Nabholz Construction Co. Nurtures CM Relationships

“Construction management” became a local buzz phrase in 2004, but Nabholz Construction Co. has been teaching public schools how that approach can save them money for a decade.

Since 1995 Nabholz’s CM division has served as the virtual general contractor for at least eight major school projects totaling more than $46.6 million. And that’s just big school-related projects.

Ron Montgomery, president of Nabholz’s Ozark Division in Rogers, said three years ago the firm averaged one or two CM projects at a given time. Today, he said, it manages five at once.

Montgomery said construction management is only one part of Nabholz’s trademarked “Total Package” cadre of services, which include a diverse mix of overhead structures to suit large or small projects (detailed at www.nabholz.com). The reason CM services have become so popular, he said, is because a growing number of customers in the market want a “partner” in the building process.

“Schools in particular, with all the growth in the area, need their facilities completed quickly,” Montgomery said. “We’re able to streamline process and allow flexibility along the way when the market dictates price fluctuations on supplies.

“A 20 to 30 percent fluctuation is common, and that can really hurt a school that might have to stop for a reanalysis.”

The CM delivery method differs from serving as a traditional contractor because the CM only acts as the GC and does not do any of the actual work with its employees.

Instead, a CM divides up the project and sub-contracts the entire scope of the work out to others. The subs can be independent or, in the case of a fully integrated construction services firm such as Nabholz, they might be related companies that operate autonomously.

The CM acts as a client advisor overseeing everything that can keep a job within budget and on time. The fee-based service is typically a negotiated and guaranteed percentage of the overall project.

Conflicts of interest are prevented by an ethical bid process and regular evaluations, said Fayetteville Public Schools Superintendent Bobby New.

New said Nabholz’s “technical expertise” and “value-engineering abilities” made it an obvious choice for his district, which is one of Nabholz’s clients.

“They helped us avoid making costly mistakes on the front end,” New said. “They bring quality control and continuity.”

Rob Brothers, president of Arvest Bank-Rogers, said Nabholz and its predecessors have done virtually every project in his district for the last 26 years because “they do what they say they’ll do.”

Last year when Brothers’ branch on New Hope Road caught fire on a Friday afternoon, the flames penetrated the roof. Nabholz worked all weekend to get the branch back open for business by 10 a.m. Monday morning.

With companywide annual revenue of about $250 million, Conway-based Nabholz has between 850 and 900 employees dispersed among its three divisions. Some of Nabholz’s local CM projects include:

• $18.1 million new Gravette High School that was started in December.

• $17 million Fayetteville kindergarten-7th grade building starting this year.

• $956,799 project at Fayetteville’s Vandergriff Elementary School starting this year.