The Southeast’s Top Specialty Contractors

This year’s ranking reflects $6.9 billion in regional revenue among top 155 firms

By Scott Judy

Southeast Construction presents its seventh annual ranking of Top Specialty Contractors. Compared to last year’s list, the Top Specialty Contractors ranking listed

here is not quite as deep. Whereas the ranking published last year included 160 contracting firms, only 155 specialty contractors responded this year. Despite this, the $6.9 billion collective revenue total for this year is yet another record. That figure just beats the previous high marked by last year’s $6.5 billion total.

As with previous contractor lists, this one is based on revenue generated during the preceding calendar year. With construction activity remaining strong in many of the Southeast’s major metropolitan areas, subcontractors are in high demand and continue to be able to obtain a premium for their services and availability.

The format of our ranking is again based on regional revenue totals, meaning the volume of work collected in 2006 from projects located within the magazine’s four-state territory of Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina.

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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 respective companies 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 online surveys submitted 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 $475.7 million in revenue from the four-state region in 2006, a decline of about $11.4 million from the $487.1 million in income it reported in 2005.

EMCOR Group, the nationwide specialty contractor whose Southeast operations include Dynalectric and Poole & Kent, placed second, with approximately $220.7 million.

Two Jacksonville, Fla.-based firms placed third and fourth, respectively. Miller Electric Co., with $206.3 million in ’06 revenue, placed third, while Gate Construction Materials Group, with about $159.9 million in revenue, took the fourth spot.

Tri-City Electrical Contractors of Altamonte Springs, Fla., rounded out the top five, reporting about $156.5 million in revenue for 2006.

Of the 155 firms in this year’s ranking, 106 listed their main offices as being in Florida. As a result, the state once again dominated the ranking in terms of revenue, with about $4.9 billion in revenue coming from the Sunshine State. That’s a slight uptick from last year, when Florida revenue tallied roughly $4.6 billion.

The ranking also reflected increased revenue from Georgia and North Carolina, while the amount of revenue from South Carolina dropped slightly. Revenue totals for these three states were as follows for 2006, with 2005 revenue in parentheses: Georgia - $1.1 billion ($973 million in 2006); North Carolina - $593 million ($557 million); and South Carolina - $296.4 million ($316.3 million).