Driving Diverse Delivery
Construction can also mean plant set-up and maintenance at Commercial Contracting Corp.
Commercial Contracting Corp. (CCC) is continuing its long ride with customers in the automotive industry—and with those in manufacturing, power and commercial markets—because of its legacy as a qualified, mission-focused “passenger.”
The Auburn Hills, Mich.-based company generates $300 million annually with nearly 70 percent of that related to its work with automotive industry customers. The company specializes in matching each customer’s request with a “can do” response. First comes the building or renovation of factories, plants and warehouses, then the installation of huge equipment to power these structures. Finally, CCC delivers contractual maintenance services on the entire facility for several years.
“We handle lots of challenging projects and we self perform several trades on a project to have more control of the schedule, cost and quality,” says Matt Stone, Director of Business Development. By “self-perform,” he means CCC creates and integrates new services and areas of expertise, which is as much a part of driving up customer satisfaction as it is furthering the company’s business strategy. “Other contractors are only construction managers that experience challenges on projects due to underperformance by subcontractors. By self-performing several areas within the project scope, we control our destiny and quality,” he adds.
Currently, CCC provides general contracting as a starting point, but also offers nine other services needed by most companies: equipment installation, construction management, facilities management, concrete construction, interior construction, engineering, steel fabrication, rigging and plant lifecycle repairs. One of its largest customers, having racked up decades of work together, is General Motors (GM)—which frequently relies on CCC for most, if not all, of its services, says Stone. GM projects make up more than 20 percent of CCC’s revenue.
“The more we bring to the table, the more appealing we are to them,” says Anthony Fanone, CCC’s Director of Construction.
Makes and Models
Besides GM, CCC’s clients include automotive giants Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and Ford, as well as industrial-sector companies, such as Marathon Petroleum, Consumers Energy, and municipalities, like the city of Detroit. CCC also serves customers in the higher education, health care and government markets. Recent projects have included work for Selfridge Air National Guard Base, Harrison Township, Mich., and the University of Michigan and St. Joseph Mercy Surgery, both in Ann Arbor.
The company performed concrete work—foundations, slab-on-grade and slab-on-metal-deck—on the new $863 million Little Caesars Arena, the new home for the beloved Detroit Red Wings that is slated to open this month. Foot traffic will cover 650,000 square feet at the sports and entertainment venue, at which CCC and its Detroit-based partner, Tooles Contracting Group, poured over 61,000 cubic yards of concrete.
CCC also did contract work for a Marathon Petroleum project called the largest in Michigan’s history. CCC performed mass excavation of the original site, along with foundation work and underground utility installation.
“CCC’s work with Marathon has solidified our reputation as one of the best contractors when it comes to jobs that fall under ‘The 3 Ds’—Difficult, Dirty and Dangerous,” Stone says.
The company stays closely entrenched in the auto industry, however. Work has begun on a Chrysler project that will gross $175 million for CCC for both construction and rigging services. Chrysler needs to transform 2.5 million square feet of a Sterling Heights, Mich., assembly plant from its original car-making mission to the production of RAM trucks as well.
The original plant was constructed in the 1970s. Under this new contract, CCC will gut the plant, repurpose it and then install sophisticated equipment for the new assembly line.
“If we can build the building, we can self-perform all the maintenance services too,” Stone says, in illustration of the company’s “consider every angle” motto. “CCC has evolved from performing only equipment installation work at automotive and steel plants to its current variety of services and project delivery methods for different clients.”
In the Rearview Mirror
The company, launched more than 70 years ago, was originally known as Commercial Carrier Co. It was formed to support the “Big Three” auto manufacturers’ response to mounting concerns about World War II. The commitment of all American industries to do their part to support the war effort meant the auto industry needed to shift from production to make combat-related equipment and ammunition. Commercial Carrier, which hauled new vehicles to regional distribution centers and dealerships at the time, worked to help auto industry plants throughout the Midwest become more industrialized to support the war effort.
After the war, two Commercial Carrier employees—Don Beverage and Bill Pettibone Sr.—bought the company, seeing a future in full-service industrial partnerships that is the mission of CCC today.
While prioritizing millwright and rigging services first, the company soon provided more construction services, too. The timing was perfect. The American auto industry was enjoying the benefits of a nation on the go. Automakers were making technological leaps forward and mass production was maturing. Their factories were striving to keep pace with an industry that had become one of the largest in the U.S. during this time—and CCC was there to help.
CCC’s reputation in construction never let up. The company has appeared on the Engineering News-Record Top 400 Contractors list for the past 13 years.
Consider Every Angle
Since its early days in business, CCC has strived to adhere to its motto of “consider every angle.”
“We’re flexible and we can provide a wide variety of services,” says Fanone. He adds that when clients lack a clear or efficient direction for their project needs, his team is ready to provide guidance on the best solutions to move forward.
That flexibility includes the employee factor. CCC has 165 fulltime employees, but can have up to 2,000 additional craft workers on the payroll for each project.
Latitude also comes from its fleet and equipment holdings. CCC owns $7 million in equipment—776 pieces total. Put together, this fleet of cranes, bulldozers, Somero® Extreme Platform (SXP) LASER SCREED® machines, trucks and lift trucks would make a world unto itself.
The company’s largest percentage of work still comes from building, equipment installation and rigging. In 2016 alone, CCC poured the equivalent of 79 football fields’ worth of 4-inch-thick concrete. This number is high because industrial customers need CCC to pour seemingly unending concrete floors for vast plants, ranging up to hundreds of thousands of square feet of space.
For CCC, successful projects don’t happen by accident. The team models its behaviors and thinking patterns after the beliefs of its founders and other company trailblazers, to always go beyond the call of duty for clients and to consider every aspect and possibility that projects present. As such, CCC has a history for adding services to meet the needs of its clientele, including engineering management.
“A Customer asked [us to provide engineering management] and so we invested in it,” says Stone. “We were then able to draft one contract with a turnkey package. … It’s all part of our willingness to start a self-performing division and then manage and build it with our own labor.”
Even though some services make up a small percentage of CCC’s total work (its maintenance services, for instance, bring in about 6 percent of the total), they all help keep customers happy and help the company retain business.
“We’re more than just a set of systems, procedures and routines; our core processes are an attitude and a way of thinking that serve to clarify our clients’ overall goals,” emphasizes Stone.
Not Just Along for the Ride
The company that gives such attention to its loyal customers returns that loyalty to its own employees. CCC has a three-pronged focus that gives direction to its employees: safety, quality and standards. Through deliberate training and everyone’s attention to these values, the company regularly scores an enviable Experience Modification Rate (EMR) between .60 and .70, well below the industry standard of 1.0.
It’s not all business either. CCC actively supports the communities its employees live and work in, providing both time and financial support to several local charities—and national ones, too. These include the Fallen and Wounded Soldiers Fund, Angels of Hope, Toys for Tots, the Play-Place for Autistic Children, and others. The company has hosted an annual fundraiser golf outing for four years for the Fallen and Wounded Soldiers Fund’s Michigan chapter, raising $250,000 in that time.
Six years ago, CCC was a founding sponsor of The Engineering Society of Detroit’s (ESD’s) golf outing. This annual fundraising event allows ESD to award scholarships to aspiring high school graduates pursuing degrees in engineering fields, and fund engineering student chapters at universities in Michigan. Stone gets personally involved by serving on the event planning committee.
Another way the company gives back is through heavy participation in “Project: Accelerate,” a program developed by the Detroit chapter of the National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC) to increase the knowledge of women working in construction-related careers. For years, CCC has provided educational and career support to help women enter into and succeed in the construction industry.
Fanone serves on Project: Accelerate’s advisory board—for both business and personal reasons. The father of two daughters wants to make sure that, if his children choose construction careers, they will have equal opportunities without the stereotypes and roadblocks that women can experience in this male-dominated industry.
“It’s good for the overall industry to be rounded out this way, especially because of construction worker shortages,” he says.
His keen interest in advancing opportunities in the construction workplace is just another way that CCC continues its legacy of industry leadership in Michigan, the Midwest and beyond.