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Midwest Construction’s 2010 list of 100 top Midwestern contractors includes 95 returnees from the 2009 rankings and 10 newcomers.
Companies are ranked by reported revenue earned in the region during calendar year 2009. (Companies with a single asterisk after their names reported fiscal year data, not calendar year data.)
All of the firms have offices in Illinois, Indiana, Missouri or Wisconsin, and the reported revenue reflects work done only in those states.
Fifty-eight of this year’s ranked companies come from Illinois. Fifteen are from Indiana. Fourteen hail from Missouri. Eighteen are from Wisconsin.
Of the 95 returning companies on this year’s list, 66 rose in the rankings, 22 fell and seven placed in the same spots as last year.
Although it doesn’t show on the charts, 23 of the returning companies reported higher revenue than last year, 70 reported lower revenue and two reported identical amounts both years.
The highest ranking newcomer is Market & Johnson Inc. of Eau Claire, Wis., debuting 47th with $108.7 million of revenue.
Albin Carlson & Co., Addison, Ill., made the longest upward leap, jumping 33 rungs from 105th place last year to 72nd this year.
Clark Construction Group, Chicago, took the longest drop, falling 29 places from 30th to 59th.
The top 11 contractors from 2009 are repeating as the top 11 companies in 2010—but only top-ranked Walsh Construction Co. and 11th-ranked Gilbane Building Co., both of Chicago, hold down the same spots as last year.
Most of the other top-11 companies have shuffled up or down one, two or three spots. The exception: Mortenson Construction, which has vaulted from 9th to 2nd.
Chicago’s giant Walsh Construction Co. has repeated in the top spot, posting $1.3 billion in revenue.
Michael Whelan, president of Walsh’s building division, attributes the company’s success in weathering the current economy to sticking with its business plan. “The keys are serving a wide range of markets, being able to adapt to changing market conditions, working hard and controlling costs by self-performing much of the work,” Whelan says. “We’ve also benefited from having a good reputation and excellent relationships with long-term repeat customers.”
Whelan says Walsh’s current busiest markets include all levels of government, as well as higher education and health care. “We expect our reputation as a quality health-care builder to be beneficial as that market rebounds throughout 2010,” he adds.
Second-ranked Mortenson Construction Co., which is headquartered in Minneapolis but has area offices in both Chicago and Milwaukee, reported $817.2 million in regional revenue, up $243.6 million from $573.6 million a year ago.
“Fortunately, we had some big projects already under way when the market crashed,” says Alicia Dupies, director of project development for Mortenson’s Wisconsin operations. “But working in many geographic areas and serving...
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