Qualities like honesty, integrity and responsibility are not always easy to find in corporate America. In a world where the bottom line receives the highest priority, it is refreshing to learn about a company that bases its priorities on the same principles on which it was founded. West Point, Georgia-based Batson-Cook is just such a company.

W.C. Batson and Edmund Cook established Batson-Cook Company in 1915 in West Point. The company started by constructing industrial plants and mill villages and quickly added military and other government contracts to its portfolio. “We adapt to the times,” says Leon Moody III, executive vice president. “We’ve been through the Great Depression and the two world wars and have had to adapt depending on what was available during those times.”

During World War II, the company formed a joint venture with two other contractors in Jacksonville, Florida, to build the Naval Air Station, an undertaking equivalent to a $600 million project today. “Since then, we’ve maintained the same philosophies,” Moody notes. “We always try to use advanced technologies and hire the best people. We’ve stayed very focused in our area of operations, which is the southeastern United States.”

Today, Batson-Cook offers a wide range of services and builds all types of properties, including office, educational, healthcare, residential, retail, religious facilities and parking. However, everyone you talk to will be quick to say that it is the company’s employees and fundamental principles that are the top priority and backbone of the firm.

First Things First

“The success of the company is in the people and relationships that we have,” says David Barksdale, senior vice president and general manager of the Jacksonville office. In fact, ‘the first thing we build is the relationship’ is a phrase commonly used by Batson-Cook executives. “Our company was founded on that principle,” says Moody, who has been with the company for 15 years. “We’ve always insisted that everybody operate with skill, integrity and responsibility, and show respect to everyone we deal with. And in a way that’s been the secret of our success. That coupled with good business and day-to-day practices.”

Batson-Cook’s teamwork approach to doing business with clients, architects and engineers has helped the company form lasting relationships. “The more recent delivery system with construction management really just falls in line with the teaming process we started back in the ’60s,” explains Donald Farris, senior vice president and general manager of the Tampa, Florida, office. “This involves doing the preliminary, pre-construction work with them and working all the way through. We become one of them when they hire us — we consider ourselves just another party on their team.”

“We’ve been in business a long time, and the percentage of repeat work that we do is evidence of what we feel is important, and that’s the relationship with the owner as well as the subcontractors, architects — the whole team,” says Barksdale.

Dedication

“The company believes in being fair, doing the right thing and living up to its obligations,” says Randall Thompson, senior vice president and general manager of the Atlanta office. “Batson-Cook never backs away from a problem. The company stands up and does the right thing, even when it costs us money. In the process of doing business, the company demands that we do business fairly — and it’s not something that we give lip service to.”

The professionals at Batson-Cook consider themselves to be problem solvers with original and creative solutions. “That’s certainly something that I think is attractive to the owners of today: contractors that are not only problem solvers but whose solutions are innovative,” says Randall Hall, senior vice president and general manager of the West Point office. “Our people are dedicated and loyal, and their intent is to do the right thing. That wasn’t always something that set you apart; today it is. Another asset is that we really do enjoy construction.”

Thompson, who has 30 years’ experience in the construction industry, has held a number of different positions and managed a considerable amount of work over the course of his career. He has been with Batson-Cook for the past 24 years. “I’ve been successful in dealing with our clients, and many have continued to be repeat customers for us. That’s important to Batson-Cook,” he says.

Experience

It is typical of Batson-Cook executives to have decades of experience, like Thompson. In some cases, this is the only construction company for which many of them have worked. “The main reason that I have stayed with Batson-Cook is because of the company philosophy and the personal examples that are set by the president and CEO,” says Thompson.

The current president and COO, Raymond Moody Jr., began his career with Batson-Cook in 1963 as a field engineer and has held multiple positions throughout the course of his career. “For more than 8 decades, Batson-Cook has been known as one of the most reputable and ethical construction firms in the country,” says Raymond Moody. “We provide clients with the best professional service and quality while maintaining our corporate culture of being honest and ethical. This is of the utmost importance to the management of Batson-Cook.” The company’s chairman and CEO, Edmund Glover, represents the third generation of the founding families. He has been with Batson-Cook since 1963 when he started as an office engineer.

“When we bring people into the organization, we look for people who want to make a career with us,” says Barksdale, who has been with the firm for 27 years. “We look at everyone we hire as a long-term commitment. We train them and develop them in the construction industry to have a real, well-rounded foundation in the industry. The people are the key to our success.”

Diversity

Another key to the company’s success is diversity. While development of new office buildings — a property type for which Batson-Cook is known — has decreased of late, the company has been able to concentrate more on other market segments that are not affected as greatly by economic conditions.

“We’ve always tried to be diversified, to work in market segments that are kind of a check-and-balance in terms of the economy,” says Barksdale. “Education and healthcare are two areas that are always going to be there and are not as reflective of the economy.”

The Atlanta office, which is also responsible for work in the Carolinas, recently started a project at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. This extensive renovation of Memorial Hall, a performing arts center, also involves demolition of part of the existing structure and an addition to the building. “We’re continuing to look at work that the University has available in Chapel Hill,” says Thompson.

Other North Carolina projects include two that were recently completed in Charlotte: Hearst Tower, a 1.1 million-square-foot office building for Bank of America, and The Ratcliffe on the Green, a $53 million mixed-use development and urban park. In Atlanta, the company is in the process of building a 22-story high-rise condominium, called Paces 325. “So there’s some residential work that continues to be done,” says Thompson. “This is one part of the market that’s still active.” He notes that healthcare and religious facilities are other types of properties that continue to provide construction work for the Atlanta office.

Over the past several years, the Jacksonville office’s workload has been divided equally among educational, medical/healthcare and retail. “We do a lot of work with Flagler College, such as dormitories,” says Barksdale. “We’ve been doing a lot of work for the local Duval County school district; we recently finished a $10 million renovation project of an existing school for the arts, and we have several more projects that are scheduled to start.”

Approximately 70 percent of the work done by the Tampa office is educational and healthcare, according to Farris, who has served with Batson-Cook for 20 years. Recent projects include the renovation of and addition to the former McKay Auditorium at the University of Tampa. The building, which now serves as the John H. Sykes College of Business, was originally built in 1925. The Tampa office has also completed five jobs with Hillsborough County schools in the last 2 years.

The West Point office completed The Southern Pine at Callaway in Pine Mountain, Georgia, last year. This facility is registered for LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification. If received this summer, it will be the first certified conference center in the United States. The new LEED program, which involves energy and environmental conservation, is also being implemented at the Little White House Museum and historical renovation project in Warm Springs, Georgia. Batson-Cook recently began work on the project, which Hall notes is significant because it is the first design/build project for the Georgia State Financing and Investment Commission (GSFIC). “The GSFIC and the Department of Natural Resources recently put out a design/build package not only to renovate portions of that historical property but add a gatehouse and a museum so that it can become more of a public attraction,” explains Hall, who has 20 years’ experience in construction and construction management, 6 of which have been with Batson-Cook.

With a 2002 construction volume of $236 million, it’s evident that Batson-Cook continues to make its mark on the Southeast. But even with its history of constructing high quality buildings throughout the region, the accomplishment of which the company is most proud is the relationships it has built.

Excellence

Today, Batson-Cook is still privately held and maintains its headquarters in West Point. With over 300 employees in four regional offices, Batson-Cook offers a variety of construction services including pre-construction, general contracting, construction management and design/build.

With the range of skills and services that the company has to offer, the executives want people to know that Batson-Cook is the best-kept secret around. “We do the things that every general contractor talks about, and we can prove it,” says Thompson. “We can give examples of owners that we’ve helped in different ways, such as finding ways to get their project under budget or guaranteeing the cost early. We do what we say we’re going to do, we finish on time, we stay in the budgets, and we don’t have claims and disputes.”

Short- and long-term goals for the company are to continue what it has always done: cultivate client relationships — not just with its product, but also with its principles. If the past 88 years are any indication, the future is bright for Batson-Cook.


©2003 France Publications, Inc. Duplication or reproduction of this article not permitted without authorization from France Publications, Inc. For information on reprints of this article contact Barbara Sherer at (630) 554-6054.