ForConstructionPros.com

Some business owners are content with the size and sales volume of their companies. Others know they want to grow but don't know how or aren't willing to dedicate the required assets for an expansion. Then there's another group of business owners who set a course for growth and aren't afraid to utilize the necessary resources to do so. San Diego-based concrete contractor T.B. Penick & Sons fits into the latter category. Over the last few years the company has experienced a nearly doubling of business from $70 million in 2004 to more than $122 million expected in 2007.

The pace of growth T.B. Penick is currently seeing has exceeded the brothers and owners Marc and Tim Penick's expectations. Although the Penicks have been working aggressively to expand the company, they set annual growth goals closer to 15 percent.

"Our growth is organic," explains Marc Penick, CEO of T.B. Penick & Sons, "meaning that work is being generated from satisfied clients and our ability to perform the work. We're not forcing top-line growth for its own sake. We've had a lot of success, and some fortuitous events for us to double our growth."

Part of that new revenue has come from an expansion into offering design/build and design/assist services for their expanding client base. The result of the expansion was a new company started last year, Convergent Inc., which utilizes in-house design, engineering and construction to reduce costs and speed the project timeline.

"Accepting the risk and expense of design in the design/build model has been an exciting growth avenue for us and an invaluable service for our clients", notes Tim Penick, company president. "Once we take on the design element, we put in place internal controls that help mitigate our own cost while producing efficiencies in constructability, allowing for a faster schedule and reductions in the cost of work and general conditions for our client."