Contractor of the Year
SpawMaxwell’s different approach to contracting has paid off

Texas Construction and the editors of McGraw-Hill Construction names first-ever Texas ‘Contractor of the Year.’

By Debra Wood

(Cover Image Photo: Lance Armstrong Foundation The extensive renovation of a 30,000 SF warehouse in East Austin for the Lance Armstrong Foundation features numerous examples of sustainable design, and is on track for a Gold LEED certification, with design by Lake/Flato and The Bommarito Group. Photo Credit: Casey Dunn Photography)

The 36,000 SF of high-finish interiors for the Dallas law offices of Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP were delivered concurrent with the base building and received a Silver LEED rating, with design by lauckgroup. Photo Credit: Aker/Zvonkovic

The leadership and staff at SpawMaxwell Co. have turned a zest for life into a proven strategy that puts people first and allows the relationships that develop to spur growth and corporate success.

“The main thing [that makes us different] is the people, the culture and the entrepreneurial spirit,” says David Spaw, CEO of SpawMaxwell, with offices in Houston, Dallas and Austin.

David Perez, a project superintendent with SpawMaxwell in Austin, adds, “They are so progressive, and they let you be an independent thinker, with guidance. Construction is hard and can be intense at times, but they have always been classy guys and promote having fun as much as you can [and] to keep things light at work, while still doing a quality job and keeping safety in mind.”

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Off to a good start SpawMaxwell came about when the David Spaw Co. and Maxwell Co. Construction consolidated efforts in August 1998. Founders David Spaw and Fred Maxwell had worked together during the 1980’s, with Maxwell serving as Spaw’s first project manager. They later formed their respective companies and found success in the Houston market. But years later, the two men recognized the growth possibilities presented by teaming up.

Maxwell operated out of a two-story, suburban office; employees dressed casually; and the company performed a significant amount of medical interiors and smaller, corporate work, recalls Tom Rowland, vice president and general manager of SpawMaxwell Dallas and a former Maxwell employee. He describes the David Spaw Co. as more sophisticated, with employees wearing suits and ties, and an office in a downtown high-rise building. That firm specialized in high-end commercial interiors.

“It didn’t look like it was a fit,” Rowland says. “But when we came together, it was almost seamless. The difference in culture got eaten up by enthusiasm. We got everything we went after and had a fantastic beginning. It set the marketplace on fire.”

A flat management structure Fifteen principals, all employed at SpawMaxwell, own the firm and chart its direction. None holds a majority of shares.

“We look and govern ourselves more like a law firm than a construction company,” Spaw says. “We have a simple philosophy that if you take care of your people, your people will take care of your clients, and your clients will take care of the company.”

Rowland adds that all of the partners are leaders, dedicated to the company.

The iconic Julia Ideson Library is undergoing a $34-million historic restoration and addition. SpawMaxwell was selected by the city of Houston’s General Services Department as the construction manager at risk for the project. Rendering courtesy of Gensler, the architect on the Ideson project.

“The way we operate is we all have a voice and are heard equally,” he says. “What that means for clients is that on every project you have a shareholder within the company involved in the project. Decisions can be made immediately.”

That flat organizational style fosters flexibility and nimbleness, says Steve Mechler, president of SpawMaxwell, Houston.

Jane Kalina, general manager of SpawMaxwell Austin, says the firm “saw in me that I was being a leader and taking initiative.”

Two years ago, she received a promotion from project manager to general manager.

Caring about employees includes making safety a priority. The company has never received an Occupational Safety and Health Administration citation.

David Spaw, SpawMaxwell’s CEO

Steve Mechler, SpawMaxwell’s president.

SpawMaxwell refers to its subcontractors as trade partners and sponsors an annual appreciation barbeque. The company also throws an annual themed party for the AIA Houston Sandcastle competition. Last year, it had a Middle Eastern theme, complete with a camel and belly dancers.

“Our customers, our subcontractors have come to know and expect that from us,” says Patrick Stuart Stanley, vice president and project manager at SpawMaxwell Houston, who serves as the creative director for many such activities. “Anything less than wild and crazy is a disappointment.”

About half of SpawMaxwell’s 156 employees are under age 45.

“That’s a sign 10 years from now, we will be even more dynamic,” Spaw says. “For the most part, we’ve grown our flock from within. We will hire young out of universities and teach them the SpawMaxwell way of doing business.”

Perez joined the company as an intern in 1994. When he graduated from Purdue University in Indiana with a bachelor’s degree in building construction management, SpawMaxwell hired him full time.

“What’s been a big attraction, since the beginning, is they always seemed like a fun group of people,” Perez says. “You get to do a different project all of the time, and you get to learn something.”

Growing the company As a combined company, SpawMaxwell had revenues of $66 million during its first year. Last year, revenues came in at close to $350 million, $319 million of it from interiors and renovations., Rowland says. The company has grown at about 18% per year, Spaw adds.

“We have grown geographically and, in some ways, diversified by building more core-and-shell, ground-up buildings,” Spaw says.

SpawMaxwell completes about 400 jobs annually.

“They are different shapes and sizes,” says Spaw, explaining that last year it had five projects billing in excess of $1 million per week, and at the same time, it had regular clients who called with requests that the company come out to move a wall or hang a door. Currently 80% of its bottom line derives from repeat customers. For instance, SpawMaxwell has worked for 60 law firms at 73 different sites in Austin, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio

The 7-story Memorial Hermann Healthcare System Katy Hospital near Houston was a joint venture with Hensel Phelps, and includes 127 beds, a Level IV Trauma Center and 320,000 square feet, with design by WHR Architects. Photo Credit: Aker/Zvonkovic

SpawMaxwell began in Houston, focusing primarily on interior work. It entered the Austin market in 2000, followed by Dallas about five years later.

“Our growth plan, geographically, would be to not go to another city until we’ve mastered the most recent one we are in,” Spaw says. “We’re still ramping up Dallas.”

The Dallas office recently completed a $4.5-million office build-out for Jones Lang LaSalle, the real estate services firm. And it has received a contract to renovate 150,000 sq ft of office space for Experian and replace its cooling tower, chillers and exterior windows. The company also is building out office space for Dallas’ new Winspear Opera House in the midst of the city’s new cultural center.

The Austin office recently completed a conversion of an old warehouse into a 30,000-sq-ft office facility for the Lance Armstrong Foundation in East Austin. The project is tracking for LEED gold certification. SpawMaxwell also has started a 53,000 sq ft interior project for HomeAway in Austin.

SpawMaxwell will open a San Antonio office next. The company has completed some work in that city, and Spaw expects “more down the pike.”

“We want to expand geographically,” Mechler says. “That gives our employees opportunities. We look for joint ventures that make sense.”

SpawMaxwell is currently delivering a $28-million construction-management-at-risk project for the city of Houston, adding, remodeling and performing historic restoration to the Julia Ideson library in downtown. SpawMaxwell also is reaching out to the education market.

Going vertical SpawMaxwell specializes in corporate and hospital interiors. It recently finished the interior work on the newly constructed 28-story Memorial Hermann Memorial City health-care tower in Houston. The SpawMaxwell scope included 260,000 sq ft of interiors, a 25,000-sq-ft in-vitro fertilization clinic and lab and an 18,000-sq-ft central plant.

RGM Advisors, LLC of Austin was an award-winning, 2-floor high-finish interior renovation, with design by Gensler. Photo Credit: Chas McGrath

The 170,000 square feet of high-finish interiors for Dimensional Fund Advisors in Austin was delivered concurrent with the base building, with design by Gensler. Photo Credit: Sanford Wyatt, SpawMaxwell

In 2001 after Tropical Storm Allison, the company’s response cemented a long-lasting relationship with one of the state’s largest health-care providers, when Memorial Hermann turned to SpawMaxwell for help in the aftermath. Mechler’s team worked 24/7 for 39 straight days after the storm to restore critical care systems at the Texas Medical Center.

SpawMaxwell and Hensel Phelps Construction Co. of Austin teamed up as joint-venture partners to build the $70-million, 320,000-sq-ft Memorial Hermann Katy Hospital in Katy, Texas, a Texas Construction Best Of Award winner in 2007.

“They have a corporate culture that is tuned around building long-term relationships with clients,” says Tim Hess, director of preconstruction services for Hensel Phelps. “I respect that and admire it. How that project was executed illustrated that.”

Mechler says the company has been able to leverage the successful completion of that project to secure new contracts. It has worked with joint-venture partner Tellepsen Builders of Houston in completing the Enclave Administrative Campus in Houston. SpawMaxwell is working on the interiors for the five-building complex, which has 466,000 sq ft of office, conference, training facilities and a 980-car garage.

“[Joint ventures] have been symbiotic,” Mechler says. “We learn from the other firm, and the other firm learns from us.”

SpawMaxwell also has completed ground-up projects on its own, including the multi-phased, multi-building Gulf States Toyota Transport System and Vehicle Processing Center in Houston.

Vertical construction offers growth potential, but Mechler says SpawMaxwell made a strategic decision a few years back, despite the sizzling construction market, to maintain its portfolio with 75% interior projects, which allows the firm to quickly churn work. Those jobs remain stronger than some other segments during an economic downturn. In the first quarter of 2009, the company added $60 million in new work, all of it interiors or renovations.

While SpawMaxwell’s growth to date has been organic—moving into new cities and branching out from its interior roots—Spaw has not ruled out acquisitions.

“Our consolidation was a positive experience,” Spaw says. “Although we have not been aggressive in that area, we probably are looking.”

A commitment to community service SpawMaxwell employees participate in a wide variety of community service projects and annual events. Some, such as Hearts and Hammers in Dallas and Habitat for Humanity in Austin involve workers painting and repairing homes for low-income homeowners.

“We want to show our commitment to the community,” Rowland says.

Construction of a stereotaxis cath lab suite for the Seton Family of Hospitals in Austin was completed with concurrent occupancy below a fully functional surgical suite, with design by O’Connell Robertson & Associates. Photo Credit: Tre Dunham/Fine Focus Photography

Other endeavors play into the company’s sense of fun and enthusiasm.

In February the Dallas office’s Night of Comedy, during which superintendents and project managers let the jokes flow, raised $25,000 for Heroes for Children, a nonprofit organization that provides financial and social assistance to families with youngsters battling cancer.

The Houston office raised $60,000 last August for Faith in Practice, a medical mission organization. During the past three years, all of the shows together have raised more than $200,000 in Houston, Dallas and Austin. In 2008, the Austin office raised $17,000 for the Lance Armstrong Foundation with its comedy show.

SpawMaxwell Houston employees came up with a Hard Hat Bowling Tournament to raise money for brain cancer research at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, in memory of Ann Olson, a shareholder who died of a brain tumor.

“If someone has a great idea and is passionate about it, we will support it,” Spaw says. “Some amazing things have taken place.”

Related video: View the SpawMaxwell Night of Comedy