Clients, Community and Colleagues
W.E. Lyons Construction builds on multigenerational connections
Founded in a time when a handshake and a promise were enough to construct a multimillion-dollar project, W.E. Lyons Construction Co. holds fast to its founder’s principles even as it excels in today’s more complex building environment.
Established in 1926 by William E. (Bill) Lyons, the company is one of the oldest general contracting and design-build firms in the western United States, with experience in a wide range of markets ranging from commercial and manufacturing to multifamily housing and retail. The company is now in its third generation of Lyons family leadership with Greg Lyons, a man who grew up listening to his father, uncle and grandfather (Bill) talk about reliability, responsibility and integrity.
As the current President, Greg believes that construction is all about trust. He adds, “My grandfather built trusted relationships with his customers, his trade partners, his employees and even with his colleagues in the general construction space—and taught his children and grandchildren to do the same. We strive every day to live up to the principles that he ingrained in all of us.”
Silver Linings
Bill was the son of a silver miner, living and working in Tonopah, Nev., in the late 1800s and early 1900s. In fact, Bill also worked the mines from the time he was 12 years old—though he had different dreams.
Bill moved to Berkeley after high school to study civil engineering at the University of California, Berkeley. Upon graduation, he went to work for Standard Oil Company of CA (now Chevron Corp. ). After a few years of designing and constructing large fuel tanks at the refinery, Bill talked to his wife about starting his own company to take advantage of the area’s growing manufacturing and industrial sectors. There was plenty of demand for good engineers and builders to help construct plants, refineries and support systems—and Bill was an old-school engineer who loved nothing more than solving seemingly impossible problems.
With $300 in the bank, he founded W.E. Lyons Construction. The company did well, compared to most, even as the Great Depression took hold. By the mid-1930s, Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal was in place and there was great need for dams, roads, bridges and water works systems as well as more industrial and commercial factories. Bill was especially familiar with the building needs of industrial and commercial factories, and his reputation grew exponentially.
Once World War II began, the U.S. military needed rapid production of war materials from boots to bullets, airplanes to warships. W.E. Lyons Construction Co. designed and built multiple plants in Northern and Southern California for the Rheem Manufacturing Co., which at the time manufactured tanks and artillery for the military. Several projects were also designed and built for Moore Dry Dock, which produced liberty ships for the war effort. Bill was also building a family.
Multi-Family Transitions
Like many construction companies, W.E. Lyons Construction is a second home to family members and the children of employees, many of whom are enlisted to work in the company from a very young age. Bill’s boys, Gary and Richard (Cap), were no exception—and both had plans to build careers in the company at some point. After serving in the Navy, Gary joined the company as an apprentice carpenter, working his way through the union ranks to journeyman and later serving as the general superintendent running all field operations for his father’s company.
Cap attended University of California, Berkeley to earn a business degree with an emphasis in labor relations and production management. Upon graduation, he also did a tour of duty in the Navy and then joined his father’s business, handling estimating and project management. He also continued to serve in the military as a reservist, running one of the West Coast Mobile Inshore Undersea Warfare Units (MIUWU), part of the Navy’s seaward security force. He retired as a Navy captain.
He took over as President of W.E. Lyons Construction in 1972, when Bill retired. Cap and his brother expanded the company’s service market to large multifamily complexes, while still doing commercial/industrial work for long-time past clients. Under their tenure at the helm of W.E. Lyons Construction, the company became a mainstay in the Bay Area multifamily housing market for over 20 years, constructing ground-up projects and rehabilitating large market rate and affordable housing projects.
As a teenager and young adult, Cap’s son, Greg, learned carpentry and other skilled crafts as well as the fundamentals of estimating, material procurement, labor and equipment take-offs. He also discovered how to best manage company resources to improve field operations. He recalls, “At the age of 12, my father got permission from the carpenters union to put me on a job as a ‘timekeeper.’ I’d ride my bike to work every day after school, on weekends and in the summer. I remember during that time we built two schools and the police station in my hometown of Alameda. Of course, I wasn’t just keeping time; I was actually a day laborer shoveling rock. I remember at that time thinking that there was no way I was going to do this for my entire career, and promptly informed my family that I was going to be in management.”
Then Greg went to college to study business administration and information systems at San Diego State University. For a short time, he considered working outside the family business. But Greg, like the generations before him, grew up in construction and wanted to be near family. Soon after, he returned to the San Francisco Bay area and took a position as a junior estimator with his grandfather’s company, primarily supporting the affordable and market rate apartment business.
Returning to its Roots
In the late 1980s, the multifamily market began to struggle, largely due to the savings and loan crisis. Greg encouraged his uncle and father to once again expand the company’s work in the commercial and industrial design-build market.
He says, “I love the complexity of the industrial projects, much like my grandfather, and I really like to help clients find the best possible solution to their manufacturing or production needs, thereby increasing efficiency.” They agreed and Greg began to take on more responsibility in the company.
As his dad and uncle neared retirement, Greg, at the age of 34, took over as President of the company. He bought the business from his dad and uncle in 1997, though his uncle continued to work for him for another eleven years, and his dad another fourteen years.
Greg adds, “I loved working for and with my dad and uncle. There’s something special about running a company with people that you’ve known all your life. There’s no question about integrity or making the right decisions for clients or employees. I learned my values and business principles directly from my dad, father and my grandfather, the latter of which was trusted to complete multimillion-dollar projects with a handshake.”
Under Greg’s leadership, the company’s main focus has returned to commercial and industrial design-build projects, along with continued work for long-time customers in the multifamily rehabilitation housing improvements market. The company operates in Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon and Washington with the main emphasis in the San Francisco Bay area.
Today, W.E. Lyons Construction Co. employs about 45 people and a majority of those individuals have been with the company for most of their careers. As an example, the company has only had three general superintendents in the last 70 years with two of those employees rising through the ranks from entry-level laborers.
Greg says, “We’re a very large extended family of families that spans generations, continuing to build on the principles my grandfather first established in 1926. And we’re still directly involved with the local construction associations to better the industry while holding strong to our relationships with trade partners and our clients. We think that it’s telling that we maintain a better than 90 percent client retention rate. That stat was a differentiator for us in 1926 and it’s a differentiator for us today.”