Wolverine Building Group expands to Southeast Michigan with acquisition

Wolverine Building Group expands to Southeast Michigan with acquisition
Aaron Jonker, president and co-owner of Wolverine Building Group

Editor’s note: This story has been updated with comments from Wolverine Building Group President and co-owner Aaron Jonker.

GRAND RAPIDS — Wolverine Building Group has expanded its footprint to Southeast Michigan with the acquisition of Brighton-based construction firm Contracting Resources Inc.

Contracting Resources has 21 employees and offers construction management services to health care, retail, religious, commercial and medical office markets. The company was founded in 2001 by Jim Barnas, a Brighton native who has 40 years of industry experience. 

Barnas plans to continue working at Contracting Resources through the end of 2021 during the transition before retiring. 

 

Wolverine Building Group President and co-owner Aaron Jonker told MiBiz the deal was an opportunity to accelerate Wolverine’s growth in Southeast Michigan.

 

“This was a really great company and a great team,” Jonker said. “After a lot of due diligence, this felt like they fit really great with our team, and it was a strong cultural fit.”

Miller Johnson PLC and Beene Garter LLP were legal and financial advisers, respectively, for Wolverine, while Rocket Advisory Group LLC advised Contracting Resources. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Wolverine specializes in industrial, multi-unit residential, health care, office, restaurant, and retail construction projects and has more than 150 employees.

This latest acquisition comes after Wolverine bought Houseman Construction in 2009, which led to work in the national restaurant and retail industry and resulted in the management of projects in 38 states. 

In 1995, Wolverine also acquired Fryling Construction, which specialized in multi-unit residential and shopping. This allowed for Wolverine to make its name in student housing, senior living, affordable housing and market rate rental apartments.

Adding about 20 new, quality employees was another key part of the Contracting Resources deal, Jonker said.

“In general contracting, we all have relationships that continue to provide business opportunities to us, but the reality is you never know where the next project is coming from, so adding these new people was a big piece of the puzzle,” Jonker said.