Contractor prepares for future; Kilgannon brings green experience
[caption id="attachment_16887" align="alignright" width="203" caption="Facility Development Corp.’s new president, Steve Kilgannon (sitting), with co-founders Rick McClish (back left) and Dave Kincaid (click to enlarge)"][/caption]
SANTA ROSA -- Facility Development Corp., one of the North Bay's largest commercial general contractors, will have a new president and co-owner at the beginning of 2010.
Co-founders Rick McClish and Dave Kincaid, both 59, recently hired Steve Kilgannon as senior project manager. Mr. Kilgannon, 36, will take over Mr. McClish’s role as president on Jan. 1 and become an owner.
“It’s something we’ve known we wanted to do for some time,” Mr. McClish said.
In addition to preparing for future ownership of the company, Mr. Kilgannon’s training in the latest green-building standards can blend with the company’s project experience, according to Mr. McClish.
Heightened attention to green building in the past few years and constricted construction budgets as credit markets have tightened have made cost-to-value analysis all the more important, he said.
"When talking with clients, we try to make projects more sustainable before and after the project," Mr. Kilgannon said.
Before coming to the company, he was a project manager with Nordby Construction in Santa Rosa. He has an undergraduate degree in economics from the University of Arizona and construction management studies at Sonoma State University, and he is a certified Build It Green professional. He is pursuing accreditation under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, rating system.
Mr. McClish and Mr. Kincaid, vice president, started Facility Development Corp. in 1999, specializing in heavy municipal, commercial and industrial projects, including wineries, wastewater treatment plant biodigesters and solid-waste transfer facilities.
They met in the mid-1980s at BDM Construction, which Mr. McClish helped start in 1979. He started in the construction business in 1972 with Rapp Construction, which oversaw construction on The Geysers geothermal power plants in northern Sonoma County.
The staff is kept small -- now numbering eight superintendents, three project managers and 15 all together -- by subcontracting for all but a few carpenters and laborers.
During the construction boom several years ago, FDC peaked at $100 million in revenue from local projects as well as those in Oregon, Washington, Arizona and Nevada. Auto dealerships and bank branches once provided ample work, and then wine industry projects picked up. Last year, company revenue was $63 million, with $36 million of that from North Bay projects.
Despite fierce competition among a number of firms for the few big projects still proceeding, the company has been fortunate to replace some revenue and keep North Bay revenue in the high $20 million range for the year.
"Our volume is slightly compromised as a result of projects that would have been built but have been delayed by a lack of funds or uncertainty of the economy," Mr. McClish said.
For example, one $11 million project was canceled, yet an unplanned $14 million project was picked up and is ready to start construction.
Currently, the company has eight projects under way, with values ranging from a couple of million dollars to $20 million and some part of projects phased over 10 years.
For more information, call 707-523-1722 or visit www.fdc-corp.com.
