This article is third in five-part In-Demand Jobs Week series sponsored by OhioMeansJobs.com. Each story will spotlight a different industry and feature people thriving in high-demand jobs in North Central Ohio.
As he greets a visitor in the lobby, Paul Kelly II radiates enthusiasm not reflective of the fact that he has complex calculations on his desk that will make or break up to millions of dollars in revenue.
Kelly works as an estimator for North Central Fabrication – a division of Adena Corporation. Adena Corporation is a regional general contracting company with the ability to self perform trades. The responsibility of calculating every part and piece that will go into a building project falls to him.
For each project request that comes into the company, he will take initial project documents and analyze them for feasibility and profitability. If it passes muster, he will meticulously break down the entire project.
“I have a computer program that I use to do what I call the ‘takeoff’,” said Kelly. “I pull off all the pieces and parts [involved in the building project]. I take all that information and then we have another program that we can apply costs to it and labor to it.”
Once he has calculated materials, time and labor costs involved; he will further analyze for miscellaneous parts to help the project meet standards and shape the company’s final bid on the project. A bid below the actual costs the company profit; an estimate above the actual cost will often cost them the job.
“His role is pretty crucial for the entire operation,” said Scott Heimann, director and marketing and business development. “There’s a pretty narrow margin for error for what [estimators] do.”
While the trades remain vital, the work of Kelly and several other people who work in the administrative side of the business are just as important given technology advancements and fierce competition for contracts. And as the economy enjoys a surge of growth in the recent year, construction doesn’t anticipate a slow down.
Kelly’s success story stands out, but continuous improvement culture and investing in people is something Heimann says Adena Corporation does deliberately.
“The most important asset that Adena and any construction company has is people,” said Heimann. “If you go ask any construction company around, one of the hardest things right now is filling the voids with a qualified workforce. In the construction industry right now, there are more jobs than people.
According to Associated General Contractors of America, outlooks for 2018 are very optimistic as demand is expected to increase in both the public and private sector.
“Contractors expect demand for every segment of the construction market will grow in 2018,” AGC’s report 2018 states, “As measured by the net positive reading – the percentage of respondents who expect a market segment to expand vs. the percentage who expect it to contract – respondents are very optimistic about the overall outlook, with a net positive reading of 44 percent.”
And that’s why companies like Adena are constantly evaluating workers in their market for talent and potential.
“We will invest in them to increase their skill sets and encourage them to stay,” said Heimann. “In the last year and a half we have probably created a handful of back office positions just to accommodate growth.”
And at least in one case that culture is already returning on its investment. Kelly says he finds his work so enjoyable that he has occasionally and voluntarily come into work on weekends.
“Sometimes you’re sitting at home watching TV and you’ll be like ‘You know what, I’ll bet we could do this and save the customer some money,’” said Kelly. “The owner, Randy Payne (president and CEO of Adena Corporation), has really given me the flexibility I need to get the job done…he’s really given me the flexibility I need to grow.”
In fact, he’s going back to school to complete his bachelor’s degree in Business Management.
“I’m the first in my family to have a college education as well as a professional career,” Kelly said. “I’ve gone from at one time working at Burger King to here I am now with an actual career.”
And Kelly’s is a story that Heimann says the industry is seeking to duplicate.
“If you’re interested in working in construction and you’re willing to put in the time and energy to be trained in a skillset for that, you’ll get gobbled up,” he said. “You’ll have no issue in finding employment – lasting employment.”
Visit Adena Corporation’s career page to view employment opportunities or email hr@adenacorporation.com for more information.
