Companies ranked on the 2024 ENR MidAtlantic Top Contractors list gave themselves some financial cushion against the uncertainty of working in an election year.
“History shows that in the four-year presidential cycle, the fourth year typically sees a modest pullback in the markets during the second half of the year as we prepare for the election,” says Camilo Garcia, head of the business unit from the DC/Baltimore offices in DPR Construction. DPR is No. 10 on this year’s list, posting $984.73 million in regional revenue.
Based on 2023 billed revenue in Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia, this year’s ranking includes 60 companies that collected $34.5 billion in regional revenue, a 9.5 % more than the top 60 companies in last year’s survey. , which posted a collective $31.5 billion.
Graph by ENR
This year’s ranking saw most of the gains come from companies that ranked in the top 10. The 10 largest companies had collective regional revenue of $19.84 billion, up 10.7% from last year, when the top 10 companies brought in combined revenue of $17.92 billion. Last year’s top 10 companies saw a 12.49% increase over the $15.93 billion reported by the previous year’s top 10 companies.
This year, all but one of the top 10 companies reported revenues of more than $1 billion.
DPR remains hopeful despite a 16.7% decline in revenue from last year’s $1.2 billion. Garcia expects to see “steady growth” in the healthcare, life sciences and mission-critical data center sectors. “We continue to be optimistic about the strength of our economy and our industry locally,” says Garcia. “We need leaders in the executive suite and government to align on the importance of revitalizing our cities to create a hub of learning, industry and culture to drive innovation and development.”
Gilbane, in partnership with WarrenBuilds, is providing preconstruction and construction management services for Morgan State University’s Thurgood Marshall Hall Phase 3, a 12-story student housing complex.
Photo of Multivista, courtesy of Gilbane Building Co.
Top Dogs
Order was restored to the top three this year as Whiting-Turner regained its No. 1 position. Last year, Whiting-Turner fell from the top spot in the rankings for the first time since 2018. The behemoth of Baltimore grew its regional revenue by 24% this year, to $4.05 billion. The company’s $3.27 billion in regional revenue in last year’s survey placed it behind HITT Contracting Inc. and Clark Construction Group.
“History shows that in the four-year presidential cycle, the fourth year typically sees a modest pullback in the markets during the second half of the year.”
—Camilo Garcia, business unit leader, DPR Construction
With $3.61 billion in revenue, HITT remains second on the list for the second year in a row. Clark Group fell two slots, to No. 3, with $3.34 billion. That was 9.73% lower than the company’s $3.7 billion in regional revenue last year. Clark, which was also No. 1 in 2018, enjoyed a 28.92% increase in revenue last year from $2.87 billion the year before. HITT’s $3.39 billion in revenue last year followed a 53.39% increase in revenue from the $2.21 billion it posted the year before.
Jumping four spots to No. 4 is Holder Construction at $1.53 billion, up 54% from the company’s $992 million last year.
Gilbane Building Co. improved one position to No. 5, with $1.45 billion, up 23% from last year’s $1.18 billion. Ted Holt, Gilbane’s senior vice president and leader of the MidAtlantic division, says the company has focused on “strengthening our resilience through healthy market diversification. The post-pandemic years have only strengthened that focus by highlighting the importance of adapting to new opportunities”.
He adds: “Leveraging Gilbane’s supply chain team and sophisticated procurement services, such as direct sourcing and close relationships with key industry suppliers, provides our customers with predictability in terms of quality, cost and schedule.”
Graph by ENR
Healthy markets
Holt says the healthcare market continues to perform almost as well as it did last year. This year, 29 companies reported a combined $3.18 billion worth of healthcare work, down 1.2% from the $3.22 billion posted by the industry’s top 29 companies last year, which was down 15 .50% over the $3.87 billion in this sector in the previous year’s survey. . This year, Gilbane ranks fourth in the healthcare industry with revenue of $237.14 million.
“Almost every health system we’re working with has expanded behavioral health services, has been planning improvements to emergency departments, or [are] upgrade aging infrastructure systems,” says Holt.
Turner ranks higher in healthcare than Gilbane, with $249.31 million in industry revenue. Overall, Turner is No. 8, with $1.26 billion. The company ranked fourth last year with $1.3 billion in regional revenue.
Dave Kaminski, vice president and general manager of Turner’s Philadelphia office, notes that the education market is doing well. According to the survey, 31 companies reported $3.21 billion in revenue from the education sector, up 20.68% from the $2.66 billion made by the top 31 companies last year.
This year’s ranking of the company reported $4.78 billion in transportation work, up 33.68% from last year’s $3.17 billion. Turner recently began construction on the $595 million east wing of Dulles International Airport in northern Virginia.
“Being in the middle of an active election year, coupled with uncertainty about the Fed’s next move on interest rates, there are a few different directions the market could turn,” Kaminski says. “That said, we have a large amount of work in progress and are active with our customers for future work that positions us very well moving forward.”
