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w w w . i n s i g h t o n b u s i n e s s . c o m N o v e m b e r 2 0 14 • I NSIGH T | 31 I N S I G H T O N COMMERCIAL CONSTRUCTION B y M a r y B e t h M a t z e k W hen the economy crashed in 2008, the relatively new owners of Consolidated Construction Co. Inc. in Appleton knew they had to get creative to keep the business going. e quartet of Rick Bickert, Jim Perras, Mark Schwei and Pam Talavera led the purchase of the formerly family- owned company by 20 employees in 2006. At the time, the company was seeing record earnings and revenues. But as financial institutions tightened lending processes and companies canceled projects, Consolidated saw revenue drop by 47 percent between 2007 and 2010. To survive, management took pay cuts to hold employee wages constant, employees who le weren't replaced and company leaders made the decision to expand its geographic footprint. at last step turned out to be crucial with Consolidated growing in new geographic and industry markets, allowing the company to weather the storm and come out stronger. "We were fortunate we had some Besides expanding into the Dakotas, Consolidated also looked to the south, Milwaukee. e company took on a high-profile project converting a former downtown bank building into a five- story Gold's Gym facility. Consolidated won several awards for the project, including the National Eagle Award from the Associated Builders and Contractors' National Excellence in Construction competition. "We got a lot of attention for that project and we saw there were a lot of manufacturers in the southern part of the state. Since that is a specialty of ours, we decided to jump in and see what jobs we could win," Schwei says. Consolidated's success in other markets translated into more jobs in Appleton, says Bickert, the firm's president. e company employs more than 100. Market growth Expanding markets, geographic footprint pay off for Consolidated Construction C O U R T E S Y C O N S O L I D AT E D C O N S T R U C T I O N hospitality projects going on in the West as things slowed down and from there, we got to know the local markets a bit more and waded into new projects and areas," says Schwei, Consolidated's executive vice president. "You get to know the market and people get to know you." at led the company to eventually open a hub office in Bismarck, N.D., as Consolidated took advantage of that state's rapid economic growth. Consolidated Construction is an active player in the Fox Valley construction scene specializing in several sectors, including manufacturing. Consolidated worked on the build-out and remodeling of the former Kimberly-Clark diaper plant in Neenah for Prolamina in 2012. [continued] » "We were fortunate we had some hospitality projects going on in the West as things slowed down and from there, we got to know the local markets a bit more and waded into new projects and areas." – M a r k S c hwe i , Co n s o l i d ate d 's exe c u t i ve v i ce p re s i d e nt