The Southeast's Top Specialty Contractors

Ranking Indicates $5.7 Billion in Regional Revenue Among Top 175 Firms

by Scott Judy

Southeast Construction presents its fifth annual ranking of Top Specialty Contractors. Notably, this year's list is a milestone achievement, with the largest number of ranked firms we've published to date. This year's ranking of the top 175 specialty firms betters last year's list by 25.

As with previous contractor lists, this one is based on revenue generated during the preceding calendar year. And it was in 2004 that the industry felt a significant impact from a sometimes-sharp increase in the price of many materials. While some firms suffered under these conditions - some steel firms, especially , most notably Havens Steel - apparently others have been able to add to their bottom lines.

Of course, in some parts of the four-state area covered by Southeast Construction, such as South Florida and Atlanta, construction has continued at a breakneck pace. In such environments, subcontractors often find themselves with the greatest demand they've ever encountered, but they are still unable to staff all of the projects available to them due to a skilled labor shortage.

Whatever the reason, the collective 2004 revenue reported by the Top Specialty Contractors jumped by about $1 billion over 2003 to more than $5.7 billion, by far the greatest Top Specialty revenue total the magazine has published.

The format of our ranking is again based on regional revenue totals, meaning the volume of work collected in 2004 from projects located within the magazine's four-state territory of Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina.

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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.

We've also included some breakout rankings, where we list the top firms in 18 different specialty categories. These work categories are: electrical, mechanical, plumbing, concrete, demolition/wrecking, excavation/foundation/utility, fire prevention/security, glazing/curtain wall, hazardous materials, landscaping, masonry, painting/coatings, paving, roofing, sheet metal, steel erection/fabrication, telecommunications and wall/ceiling.

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.

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.

Analysis

Taking the top spot again this year was Miami-based telecommunications contractor MasTec Inc. The firm reported $464.7 million in revenue from the four-state region in 2004, a $97.2 million jump over its reported income in 2003.

Finishing second was Connecticut-based national mechanical contracting firm EMCOR Group, with revenues of $186.2 million in the magazine's four-state region. That's a decline of about $12.2 million compared to 2003. 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.

It should be noted that EMCOR's submission of a single revenue total for its Southeast operations matches the manner in which the company provides information to Engineering News-Record and other national magazines.

Despite the overall growth of the list, most of the expansion was due to Florida firms and their activity.

Of the 175 firms in this year's ranking, 118 listed their main offices as being in Florida - an increase of 20 from last year's list. Overall, 2004 Florida revenue jumped dramatically over the amount reported for '03.

For 2004, ranked firms reported a collective $4.4 billion in Florida revenue, an increase of about 42 percent over last year's $3.1 billion total.

While not as dramatic as Florida's, the other three states also showed revenue growth. Their totals broke out this way, with 2003 revenue in parentheses: Georgia - $890.1 million ($827.6 million); North Carolina - $723.7 million ($619.6 million); and South Carolina - $278.6 million ($191.2 million).

Meanwhile, 28 of this year's Top Specialty Contractors are headquartered in Georgia, with another 23 located in either North Carolina or South Carolina. Together, that's a slight increase in representation from this area compared to last year, when 48 firms located in these three states participated in the ranking.

Six firms - EMCOR Group, Capform, Ivey Mechanical Co., Tecta America Corp., Wayne J. Griffin Electric and E&H Steel Corp. - listed their main office locations as outside the four-state area.

By state, the number of firms reporting revenue included: Florida - 143 (an increase of 22 over last year); Georgia - 53 (three less than last year); North Carolina - 48 (two less than last year); and South Carolina - 43 (three more than '04).

Also, while specialty contractors are often thought of as mostly local firms, 21 of this year's ranked companies reported revenue from all four states.

The Top 10

As was the case last year, the current top 10 is a familiar group, with seven specialty contractors continuing their top status. Again, MasTec is at the top with $464.7 million. Also repeating in the top 10 from last year are: EMCOR Group, SteelFab, Acousti Engineering Co. of Florida, Tri-City Electrical Contractors, Miller Electric and Kearney Development Co.

EMCOR repeated at second, while Acousti moved up one spot to third. SteelFab again came in fourth, while Inglett & Stubbs moved up seven notches to finish fifth.

New to the top 10 - and new to the Top Specialty ranking overall - was United Forming, which finished sixth with a total of $114 million in regional revenue for '04. Miller Electric moved up three notches to finish seventh. Ivey Mechanical Co. finished eighth, followed by Tri-City at ninth and Kearney Development in 10th.

• Click here for the Top Specialty Contractor Rankings