Business of the Week: Market & Johnson

ABOUT OUR FIRM
Since 1948, Market & Johnson has been providing Western Wisconsin with quality construction services. Our firm was founded on three basic principles, quality, dedication, and integrity. It is these same principles that have allowed Market & Johnson to grow and become one of the most respected contractors in the state.
 
Company History
Market & Johnson had operated as a family business until early 2001 when Dan Market offered ownership opportunities to four key employees, Steve Breitenfeldt, Ron Dulitz, Gary Carlson, and Don Carlson (all have since retired). Together they had over 150 years of combined construction experience and became involved with the day to day management of the firm. This new ownership team maintained our small town family atmosphere and added many years worth of experiences to it. In 2004, Jerry Shea also became a partner in ownership and in January 2012, Mike Seichter, Kevin Renley, and Jason Plante joined the ownership team.

Our mission statement, Adding Value to Everything We Do is the guiding policy that influences all our services. When you are engaged with the Market & Johnson project management team, you will find a group of professionals that will lead you through every step of the construction process. Our team of professionals will provide the highest quality services from start to finish such as:
 
The firm’s business philosophy is simple; we are in the business of building relationships. These relationships are based on trust, honesty, commitment to excellence, and a sincere desire to satisfy every one of our clients. We work together as a team with the owner and architect to make sure every project exceeds our expectations. Our firm has shown steady growth since we were established over 70 years ago; today Market & Johnson has an annual volume of approximately $300 million and operates offices in three locations—Eau Claire and La Crosse, Wisconsin and Oakdale, Minnesota. We employ over 400 field professionals that have the ability to perform concrete, masonry, carpentry, and steel erection. Our professional staff includes estimating, scheduling, LEED AP professionals, structural engineer, BIM coordinator, accounting/tax savings leader, as well as all project support staff.

Our markets include Industrial Manufacturing, Healthcare, Education, Governmental, Food Processing, Commercial & Retail, Frac Sand, Senior Living, and Religious.
 
Construction Management Expertise
Over 90% of our work is providing cost effective solutions by utilizing our construction management tools and resources. Once the referendum has passed, our professionals will take the lead in ensuring a cost effective project is developed, maximize the bidding opportunities for area subs, manage all construction activities and drive the schedule, quality and project safety on site. No other firm will provide a more hands-on approach to managing your project.

Cost Estimating
All projects, large or small, operate within a finite budget. Compromise, creativity, cost- cutting, and value judgments are a normal part of the design process. Finding the balance between creative design, quality appearance, durable construction, and value comes with experience and practice. Helping our clients make value judgments starts at the programming phase and endures until the building’s grand opening day and beyond. Our team has the unique ability to provide accurate preliminary estimates, backed up by a proven track record of creating project efficiencies resulting in real cost savings.

Bid Solicitation
Our philosophy is to assure you that all capable subcontractors, equipment providers, and material suppliers are knowledgeable of your project and invited to bid on their respective divisions of work. We utilize the various Builders Exchanges, Dodge Reporting Service, Market & Johnson’s own in-house “Bid Notification Software,” and direct phone contacts. As design nears completion, an appropriate list of bidders is identified, pre-qualified, and recommended.

Buying Power
As the area’s leader, Market & Johnson purchasing power from subcontractors and material suppliers is unmatched in the industry. This buying power is evident in not only our competitiveness but also our record of project savings.
Building Information Modeling (BIM). We are experienced and have the capabilities to do 3D Modeling, in fact, we often utilize 3D modeling on many of our projects and have found it to be a useful tool during planning and design, as well as during construction.
 
Value Engineering
As your construction expert, we will work closely with the project team to evaluate and develop different options, alternatives, and ideas on the best way to cost effectively complete your project. A building project is designed with hundreds of options to accomplish the project goals. Our role is to identify those options, provide accurate up front and life-cycle costing and allow the team to make educated decisions. We manage that process throughout the entire project, not just during the design as many good cost savings opportunities come when actual construction is going as well.

LEED and Green Initiatives
Market & Johnson has been practicing sustainable construction processes for many years. We employ four LEED accredited professionals and have completed dozens of projects that are either certified or are certifiable. We will work closely with the design team to incorporate LEED items that are cost effective and have a realistic payback period. We have found in our experience that it is easy to accumulate LEED points, but we pride ourselves in incorporating the items that are providing the largest returns for our clients in the areas of shorter paybacks, lower upfront costs, more durability, and better for long term maintenance.

Project Cost Controls
Controlling project costs is always an owner’s major concern. Our team is always on top of cost controls by performing weekly and monthly reports to compare the budgeted costs to the actual costs. This process acts as a proactive means to red flag any potential problem areas.

Project Scheduling
Market & Johnson is known for completing projects on time by developing realistic schedules and then adhering to them. Our success is a direct result of thorough scheduling and planning up front, and consistent schedule monitoring during all phases.
 
Project Safety
Our full-time safety director leads a very proactive safety program that produces positive results and creates safe projects. Our safety program is based on continual training, on-site evaluation, site specific plans and a motivational incentive plan. Preplaning is also a major component of our program. By proper planning, we can create plans for those activities that possess a safety risk. We then can develop a specific training for that activity ahead of time.

Project Communication
Market & Johnson has developed a tool that is web-based, available 24 hours a day and is easy for clients, subcontractors, and architects to use. Our system provides access to all project data, schedule, budgets, RFI, PR, meeting minutes.

Project Close Out
The project close-out phase may seem rather small when compared to the scope of your entire project, but we feel very strongly that this phase is vitally important to bringing a project to a satisfactory completion. Our team will work diligently to accomplish items such as punch list items, system start-up, and testing, and explore potential extended warranties.
As an added precaution, an Eleventh Month Inspection will be completed where our team will review the entire project, looking for anything that may fall within the minimum one-year warranty period. This time frame allows us the opportunity to make any needed corrections and have them fall within the minimum one-year warranty period.