Growth snowballs for Spokane construction firm -... -
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Published on: 11/22/2004
Last Visited: 11/23/2004
"We never predicted this," said Jerry Burton, the company's founder and CEO."It's like a snowball rolling down the hill."
After experiencing such rapid growth, Burton won't complain if his company slows its roll in 2005.
"It's time to regroup," he said.
Before regrouping, however, the company will claim its second straight Rising Star Award, which honors the state's fastest-growing minority-owned business with sales over $2 million.
Burton, whose grandfather was a full-blooded Creek Indian, cites aggressiveness, teamwork and "a lot of satisfied customers" as the factors driving his company's growth.
Burton and his wife, Judy, moved to Spokane from Los Angeles in 1976 because they thought it would be a great place to raise a family.Little did they know it also would be a great place to start a business.
Established in 1978 as Jerry Burton Construction -- a residential construction company -- the business took a fateful turn in the mid-1990s when it decided to focus exclusively on federal construction contracts and incorporated in Washington as Burton Construction Inc.
Specializing gave the company a leg up over competing bidders by familiarizing it with the nuances of tackling federal projects vs. private construction.Burton said the company tried to do both for a time, but found they were two different animals with different subcontractors, different suppliers and a different mentality.
Burton hasn't had to look far to find a major source of work.