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After 60 years in business, Dan Vos Construction Co. still recognizes its employees as its most valuable asset. The construction company built its relationship over many decades with businesses across West Michigan. It looks to carry that reputation forward as it transitions to a new generation of family ownership. PHOTOS BY: Jeff Hage - Green Frog Photo

By Joe Boomgaard | MiBiz
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ADA — One might think that constructing a building starts with developing a design and setting foundations, but at Dan Vos Construction Co., the act of building starts with the company’s employees.

CEO Gary Vos likes to tell prospective clients that his top priority at all times is his employees, not their project, because if he takes care of the project managers and tradesmen, they’ll consistently deliver quality products.

“I believe that a lot of people say their employees are their greatest asset and don’t do anything about it,” Vos told MiBiz. “I’ve said it all over that employees are more important than our customers. Without satisfied employees, we won’t have satisfied customers. We place a tremendous amount of value on our employees. We care about them. They’ve been the success of this company. We’ve been extremely busy — one of the busiest around — and I give our employees credit for that.”

In 2011, DVCC marks its 60th year in business having been founded in 1951 by Daniel R. Vos, now 92. Gary Vos, his son, has been at the helm of the company for about half that time. In the not-too-distant future, Dan T. Vos, currently the EVP, will begin to take on more of the responsibility as his father and President Gordy DeYoung transition to retirement over the next few years.

The company’s been planning for that transition of control for a few years now to ensure a smooth hand-off and avoid a “fire drill” and all the potential pitfalls that could go with it.

“A succession plan is something a lot of companies don’t pay close enough attention to. It’s a lot of work … but it’s a fun process because my dad had the foresight to start it soon enough,” Dan Vos told MiBiz.

Relationships that last

Over the years, the company has been involved with building some key landmark projects across West Michigan, including major initiatives with Amway, Request Foods, Perrigo, Nestle, Wolverine World Wide, Bissell, Haworth and Hudsonville Creamery and Ice Cream, not to mention more than 170 churches. The company will also build the new 382,000-square-foot Gordon Food Service corporate headquarters in Wyoming, Mich.

Oftentimes, those client relationships have spanned decades and leadership changes, but what keeps the company competitive has been its commitment to its legacy, Dan Vos said.

“We can’t lose sight of what we’re built upon,” he said.

When Gary Vos took over the company, he helped change its culture to be more team driven rather than top down, Dan Vos said. Key to that transition was empowering people to be decision makers, and that’s led to a high retention rate among the company’s more than 70 employees. In fact, 20 employees have been with the company for more than 20 years.

“We’re doing something right because people tend to stay here,” Dan Vos said. “Our family atmosphere is important to folks. I think we have that. We have good people I can trust, and I think the clients trust us, too. We say what we’re going to do.”

That people focus has led DVCC to focus mostly on work in West Michigan. Not all employees are at a place in their personal lives when they can travel away from their families for extended periods to work on long-distance projects.

“That’s just not our culture. It doesn’t mesh well with the family atmosphere and the close-knit relationships to have people traveling all over and away from their families. That’s not something we want to encourage,” Dan Vos said. “Right now, I’m not sure that we get our (share) of the marketplace. We could do a touch better.”

Despite the challenging economic environment over the past few years, Dan Vos said the company has been lucky to link itself to some growing companies and growing industries that haven’t felt the downturn. For example, the last two years, the company has hung its hat on food processing and pharmaceutical projects, which have been nearly 80 percent of its work. Comparatively, the same segments accounted for 60 percent of projects over the last five years, he said.

Lately, revenue and project volume have been relatively steady, although profit margins are getting thinner, an indication of the competitive nature of the industry, Dan Vos said. And while the company has cut some expenses, it’s not had to cut staff or pay. In fact, it recently hired a new project manager after a several-month-long search.

Another long-term driver in the company’s success has been its focus on strong relationships with its subcontractor base. While DVCC has many craftsmen on staff, it still relies on subcontractors to “make or break” projects. The American Subcontractors Association of Michigan singled out DVCC as Contractor of the Year in 2010, based on bid ethics and how the company runs its jobs.

Building the reputation

In the past, the company relied on having at least one major project a year, and with such an extensive client list, oftentimes the work simply found its way to DVCC’s doorstep. For example, its legacy in church construction put the company in contact with many business people who served on church building committees, and that led to projects when those companies needed a contractor. The word of mouth engine allowed the company to escape the pressure of having to actively sell itself in the community.

“The past few years, we’re taking more of the image and trying to make sure people know who we are through the marketing end of things. I’m finding we have to change, and I think we didn’t change soon enough. Many years, we didn’t have to go looking for work, … and that worked for a lot of years. We never had to brag about ourselves. The word of mouth was great. We can rely on that, but now we have to talk about ourselves. The reputation is there, the foundation is there, but we just have to make sure people know it,” Dan Vos said.

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• construction
• dan t. vos
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• daniel r. vos
• design build
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• gordy deyoung