DeWITT — Whelan & Curry Construction Services Inc., a commercial construction management company based in the town of DeWitt, has added a fresh face to its ownership. Chris Corfield, a project manager at Whelan & Curry for seven years, is taking over Michael Curry’s part ownership of the company. 

Corfield acquired Curry’s stock and now owns 47 percent of the business, with Roger Whelan, president, holding the rest, Whelan said. The company received legal advice from Elizabeth A. Hartnett, partner at Syracuse–based Mackenzie Hughes LLP, and accounting services from L. Richard Pascarella, managing shareholder at DiMarco, Abiusi & Pascarella CPAs, P.C. in Syracuse, to help facilitate the transaction.

“We have been grooming him to take over,” Whelan says of Corfield. “It was all part of a plan that has been orchestrated for about two and a half years.” 

At age 68, Curry was ready to start his retirement, explains Whelan. Corfield, age 32, brings a new vision to the construction company. 

“I hope to expand our reputation,” Corfield says. “We hope to target the medical, manufacturing, and retail industry.”

One of the biggest struggles in construction that the partners want to tackle is finding ways to keep working through the off-season, says Corfield. Typically, winter weather halts construction putting pauses between projects. But, with a new target like the medical field, renovations can continue through the blustery winter as most medical renovations are done indoors.

Whelan & Curry wants to continue to target $1 million to $3 million projects, but more consistently and through a different process, says Corfield. 

The firm generated total revenue of $7.5 million in 2015, Corfield says, and he expects $10 million to $15 million in revenue in 2016 after using a new method for bidding on construction projects.

Design-build
Traditionally, construction companies go through a competitive bid process where clients weigh their options and select from a pool of designs. However, Corfield says that model is inefficient. It ends up costing the client more money and time as there can be unexpected costs along the way that were not specified in the original plan. Instead, a design-build model is more effective for Whelan & Curry and the customer, he contends.

Design-build is a method in which the design and construction services are contracted by a single company

“A client would work with us one-on-one,” Corfield says. “We start at the early stages and bring it all the way through; we would be the single source.” 

Design-build is supposed to minimize risks for the project owner and to reduce the construction timeline by overlapping the design phase and construction part of a project. 

“Because we’re brought to the table earlier, it streamlines the flow,” Corfield says. Switching from the traditional bid process to design-build will make delivery more efficient and guarantee projects to be on time, he adds. With fewer delays, Corfield and Whelan say this will add more projects to the firm’s calendar and increase revenue.

In 2015, 90 percent of all projects overseen by Whelan & Curry were design-build, according to Whelan. “We want to talk to clients as they are conceiving the project,” Corfield says. “We’d like to hear from them then and save time and money.” 

Other construction companies operating in Central New York that offer design-build services include The Pike Company, Hayner Hoyt Corp., and LeChase Construction Services, LLC. 

Whelan & Curry’s principals
Corfield, who received a bachelor’s degree in architecture from the University at Buffalo, was previously a project coordinator at Fayetteville, North Carolina–based SfL+a Architects and worked in Charlotte. Some projects Corfield oversaw while in the role of project manager at Whelan & Curry included construction and renovations of an addition at Universal Metal Works in Fulton, the 20,000-square-foot Plaza of the Arts in downtown Auburn, and the four multi-tenant buildings in the Township 5 center in Camillus.

Whelan was born and raised in Syracuse and received a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Dayton in Ohio. Whelan & Curry was started in 1992. The firm’s past projects include construction of Owera Vineyards’ tasting facility in Cazenovia, the 4,500-square-foot Manlius Veterinary Hospital, and the Express Mart in Fayetteville.

Whelan & Curry will break ground this spring on Good Nature Brewing, Inc.’s new brewing production facility and tasting room in Hamilton. The addition is expected to cost $3 million, according to Whelan, and will encompass 10,000 square feet. 

Whelan & Curry has six employees and is looking to hire up to three more. The positions that it is considering candidates for include estimators, head operators, superintendents, and project managers.