Established in 1985, this Texas-based company has recorded impressive growth based on its principles of integrity, timeliness and professionalism
Written by Ellie Duncan
When Matthew Hanna embarked upon conquering the construction industry in the 1980s, it was because he saw a gap in the market - the need for a company that could offer efficient completion times on commercial projects.
Perhaps what he did not foresee is that the company would rack up gross annual sales of $80 million, and expand into three other divisions that run as separate companies from its main site in Sulphur Springs, Texas.
Speaking to Hanna, he explains the story behind the company’s humble beginnings.
“The company started out as Hanna Construction in 1985; I was partner with my brother and we did primarily residential and small commercial concrete work. In February of 1987, I bought my brother out. The company was incorporated in 1988 as M. Hanna Construction and we continued the concrete work until the early 1990s.”
That’s when the firm diversified into the civil/commercial construction industry. Eight months ago, M. Hanna opened a second office in San Antonio, Texas.
But who are the people behind the expansion and growth of the company?
Other than Hanna himself, of course, the other vital cogs in the M. Hanna Construction machine are Don Roundtree, Director of Business Development; and President Lee Souder.
“I earned a degree from Texas A&M in environmental design, worked a couple of years in architecture and went into construction,” says Roundtree. “I worked with M. Hanna for seven years in the 1990s. During that time, I was doing estimating and project management. Returning in 2006, I then took on business development at the company.”
Souder is a graduate of West Texas A&M.
“I started with Matthew in 1997, when he had an asphalt division. I worked with that and then became the equipment manager and later a project manager.”
Expansive portfolio
Today, M. Hanna boasts a growth rate of about 20 percent in the last three years, which has seen annual revenue soar from $45 million to $80 million.
To date, the company has worked on numerous projects including retail stores, schools, shopping centers and office buildings, as well as municipal and government sites. Its repeat clients are some of the biggest names in retail: Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club, Home Depot, Sears, Target, Kohls and Lowe’s.
“One of our past projects was the UPRR Railroad Intermodal Project in San Antonio, Texas, which was completed this year for a $40 million civil contract. It’s 780,000 square yards of concrete paving, aggregate base and storm drainage,” says Hanna.
M. Hanna is currently working on Alamo Ranch, a $12 million dollar project on a 100-acre site in San Antonio, which includes retailers like Lowe’s, Dick’s and Target. At the same time, work is being carried out on Harker Heights, a similar project, in Killeen, Texas – an 80-acre retail project, costing $6.5 million.
But in the current economic crisis, M. Hanna could be facing its biggest challenge yet, as Hanna himself realizes.
“The commercial market is completely dead right now. In the industrial sector, most of the work is going to be in city and federal.”
Not that M. Hanna is showing any signs of defeat; on the contrary, it is facing the recession head-on by actively chasing projects.
“We’re pursuing the larger general contractors; we’re identifying recession-proof opportunities like the wind energy business,” explains Roundtree. “We’re currently doing a couple of wind farm projects in Kansas and west Texas.”
At the moment, M. Hanna is licensed to operate in Texas, Mississippi, Kansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Arkansas, and is going to be expanding into New Mexico shortly.
Industry trends
The company has invested heavily over the last five years in order to keep abreast of industry trends.
“We’ve invested tremendous amounts of money in GPS machine control,” says Hanna. “We have seven units and we do our layout with GPS. That’s a trend that’s come in the last three to four years in our type of industry.”
“As a trend, the industry has demanded more competence from contractors,” adds Roundtree. “Some of it is due to technical advancement. Contractors are looking for qualified subs, in part due to alternative delivery methods such as CM @ Risk, design build, etc.”
M. Hanna is obviously ticking all the right boxes as 75 percent of its current backlog is recurring customers.
Advancements in other departments of the company have also improved efficiency; in the last two years, the estimating department has started using HCSS’s Heavy Bid software, which ensures uniform data throughout the business. Its estimators also use CAD and Agtek digital software, allowing import of the designers data and cutting take off time by 50 percent, according to Roundtree.
Green concerns
Environmentally, M. Hanna has also made advances.
“We’re way ahead of the game in using equipment that has cleaner, more fuel-efficient engines,” explains Hanna. “The federal government set up guidelines by tiers and we’re Tier 3 compliant with a very young fleet. More than 50 percent of our industry is still at Tiers 1 and 2.
“We are very interested in wind energy - I’d say we’re trying to position the company to be less of a subcontractor and more of a prime contractor on civil projects.”
With more than 250 employees, the company has stringent training programs in place to ensure that its high standards are maintained. Souder explains that operators in the field go through a safety training course, while on-site superintendents also perform training on the equipment.
Despite having difficulties finding interns who are willing to travel to Sulphur Springs, located 80 miles outside Dallas, M. Hanna has recently hired several highly-qualified young estimators and project managers. “Our primary operation is to be honest in our dealings and to send projects out in a timely manner,” concludes Hanna. “We want to work hard to provide clients with up-to-date and quick answers.”
Such ambition, after so many years in the construction industry, could be the key to the company’s success. And if anyone is going to see his plans come to fruition, it’s Hanna. “We have a company plan that’s already in place that will allow us to exist beyond 10 years - we’re grooming our future management,” he says.