KCC Cometh: Plans, Promise Cause Killian To Dive Into Pinnacle Scene

William F. Killian said he’s seen boom markets like Northwest Arkansas before. He just never decided to double the size of his construction company in them.r

The president and CEO of national dynamo The Killian Group of Companies, Killian recently won the contract to manage construction at the Pinnacle Towers and Pinnacle Promenade complex in west Rogers. He said the proposed 875,000-SF worth of combined office and retail opulence was only one motivator for launching an Arkansas division.r

Killian said his firm’s first satellite expansion in its 55-year history is a product of Northwest Arkansas’ long-term potential. He predicts the Rogers branch will reach 50 full-time workers in two years — equaling the size of The Killian Group’s Springfield, Mo., headquarters.r

“The one time I did see something like Northwest Arkansas was when gaming was approved in Biloxi, Miss., or maybe when Branson took off during the 1990s with its building craze,” Killian said. “Yeah, we’ve seen boom areas before. But this is an anomaly. We’re excited enough about the Northwest Arkansas market that we want a full-time presence there and to become part of that community.”r

Killian said his privately held firm doesn’t release its annual revenue figures. According to the Springfield Business Journal, The Killian Group had $47 million in 2002 billings, down about 10 percent from its reported $52 million for 2001. But billings for commercial contractors typically have dramatic fluctuations and the firm’s backlog (billings in the pipeline) is about $80 million, according to the Springfield publication.r

Any analysis would place The Killian Group among the area’s top commercial contractors, probably somewhere between Nabholz Construction Corp.’s market-leading $86.8 milllion in 2002 billings and competitor Crossland Construction’s $42 million.r

That makes The Killian Group — which includes three subsidiaries in KCC Contractors Inc., Design Build Partners Inc. and Killian Construction Co. — an instant threat in one of the nation’s fastest growing markets. John Q. Hammons, chairman and CEO of publicly traded Killian-client John Q. Hammons Hotels Inc., said Killian is getting into Rogers at the right time.r

Killian has built 10 hotels for Hammons, including the $45 million Embassy Suites at Pinnacle Hills, and the pair share a Beachjet 400 airplane.r

Hammons has already announced plans to build a 250-room Marriott Hotel and a 100,000-SF convention center adjacent to the local Embassy Suites. Hammons said the two new pieces next to the 88-acre Pinnacle Hills puzzle would be worth at least $75 million.r

“In the next two years, there will be over a billion [dollars] spent in the Pinnacle area,” Hammons said.r

There are already 15 major commercial contractors in the two-county market, but Killian reminds that his firm has done local work before. It built the Northwest Arkansas Convention Center in Springdale alongside Hammons’ Holiday Inn Springdale. And Jack Climer, Killian’s director of development and pointman in Rogers, said the firm will pursue additional projects outside the Pinnacle community.r

“Our goal is to provide another resource for quality construction,” said Killian, whose firm is a member of the Associated Building Contractors.r

“There are several good contractors here, and we realize that, but we think there is room for more.”r

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Moving Forwardr

Killian took over the family business in 1993 (see story, p. 17). He said his vision was to take the company into construction services for clients and expand its client base beyond a 100-mile radius around Springfield. Killian has emphasized quality employees and technology, a combination that enables the firm to keep multiple project managers and superintendents working all over the country.r

Live Webcams at the company’s Internet site, www.killco.com, are a testament to its ability to juggle many multidisciplinary projects at once. Ongoing Killian projects include three hotels for Hammons; a nine-story, 250-suite Embassy Suites hotel in Albuquerque, N.M.; a four-story, 150-suite hotel in Charleston, S.C.; a 12-story, 300-room Embassy Suites in St. Charles, Mo.; and, a $35 million, 8,000-seat minor league AA baseball stadium in Springfield. r

“Survival in today’s competitive world depends on one’s ability to change and adapt to new technology and means of communication,” Killian said. “We are successful because we have the ability to combine the traditional construction services with new innovative methods of project management.”r

The company is integrating an interactive, Web-based project-management system with a software called Prolog from Texas-based BinNet Corp. Killian has downsized his “blue collar craftsmen” and focused more on management. But, he said, The Killian Group will often hire 80-90 percent local subcontractors on any given job.r

“We come into a community more with our hat in our hand and in the spirit of cooperation to make sure it gets done,” Killian said. “We come in and try to work with the local people very closely, and sometimes we’ll work even closer than some of the local people because they are so accustomed to the area.”r

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Large-scale Projectsr

Killian is also the general contractor for the Branson Landing Project — a $306 million redevelopment of 208 acres on the downtown Branson, Mo., waterfront by Lake Taneycomo and a $12 million office building for Jack Henry & Associates in San Diego.r

Despite an already impressive resumé, Killian said completing the high-profile Embassy Suites in Rogers helped him locally. Bill Schwyhart, a principal with Pinnacle Hills developer The Pinnacle Group, agreed.r

“I thought they did such an outstanding job on the Embassy,” Schwyhart said. “Mr. Hammons recommends them and he is very much a part of the project here. When he makes recommendations we listen.”r

Killian said 70-80 percent of his business is repeat customers. r

“You’re only as good as your last project, so we always have to keep the clients happy and meet their expectations,” Killian said.r

Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, Mo., for example, has been a customer of the Killian Group for more than 20 years. Killian has done seven projects for the school worth about $50 million, total.r

Pat Taylor, president of Southwest Baptist, said that the relationship comes down to trust. He also said Killian is difficult to beat when it comes to pricing.r

“We trust [Killian] completely,” Taylor said. “They always do what they say they are going to do, and every project they do for us, we know that they are going to do it right and stand behind it.”r

Tim Graham, another principal with The Pinnacle Group, said Killian’s expertise, particularly in the retail and hospitality sectors, sets the company apart from other contractors.r

“They brought those relationships to us,” Graham said. r