Fulton Construction Coastcon Corp.

Since 1995, Fulton Coastcon Construction has completed $541 million in work, including landmarks such as the Corpus Christi International Airport terminal, American Bank Center Arena, Omni Bayfront Hotel, Christus Spohn Hospital Shoreline Pavilion and Nursing Tower, Whataburger Field and the Federal Courthouse.

The company's publicly funded work has increased in recent years, coinciding with changes in public construction contracting laws, from low-bid-takes-all to a system that grades contractors on reputation and experience in addition to price. From 1985 to 1989, Fulton Coastcon completed $10.5 million in public work. From 2000 to 2005, after the changes in bid practices, Fulton Coastcon did $149.5 million.

Fulton Coastcon customers say they hire the company because it's the most qualified. Competitors and other critics don't disagree. But they say Fulton Coastcon benefits from a cycle that's hard for competitors to break: The company's resume wins contracts, which add further to the resume while retarding competitors' resume growth.