construction

Since its inception in 1914 as a residential construction company, Fresno-based Harris Construction Co. Inc. has gone on to build some of the most diverse and recognizable structures in the Central Valley.

Medical buildings, institutional structures, industrial complexes and food-processing plants have contributed to a construction portfolio exceeding $1 billion.

Within the last two years, the company has reached another financial milestone, posting earnings beyond the $100 million mark for its preconstruction and construction services. That easily makes it one of the largest construction firms based in Central California, a success the company modestly attributes to natural growth in its home market.

"We don't choose to grow beyond the rate the Valley is growing," said Tim Marsh, Harris president, who's so intent on allowing his company's projects to speak for him that he turned down requests for a personal photograph. "If the Valley is steady, so are we. We've been in good shape for the last six years because the area's had steady growth."

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Six years of even growth have seen the firm complete major food-processing plants such as Berkeley Farms new milk and ice cream processing facility in Hayward (a $30 million, 204,000-sq.-ft. project); the $42 million Leprino Foods plant expansion in Tracy; and a 170,000-sq.-ft., $55 million cheese and whey plant in Tulare.

And since 1998, Harris Construction completed or initiated work on 20 school projects totaling more than $383 million, according to the company's contractor's qualification package. About $69 million worth of health-care projects and nearly $200 million in manufacturing, food processing and distribution projects were completed or initiated during the same time.

"They do so many projects because they're an outstanding construction firm," said Ed Darden Jr., president of Fresno-based architect Edwin Darden and Associates. "They have a great deal of history and a lot of experience with people."

Darden, whose firm is currently working on three school projects with Harris, added that "getting put in bed with Harris on public bid work" equated to smooth sailing: "Their jobs just run well," he said.

Ed Darden Jr., president of Fresno-based architect Edwin Darden and Associates, said of Harris Construction, "They do so many projects because they're an outstanding construction firm." Photo by Halley Cornell.

Last year, schools were the primary big-ticket projects for Harris, in part because of successful bond measures during strong residential growth.

"First comes homes, then schools," Marsh said. "There's another bond issue in March, so we'll probably see the next crop of schools after that. But I think things go in cycles. Before schools it was prisons. Now it's juvenile centers."

In any given year the company tends to build half of its volume in private projects and half in public projects, Marsh said. He predicted that this year, Harris will return to more food processing and manufacturing projects.

While the company is scheduled to complete $3.7 million worth of improvements at Tulare's Cheese & Protein International plant in September, it hasn't undertaken a food-processing project of major proportions since it finished initial work there in 2002.

"I think that industry will make a rebound," Marsh said. "There have not been enough projects in the last couple years. There were none last year. These industries have been neglected."

Harris already has some manufacturing projects on the radar, he added. But the recent project Marsh cited as the company's most interesting is health-care related.

Fresno Heart Hospital is one of Harris Construction's biggest clients. Photo courtesy of Harris Construction.

He said Fresno Heart Hospital was a challenge not only because of new OSHPOD regulations, but because of its unique construction materials and design.

The hospital's exterior includes exotic stone and tile, such as ubatuba, a greenish, marble-like rock found in South America.

"The use of these materials necessitated special engineering and Harris Construction was right there to work with the architect and the structural engineer to ensure that the work was done correctly," said Tony Carr, president of Fresno Heart.

Jim Boone's Fresno-based New England Sheet Metal Inc. worked with Harris Construction on the Heart Hospital and several other projects. "It's two things that stick out about Harris," Boone said. "First, they have a philosophy that unless the subcontractors are also making money, it's not a successful job, which lends itself to good relationships and team work. Second, they do a great job with coordination and planning and that facilitates the flow of work for subcontractors and maximizes their potential to make money."

Mike Patton, president of Patton Air Conditioning, said his company's three-generations-long relationship with Harris is based on shared values.

"We are pretty selective and so are they," Patton said. "If they can't find the qualities that they want in a project, they just won't do it. They don't try to be everything to everybody and that's paid off for them."

Marsh said Harris, which employs 30 office employees, 35 field supervisors and another 50 to 60 union employees, enjoys a reputation for dealing fairly with subcontractors and clients.

"What we are first are builders," he added. "What we want to do is build, and integrity and honesty are important to do that."