By Elizabeth W. Pearce

For most businesses, the party is over long before they reach their 60th anniversary. But that’s not the case at Wright Construction. As it celebrates six decades of sustained success, the company continues to improve, expand and excel.
Established in Elkhart, Indiana in 1946, Wright Construction is a full-service, commercial contracting company that designs, manages and builds commercial projects for public and private clients throughout the Southeast. Based in Fort Myers since 1981, the company has completed millions of square feet of commercial space for clients ranging from big-box retailers to school districts in Southwest Florida and beyond. The company also works with municipalities and government agencies on utilities, infrastructure and other public works.
“We love to do the big projects, but we’re not tied to that,” says Fred Edman, president of Wright Construction. “That’s why we’ve broadened our base so that we can service everything for our clients, from the smallest of needs to the largest projects.”
To accomplish that, Wright Construction has remained focused on the concept of “building client loyalty through relentless service.” Edman says it’s a mission that started when his father Ron, then 17, began working with company founder Fred Wright in 1954. It has since become Fred Edman’s mantra, if not obsession.
“I know I talk a lot about relentless service, but that’s what’s driving this company,” says Edman. “It really boils down to what is important to the client. Our clients have a multiplicity of needs, ranging from major projects to small service work. Meeting those needs is really what full service is.”
Based on its ability to deliver, Wright Construction has garnered the long-term loyalty of many high-profile clients. For example, the school districts of Lee and Collier counties, and Shell Point retirement community in south Fort Myers, all have been on Wright’s client list for 20 years or longer. Wright has also been a contractor of choice for retail giant Target, for whom it has built more than 60 projects over the last 14 years.
Despite the transient nature of the construction industry, Edman has made it a priority to cultivate and retain employees. He says that many of Wright’s 60-plus employees have been with the company for 10 or more years, including four who have been there for 20 years (one is the superintendent at Shell Point). “That makes a difference when you’re talking about continuity and long-term projects,” some of which can take years, notes Edman.
This attitude has prompted significant growth at the company, which continues to expand the scope of its services with new divisions and more staff. It has also initiated innovative in-house programs, such as monthly training sessions for project managers and superintendents. Edman also recently restructured Wright’s management arm to ensure it could deliver “relentless customer service” as promised. “We wanted it to be more than a sales phrase,” he says. “We wanted to have the horsepower behind the concept.”
The people behind the added horsepower include Andy Powell, who was recently promoted to Vice-President of Civil Operations after almost eight years with Wright. Keith Moyer (Vice-President of Building Operations) and Mitch Bueltel (Chief Financial Officer) are new to Wright, but well qualified to lead the team. Moyer has more than 30 years’ experience in the construction industry and Bueltel owned and managed an accounting business for 20+ years.
In response to growing demands from the marketplace, Wright has also been ramping up its labor force and broadening the services it offers. Besides adding a small works division, the company has expanded its civil and building divisions, and made a number of internal improvements.
Building Division
Wright’s commercial construction projects run the gamut from small office buildings to entire school campuses, as well as mid-rise condominiums. Current projects in Collier County include: a new elementary school in Immokalee; renovations and additions at several elementary and middle schools; a five-story office building at Vanderbilt Galleria; and the county’s new fleet facility. In addition to parking for all county-owned vehicles, the three-phase project will include a new sheriff’s fleet facility.
In Lee County, Shell Point remains one of Wright’s largest clients. Wright is now doing preconstruction work on a Shell Point facility in Deland, comprising 170,000sf of independent living units in four buildings. Also, the company recently completed approximately $60 million worth of work in the community. Those projects include The Arbor (a 136-unit, assisted living facility), a fourth residential tower in The Woodlands and a parking garage/hurricane shelter.
Elsewhere in the county, Wright just completed a dental facility in Lehigh Acres for Dr. Craig Mayer and a new gymnasium for Cypress Lake High School in Fort Myers. The previous gym was destroyed by Hurricane Charley in 2004 and needed to be razed. Wright also recently completed work on another Charley casualty, Charlotte County Fire Station #1 in Punta Gorda.
“What was supposed to be a two-phase renovation to the existing building became an entirely new project after Charley,” says Edman, adding that original design plans called for a building capable of withstanding 130 mph winds. However, having seen first-hand the damage that 130mph winds can do, Charlotte County officials chose to do what growing numbers of clients are doing and upgraded the station’s design to handle 170mph wind loads.
“That’s a big investment,” says Edman. “But at least now residents won’t have to wonder if their fire or police department will be able to respond after a big storm comes through.”
Civil Division
The civil division specializes in all things horizontal, including the construction of roads, utilities, ball fields, parks, wastewater treatment plants and similar large-scale projects. Edman emphasizes that all the division’s employees are highly qualified in their field. “They’re not building guys pretending to know dirt and pipe. These are highly skilled specialists.”
Recently-completed projects include: a deep-water injection well pump station at the Collier County Reclamation Facility; the 10-Mile Canal Linear Park; and a soil remediation project at a future condominium site in east Fort Myers, among others. The division is also nearing completion on the Marco Lakes Aqua Lake Recovery Storage System, as well as the Ave Maria wastewater treatment plant, in conjunction with CH2Mhill, an international construction management company.
Wright has also been awarded the contract to renovate and expand the Fort Myers Yacht Basin, where it has been making emergency repairs on the seawall, sidewalks and utilities. Construction of the multi-phase project will start this summer, and include new finger docks, seawalls and yacht master’s building, as well as some dredging operations.
Metal Division
In response to soaring construction costs, Wright Construction has established a metal building division. It is an authorized dealer for Varco-Pruden, which manufactures pre-engineered metal buildings.
According to Edman, metal buildings are less expensive and less time-consuming to build than conventional buildings, and they look just as good. Further, as the Punta Gorda fire station proves, a metal building “isn’t grandpa’s pole barn. To construct a structure such as the fire station, everything is heavier gauge and reinforced, and we used a lot more screws (than usual).”
Small Works Division
Wright’s newest division is designed to be a one-stop shop for clients with a range of service needs. “Whether our client needs to have a large building constructed or a new door installed, one call to us takes care of it all,” says Edman. Equipped with service vans, and staffed by superintendents, carpenters, laborers and others, the division is well prepared to service multiple clients. A separate department is devoted exclusively to addressing any and all code compliance issues – a growing part of the business due to ever-changing building codes.
Expanding relationships with the school boards in Lee and Collier counties have also presented Wright with new opportunities. In the Lee County School District, for example, Wright Construction has performed more than 1,500 code compliance repairs on 40 schools in the district’s south zone. In addition, over the last three years the company has hooked up more than 300 portable classrooms countywide to accommodate the unprecedented influx of new students. According to Edman, it’s not unusual to see 30-40 modular units on a single site in this year’s plans with the district.
“Actually, the portables were what started this division years ago,” he recalls. “We recognized that we were addressing a need that many other contractors either weren’t interested in or weren’t staffed to handle. So we filled that gap.” Wright has also been called upon by the Collier County School Board to remove shade structures at numerous elementary schools as hurricanes are approaching the area. As storm season passes, Wright is then called upon for the reinstallation.
Additional Services
While two years of hurricanes have increased the demand for Wright’s services, they have also prompted improvements that will allow the company to quickly respond to customers after a storm. “We’ve upgraded our office with a new, propane-powered generator system and redundant Internet service in case one provider goes down,” says Edman.
The company is also upgrading its entire network computer system to allow better communications between field and office, regardless of storms. For example, its new quality-control program enables superintendents to instantly access key project information, and communicate with owners, architects and Wright headquarters via tablet PCs.
Further, to simplify and expedite the bidding process, Wright Construction now uploads all of its plans and specs onto the company Web site. That way, subcontractors can view the information on their computers and create estimates without ever leaving their office. “It also lowers the cost to our clients because we’re (saving on) paper and printing,” Edman adds.
To celebrate its 60-year anniversary, Wright Construction is publishing a commemorative magazine to distribute to customers, developers and others in construction-related businesses, starting this summer. By the end of the year, it also expects to begin construction on a new office/warehouse facility in southern Charlotte County. Edman says the additional space will help alleviate crowding at the Fort Myers headquarters and facilitate the company’s northward expansion. “As our clients continue to see the efforts we make in meeting their needs, we always believe they will continue to make the ‘Wright’ choice.”

Popularity: 1%