Auto dealerships are among R.J. Ryan Construction Inc.’s clients in the design/build realm.

It takes more than experience to survive in construction. In this competitive business, one also must possess the passion to build despite industry challenges, notes Tom Ryan, co-president of R.J. Ryan Construction Inc. The Mendota Heights, Minn.-based design/build contractor has been building in the Twin Cities market for 29 years.

“This is a tough business,” Ryan notes. “Every building is different, every challenge is different, but you better get the thrill out of building, or this is not the business for you.”

Ryan and co-President Jack Grotkin have been with the company for 29 and 24 years, respectively. The duo bought controlling interest in the firm from the founder, Ryan’s brother, Ron Ryan, earlier this year. Tom Ryan praises his brother for the company’s continuous success.

We credit Ron for teaching us,” Tom Ryan says. “He spent a lot of time teaching us how to build efficiently and in a cost-effective manner. We’ve always been trained from the cost point of view.
“I think we both enjoy the process of building, including the relationships you develop with owners and subcontractors and the feeling of accomplishment you get when you see the final result.”

Maintaining Great Relationships
R.J. Ryan Construction performs $100 million in volume annually for the private market, including investors, developers and build-to-suit clients. Its projects can be airport hangars, automotive dealerships, business and healthcare offices or retail centers. Despite escalating materials prices, Ryan says, the company tries to control expenses as much as it can. “We sit down with owners and suggest how we can control costs,” he says, “but in the end, it’s our reputation for performance they are getting from us.”

Its performance success is in part due to its subcontractors, Grotkin adds. “We have the ability to bring in the appropriate subcontractors,” he states. “We have developed great relationships with people here.”

‘Always Working’
Like other contractors in Minnesota, R.J. Ryan Construction faces weather-related challenges. Construction schedules change constantly, Ryan notes, so it has learned to perform work out of sequence. “This is a challenge everyone experiences in this area,” he states, “but we spend a lot of time with our employees – especially the younger guys – teaching them how to build a building and how to react to weather-related issues.”

An ongoing challenge is finding qualified project managers. The company, however, has been fortunate to find skilled employees from the University of Wisconsin-Stout in Menomonie, Wis.  “Most of the people from their construction management program are prepared to go to work right away,” Ryan says.

Despite these challenges, the company is known for its quality construction. “We have an incredible amount of repeat clients,” Ryan notes. “We have quite a number of customers we’ve built more than 10 buildings for. Some of them we’ve been working with continuously for over 10 years.”

The company provides a wide range of services. “We will go install a door for one person, while in another part of town, we are breaking ground on a $20 million office building,” she says. “Its projects usually range from $800,000 to $15 million. “Because [we] do such a range of project – [we] may build more buildings than anyone in the Twin Cities,” Ryan says. R.J. Ryan is building more than 30 buildings of various sizes in 2007.  

Similar Outlook
Ryan and Grotkin share a vision of making R.J. Ryan Construction even more successful, Ryan says. “Jack and I have a great relationships.” he states. “Although we’re two different people, we approach the business the same way.”

The next big thing for R.J. Ryan Construction is another transition of leadership, Ryan notes. “Since we started, there have been so many construction companies that closed down because their principals reached retirement age,” Ryan continues.“We think we’ve got something here.  Our goal is to make sure this business succeeds us. When the time comes, we want to sell it within – to sell it to our young employees here.”