The Southeast's Top Specialty Contractors

Ranking Indicates $4.7 Billion in Revenue Among Top 150 Firms

By Scott Judy

Southeast Construction presents its fourth annual ranking of "Top Specialty Contractors." With 150 specialty firms reporting a collective $4.7 billion in regional revenue, this year's ranking marks the greatest revenue total to date.

As with previous contractor lists, this one is based on revenue generated during the preceding calendar year. Despite the sometimes-challenging market conditions of 2003, the collective regional revenue total grew by about $200 million over 2002, when the 150-deep ranking had a collective total of roughly $4.5 billion.

The format of our ranking is again based on regional revenue totals, meaning the volume of work collected in 2003 from projects located within the magazine's four-state territory of Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina.

Within this main, overall ranking, readers will find the most extensive information about the ranked firms, including the address for the companies' main office locations; telephone and fax numbers; name of the principal or top regional officer; a percentage breakdown of the company's activity by work category; and other information, such as the year a firm was founded and the number of employees.

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We've also included some breakout rankings, where we list the top firms in 14 different specialty categories. These work categories are: mechanical, electrical, plumbing, concrete, utility, roofing, sheet metal, masonry, fire prevention, telecommunications, wall/ceiling, steel erection, woodwork and fabrication.

The revenue figures reported in these breakout rankings reflect the amount of work the company generated in that particular category. As a result, companies may be listed in multiple work categories, and figures listed here may not match the regional revenue total provided in the main ranking.

We also included breakout rankings based upon revenue generated from each of the four states.

Overall, 15 different firms find themselves at the top of at least one of our lists.

All figures listed in both the main ranking and the breakout listings are based upon surveys returned by the listed company. As with all of Southeast Construction's rankings, specialty contractors must submit a survey in order to be listed.

Some Analysis

Taking the top spot again this year was Miami-based telecommunications contractor MasTec Inc. The firm reported $367 million in revenue from the four-state region in 2003, a $20 million jump over its reported income last year.

Finishing a strong second was Connecticut-based national mechanical contracting firm EMCOR Group, with revenues of $198.6 million in the magazine's four-state region. The company actually owns a collection of regional specialty contracting firms.

The EMCOR firms operating in the Southeast are: Poole and Kent South, Miami; Dynalectric Co.-Florida, Miami Lakes; Dynalectric Co.-Georgia, Norcross; and R.S. Harritan Co., Richmond, Va., which performs work in North Carolina. EMCOR was ranked as the No. 1 firm in the United States in Engineering News-Record's most recent ranking of specialty contractors.

Last year EMCOR reported separate revenue figures for the above-mentioned firms, but submitted a single revenue total for its Southeast operations this year. This EMCOR-wide revenue reporting matches the manner in which the company provides information to Engineering News-Record and other national magazines.

The revenue figure EMCOR reported for 2003 operations in the four-state area of $198.6 million compares favorably to the 2002 collective total of $166.3 million.

Overall, of the 150 firms in this year's ranking, 98 listed their main offices as being located in Florida. This is actually a decline from last year, when 107 Florida firms participated. Even so, 2003 Florida revenue stayed on a par with 2002, with both years coming in at roughly $3.1 billion.

Meanwhile, 30 are located in Georgia and 18 in either North Carolina or South Carolina. That's an increase in representation from last year, when 41 firms located in these states responded to the magazine's survey.

Additionally, four firms - EMCOR Group, Capform, Ivey Mechanical Co. and Wayne J. Griffin Electric - listed their main office locations as outside the four-state area.

By region, revenue broke out this way: Florida - $3.1 billion; Georgia - $827.6 million; North Carolina - $619.6 million; and South Carolina - $191.2 million.

Interestingly, while specialty contractors are often thought of as mostly local firms, 23 firms reported revenue from all four states. While several of the firms indicating such multistate activity were at the top of the list, many others were not. In fact, the 149th-ranked firm, American Pile Cutting Inc., with a total of just $1.3 million in regional revenue, reported income from all four states.

The Top 10

As might be expected, this year's top 10 is similar to last year's, with eight of this year's firms continuing their top-10 status. Again, MasTec is at the top with $367 million, followed this time by EMCOR in second with its $198.6 million total. (EMCOR was represented in the top 10 last year with Poole & Kent South in seventh.)

ValleyCrest Cos. kept its position at third with $140 million, while SteelFab fell two spots to fourth after revenues declined by about $9 million to $135 million. Acousti Engineering Co. of Florida moved up one spot to fifth, as 2003 revenue outpaced 2002's by $13 million to finish at roughly $130 million.

Aneco Electrical slipped one spot to sixth; its 2003 revenue of $126.3 million was a decline of about $8 million. Tri-City Electrical also fell, moving down three spots to seventh, because its 2003 revenue declined by about $37 million from 2002 to total $102 million. KHS&S Contractors, at roughly $100.5 million, moved up one spot from last year, finishing eighth on the strength of nearly $17 million in improved revenues.

Two other firms broke into this year's top 10. Kearney Development Co. of Tampa took the ninth spot with revenue of $89.9 million - about $15 million better than 2002. Miller Electric Co. of Jacksonville finished 10th. Its 2003 revenue increased by about $8 million over 2002, to about $89.3 million.

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