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| Lamar Construction Turns 70 | | January 15, 2008 | | This year marks West Michigan-based Lamar Construction Company's 70th anniversary. Since its humble beginnings in Holland, Michigan, Lamar Construction has earned a reputation as one the region's premier commercial construction firms.
Company founder Peter Lamar began building houses with his family in the lakeshore area in 1938. Peter's son Russell assumed ownership in 1945, and with his siblings eventually expanded into the commercial construction market. Lamar Construction's first non-residential project was the rebuilding of Montello Park Christian Reformed Church after it was severely damaged in a fire. Following the success of this project, Lamar Construction went on the build dozens of churches in the Holland area.
For a period of several years, Lamar Construction Company was virtually the only commercial general contractor in the Holland area and by the late 1950s had begun assembling its portfolio of industrial, manufacturing, and municipal projects.
By 1958, Russell Lamar's sons Bob, Carl, and Don were playing integral roles in the day-to-day operations of the company. Over the following two decades, Lamar Construction continued to grow and further establish itself in the West Michigan construction landscape.
After nearly 40 years at the helm, Russell Lamar retired in 1982, leaving his three sons with the company's managerial duties. With 7-digit annual revenues, a fully equipped steel erection division, a facility maintenance team, and scores of employees, Lamar Construction pushed forward into the 1980s and '90s, continuing to grow financially and with respect to geographical reach. By the time Bob Lamar took sole ownership of the firm in 1995, Lamar Construction Company was breaking ground throughout the state of Michigan.
Two years later, in 1997, managers and long time employees Carl Blauwkamp and George Holmes took on partial ownership. In 2001, Bob Lamar retired from his position as CEO, leaving Blauwkamp and Holmes at the reigns of a company now posting tens of millions of dollars in annual revenue and with a staff of over 100 employees.
Eager to maintain Lamar Construction's forward momentum, CEO Blauwkamp and executive vice president Holmes aggressively invested in both human and material resources. Since 2001, the total staff has grown to over 160 employees and Lamar Construction's fleet of vehicles and machinery has been expanded dramatically. The philosophy of growing capacity to accommodate not only current business, but desired future volume as well has been an underlying principle in the executive decision-making process over the past seven years.
Perhaps Lamar Construction Company's most notable investment to date has been in its new corporate headquarters in Hudsonville. Completed in the summer of 2007, this multi-million dollar, 46,000 square foot facility has already garnered national attention. Designed by the award-winning team at Integrated Architecture, the building's centerpiece is a 120 foot structural steel cantilever—one of the largest of its kind in the United States.
Looking into 2008 and beyond, sole co-owners Blauwkamp and Holmes hope to buck the downward economic trends currently affecting the commercial construction industry in Michigan. Diversifying the company's range of services has been one key to continued growth. Lamar Construction has recently established a development services division and is securing construction management opportunities in and out of state, as opposed to strictly general contracting or design/build projects, which have traditionally been the firm's mainstays. These components combined with its existing conventional/pre-engineered steel erection divisions, facility maintenance division, and carpentry shop are intended to maximize Lamar Construction Company's opportunities in the construction field in the years to come.
This article originally appeared in the January 2008 edition of Business Update
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| | Lamar Honored with Three ABC 2007 Construction Awards | | November 7, 2007 | | At the October 25, 2007 ABC-West Michigan Chapter
awards banquet in Hudsonville, MI, Lamar Construction Company received three "Excellence in Merit Shop Construction" awards for the following projects:
Colonial Clock Building - Historical Renovation under $5 Million
Founders Bank & Trust Building - Renovation $750K-$5 Million
Lamar Construction Corporate Headquarters - Structural Steel over $250K
Lamar Construction Company is honored to be among the company of the other contractors and professionals recognized this year.
See the entire awards banquet program here.
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| | Lamar Featured in World Architecture News | | July 25, 2007 | Lamar Construction Company's recently completed corporate headquarters in Hudsonville has been profiled in World Architecture News (www.worldarchitecturenews.com).
FLOATING HEADQUARTERS
Integrated Architecture and Lamar Construction have designed and built the new Lamar Construction Headquarters
Integrated Architecture designed the largest structural steel cantilever in the U.S. to showcase the steel erection capability of Lamar Construction in their new corporate head quarters. Recognized as master builders, Lamar Construction's office literally illustrates the nuts and bolts of their work as massive steel beams, painted construction orange, define individual work space, creating rigid boundaries that flow into common space. The 5,200 SF cantilever floats above the construction company's tool room and carpentry shop, giving the management team an uncompromised view of the surrounding countryside, while creating a landmark building that’s reportedly stopped traffic on the near by freeway. Lamar Construction and Integrated Architecture have worked together as design/build partners on numerous projects ranging from small retail tenant fit-outs to 300,000 SF expansions of industrial manufacturing complexes.
Read the original article.
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| | Lamar Moving to Hudsonville | | April 9, 2007 | Lamar Construction Company will be moving to its new home in Hudsonville by the end of May 2007. The new facility will contain a 30,000 sq. ft. shop and over 16,000 sq. ft. of office space. The defining feature of this unique building, visible from I-196, is a 52 ft. x 100 ft. structural steel cantilever, one of the longest in the United States.
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| | Timing is Right for Freightliner of Kalamazoo | | June 25, 2005 | KALAMAZOO, Mich. - - It is the nature of business, the climate is in a constant state of change. No one knows this better than Roger VerLee, owner of Freightliner of Kalamazoo. In the year 2000, VerLee purchased 25 acres adjacent to Interstate-94 with the intention of moving Freightliner of Kalamazoo out of their rented property, at 2109 Olmstead, by constructing a facility that was both state-of-the-art and easier to access, off exit 66, in Mattawan. The plan was sound, however executing it was put on hold as the events of September 11th and the subsequent down turn in the economy unfolded. Now, five years later, Freightliner is poised to break ground for their new sales and service truck dealership on Saturday, June 25th at 10:30 a.m.
According to Mick Schorle, General Manager for Freightliner of Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo, the timing is now right. "We have outgrown our ability to service our customers effectively. With the new facility we will double our capacity, allowing us to provide the top-notch service Freightliner customers have come to expect." Schorle attributes much of the need for the new facility to a growing customer base. "We are building because of the efforts of our team over the past ten years. Our staff of 32 is a cohesive group that has dedicated themselves to meeting the needs of our customers. Because of that dedication we have established a customer base large enough to necessitate the need to construct a larger facility."
The 46,500 square foot facility is scheduled for a November 2005 completion. Highlights of the facility include galvanized metal panels, split-face masonry, and gray decorative Dri-design panels. In addition the building will boast 24 truck service bays, a lounge for customers which will feature a laundry room and areas to sleep, and a five-ton Bridge crane. Lamar Construction of Holland has been chosen as the General Contractor for the Design/Build project while Ken Dixon A.I.A., of Dixon Environmental Architecture, Inc. will serve as the project architect.
Planning for the new facility exceeds the short-term as both the building and the site have been developed with future expansion capabilities in mind. According to Scott Rawlings, Dealer Principal and Chief Financial Officer, once the new dealership is up and running the plan is to "develop the remainder of the property with business's that will compliment Freightliner and cater to our customer base. We envision the site to include a hotel, restaurant, and a truck wash, pending approval by the planning commission." Says Rawlings, "we look forward to bringing a top-notch facility and surrounding businesses to both our customers and the greater Kalamazoo community".
Freightliner of Kalamazoo, a division of Freightliner of Grand Rapids, is a franchised medium and heavy-duty truck dealership, providing sales and service for the Freightliner brand of commercial vehicles. The Freightliner brand accounts for 33% of the trucks on our nation's highways today. | | ^ top | | |
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