The Southeast’s Top Contractors

Region’s Top Contractors Report More Than $24.7 Billion in 2005 Revenue

By Scott Judy

Southeast Construction presents its seventh annual Top Contractors ranking. This year, the ranking has slightly more than 160 firms listed, and a record $29.7 billion in collective revenue represented. Though the number of listed firms is down somewhat from last year, when the ranking went 170 deep, the revenue figure is well above last year’s. The $29.7 billion in revenue from 2006 that these contractors reported is a $4 billion jump from last year’s $25.7 billion total.

Overall, the numbers indicate that the beat is continuing positive for many contractors working in the Southeastern United States.

To obtain the revenue information listed here, the magazine solicited information from both last year’s respondents as well as many other firms included in our database, the McGraw-Hill Construction Network, and other sources. For the first time, Southeast Construction posted its survey online, at www.southeast.construction.com, where any qualifying firm could input its information directly through the Web site.

The information provided here is based upon the submissions provided by each firm through this online process.

This current list ranks the top 163 general contracting and construction management firms in the Southeast. As in past years, the list includes building contractors, heavy/highway firms and all general contracting firms in between.

It should be noted that this list reflects only those companies that chose to participate by filling out the magazine’s survey form and submitting their revenue information.

At the Top

Our main Top Contractors ranking is based upon each firm’s 2006 revenue generated from projects within the four-state region only. Within the main ranking we also include more extensive information about each of the firms, including address and phone number, Web site address, year established, number of regional employees, the top officer for the area, a breakdown of the contractor’s focus of work and their biggest project under construction during 2006.

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The company’s regional total was spread out among the four states, and included the following: Florida – nearly $561.3 million; Georgia – $536.9 million; North Carolina – $121.8 million; and South Carolina – $83.8 million.

Additionally, Brasfield & Gorrie distanced itself from the competition in the latest ranking. The company’s $1.3 billion total for this year’s ranking is approximately $400 million higher than the second-place finisher, Centex Construction, which reported about $937.7 million in four-state revenue for 2006. In last year’s Top Contractors ranking, Brasfield & Gorrie beat out the second-place firm by only about $150 million.

Also, it should be noted that this ranking will mark the last time that “Centex Construction” will be listed. As was reported by Engineering News-Record and on www.southeast.construction.com, the London-based engineering and construction firm Balfour Beatty acquired the well-known U.S. commercial construction firm earlier this year. According to officials in the company’s Dallas offices, the construction firm will now operate under the name Balfour Beatty Construction. This name-change was scheduled to occur around April 1, when the terms of the sale were set to finalize. At the time of the sale’s initial announcement, Centex indicated it was divesting itself of its commercial construction division in order to concentrate more intently on its residential unit.

Additionally, like last year, of the top 10 contractors, eight reported revenue from all four states. The Yates Cos., in the seventh position, did not report any income from South Carolina, while Kraft Construction Co., which again ranked eighth this year, indicated all of its revenue came from its home state of Florida.

Survey Findings

Here are some other findings from this year’s ranking:

• As was the case last year, Florida revenue makes up the biggest part of the cumulative revenue total. This year’s list represents roughly $18.2 billion in Florida revenue, up from last year’s $14.75 billion. Also, this year’s ranking includes 128 firms reporting Florida revenue.

• The cumulative total of revenue reported from Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina tallied roughly $11 billion, up from last year’s $10 billion. On a state-by-state basis, the amount of revenue reported included: Georgia – approximately $4.3 billion, down from last year’s $4.5 billion; North Carolina – roughly $4.8 billion, up from last year’s $3.9 billion total; and South Carolina – $1.9 billion, up from the previous year’s $1.6 billion.

• The average revenue number reported on the ranking equaled roughly $182.2 million, an increase from last year’s $145.5 million average.
  
  
• In addition to the main ranking, Southeast Construction also provides some breakout rankings of the top 20 contractors for each of the four states in the magazine’s coverage area. By state, the top contractors and the amounts they generated from each state included the following: Florida – The Yates Cos., $698 million; Georgia – Brasfield & Gorrie, $536.9 million; North Carolina – Barnhill Contracting Co., $444.5 million; and South Carolina – BE&K Building Group, $237.5 million.