Further growth in 2012 is expected as McCarthy is currently recruiting for more than 60 additional new positions. 

“When employees own the company, as we do at McCarthy, they operate with increased motivation, and that in turn enables continued growth and expansion,” commented McCarthy President and Chief Operating Officer Derek Glanvill. “It is thanks to our culture of ownership and the dedication of our employee owners that we have been able to increase our operations this past year.”

 According to a report from Georgetown University, S ESOPs like McCarthy have been job creators even in tough economic times. While overall employment in the U.S. fell by nearly three percent in 2008, employment at surveyed private, employee-owned firms rose by nearly two percent.

 Further, according to a University of Pennsylvania study, S ESOP companies like McCarthy create not only employee motivation and success, but also $14 billion in new savings for workers each year that they otherwise would not have. This is because profits of the company flow into the ESOP (retirement) accounts of the workers. Moreover, a survey from the National Center for Employee Ownership reported that S ESOP employees can have retirement account balances three to five times higher than the average 401 (k) or other defined contribution plans. This helps to explain why S ESOP company employees can be so successful, as compared with most working Americans who—according to a recent AP poll—think they will lack enough money to live comfortably in retirement.

“Employee-owners work smarter and harder because of their commitment and investment in the business,” said Greg Klein, chairman of the board of directors of the Employee-Owned S Corporations of America. “McCarthy is a prime example of what S corporation ESOP companies can do for workers and for our economy.”

About ESCA
The Employee-Owned S Corporations of America (“ESCA”) is the Washington, DC voice for employee-owned S corporations.  ESCA’s exclusive mission is to preserve and protect S corporation ESOPs and the benefits they provide to the employees who own them.  These companies have an important story to tell policymakers about the tremendous success of the S ESOP structure in generating long-term retirement savings for working Americans and their families.  ESCA provides the vehicle and the voice for these efforts.  ESCA represents employee-owners in every state in the nation. 

About McCarthy
McCarthy (http://www.mccarthy.com/) is one of the nation’s oldest and largest American-owned commercial contractors. Headquartered in St. Louis, the firm has offices in Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, Las Vegas, San Diego, Newport Beach, San Francisco and Sacramento. Repeatedly honored as a Best Place to Work, McCarthy is 100 percent employee owned.  

McCarthy Building Companies Inc., one of the oldest construction companies in America and a 100 percent employee-owned firm, was honored this week with the top 2011 TORCH Award from the Better Business Bureau (BBB) Serving Eastern Missouri and Southern Illinois. The TORCH Award honors excellence in customer service, employee relations and ethical business practices. McCarthy President and Chief Operating Officer Derek Glanvill accepted the award during the ceremony.

“Founded as a small family-owned company in 1864, McCarthy’s long history has been built on the solid values of integrity, trust and an open approach to doing business,” explained Glanvill. “Today, we’ve grown into one of the largest construction companies in America. But, even though times have changed, our guiding principles have not. Being honored with this TORCH Award confirms the principles that guided our builders nearly 150 years ago are still just as relevant today.”

Timothy McCarthy originally founded the company in Ann Arbor, Mich., as a lumber business. His sons moved the firm to St. Louis in 1917, where it has grown into one of the nation’s premier commercial builders known for safely solving the most complex construction challenges. The company became 100 percent employee-owned in 2002, when Michael M. McCarthy, the last significant family shareholder, sold his shares to employees.

“Our ownership culture fosters a level of commitment and dedication that we believe translates directly into world-class customer service,” continued Glanvill. “While we utilize the most sophisticated technology tools in the business, ultimately our reputation is built on how we treat one another – our McCarthy family, clients, industry partners and neighbors in the community. We think that’s what being a true builder is all about.”

With 2010 revenues of $2.5 billion, McCarthy has approximately 1,500 salaried employees across America. In the St. Louis metro area, McCarthy, together with MC Industrial, an independent McCarthy company, has completed work in a variety of market sectors including healthcare, education, commercial, science & technology, industrial, transportation and power. Currently, the firm has more than $500 million in work underway in the region.

McCarthy is the eleventh recipient of the top TORCH Award in the St. Louis region. Former recipients of the award include: Anheuser-Busch Companies, Brown Shoe Corp., Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Monsanto and United Van Lines.

About the Better Business Bureau
The Better Business Bureau (BBB) is a nonprofit, business-supported organization that sets and upholds high standards for fair and honest business behavior. The BBB provides objective advice, free BBB Business Reviews, dispute resolution service, charity wise-giving reports, alerts and educational information on topics affecting marketplace trust. More information is available at http://www.bbb.org/.

About McCarthy
McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. is one of the nation’s oldest and largest commercial construction companies. With a never-ending mission to be the Best Builder in America, the firm is currently the nation’s 10th largest builder (Engineering News-Record, May 2011) and 178th largest private company (Forbes, November 2011). McCarthy offers general contracting, construction management and design-build services for the a variety of project types including: healthcare, education, science and technology, green, entertainment, parking, office, bridges and highways, retail, industrial, tenant interiors and mixed-use. Repeatedly honored as a Best Place to Work, McCarthy is a 100 percent employee-owned private company, or “S corporation employee stock ownership plan” (S ESOP). More information is available online at www.mccarthy.com.

Builder’s Innovative Approach Garners National Recognition from Associated General Contractors of America

McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. one of the nation’s oldest and largest privately-held construction companies and a 100 percent employee-owned business, was honored last week with a 2011 Education Excellence Award from the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC).

Presented during the AGC Training, Education & Development Conference in Kansas City, the Education Excellence Awards recognize the most innovative and collaborative training and development programs in the construction industry. McCarthy was honored in the category of Supervisor-Executive Management for the firm’s Foundations of Leadership Training Program. This AGC award comes on the heels of McCarthy’s placement on the prestigious 2011 Training Magazine Top 125 list and recognition by Corporate University Xchange for training excellence and innovation earlier this year.

“The key to building great projects is building great professionals,” said AGC President Kristine Young. “McCarthy’s leadership training program is an example of how to turn tremendous talent into outstanding professionals.”

Founded as a family-owned business almost 150 years ago, McCarthy is one of the largest 100% employee-owned companies with an Employee Stock Ownership Plan in America today. The firm has long fostered a culture dedicated to continuous improvement, and “Learning” represents one of McCarthy’s six company Core Values. 
 
“McCarthy transitioned from family to employee ownership in 2002,” explained McCarthy Chairman and CEO Mike Bolen. “This significant shift, together with a combination of company growth and retirements of a number of long-time leaders, resulted in our need to more aggressively prepare our high-potential employees for growth. The opportunities at McCarthy are vast and varied, and training these future leaders is an exciting part of our continuing success.”

The McCarthy Foundations of Leadership Program was designed to accelerate the advancement of high performers by challenging them early in their career to take charge of their own development through an orchestrated “peek behind the curtain” at the unique issues faced by the leaders of a multi-billion dollar general contractor. This fast-track approach was also designed to challenge these employees, keep them fully engaged in the company and heighten the overall level of professionalism in the industry.

“Our senior leadership is 100% behind the development of future leaders at McCarthy and actively participate in our Foundations program as instructors,” noted McCarthy Vice President of Human Resources Al Berardi. “We have invested an incredible amount of time to create an active learning experience that is both challenging and meaningful. To be honored by our national association for our efforts is especially meaningful.”

About the Associated General Contractors of America
The Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) is the leading association for the construction industry. Operating in partnership with its nationwide network of Chapters, the AGC provides a full range of services satisfying the needs and concerns of its members, thereby improving the quality of construction and protecting the public interest. The AGC represents more than 33,000 leading firms in the industry,  including general contractors, specialty contractors, and service providers and suppliers.

About McCarthy
McCarthy is one of the nation’s oldest and largest domestic general contractors. While a formal McCarthy Training Program had been in place for decades, McCarthy formally launched an entirely revamped training program in 2008 under McCarthy Build U. Unusual in the construction industry and among best-in-class training programs outside of the construction industry, the McCarthy Build U framework provides the company with the structure, alignment, centralization and flexibility needed to personalize training to meet both individual and business needs. Repeatedly honored as a Best Place to Work, McCarthy is 100 percent employee owned.

Bluebeam is a leading developer of smart, simple PDF solutions for the architecture, engineering and construction industries. McCarthy, one of the premier commercial builders in the U.S., uses Bluebeam’s  flagship product, Bluebeam PDF Revu, to hyperlink PDF documents for better access to information such as drawing details, specifications and RFIs.  The documents are then made available on a custom McCarthy jobsite kiosk via a wireless connection for instant access by all jobsite personnel to the most updated information to improve project communication and management.

“McCarthy is always looking for innovative ways to improve our processes and deliver better results for our clients,” said Mike Oster, McCarthy Vice President, Information Technology.  “We wanted to prove that project record drawings could be easily updated, maintained and distributed electronically in lieu of traditional hand posting methods, which are labor intensive, inefficient and often difficult to duplicate. By taking this access out of the trailer and into the field we are also able to give all field personnel real-time access to this critical information. We are pleased with the successful outcome of these efforts and are honored to be recognized by the industry with this Vision Award.”

Constructech magazine honored all of the Vision Award winners on September 14th during its annual Technology Day conference in Oakbrook Terrace, IL. Companies eligible for the honors were involved in residential, commercial, and heavy construction, and also included professionals in all trades, architectural and engineering firms, corporate owners, facility management companies, government agencies, and land developers.

 “Bluebeam PDF Revu gives companies the tools to manage a project more efficiently, as well as save time and money,” said Stephani Haynes, Bluebeam’s Director of Worldwide Marketing. “We are honored to be recognized as industry innovators and we are pleased to have contributed to McCarthy’s success.”

About Bluebeam Software, Inc.
Bluebeam Software invents, develops, and commercializes PDF software intelligently designed to meet the needs of design, engineering and business professionals. Bluebeam produces high-quality, easy-to-use products that allow professionals to improve communication and collaboration immediately with virtually no learning curve. For more information visit Bluebeam Software at http://www.bluebeam.com/.  
                  
About Constructech Magazine
 Constructech magazine is the technology advocate for the construction industry, helping builders, contractors, and corporate owners make educated decisions on software and systems, both in the office and in the field. With unbiased opinions and informative news on software, hardware, automation, and services, Constructech continues to be a highly respected and trusted resource in the industry for almost 15 years.

About McCarthy
McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. is one of the oldest and largest commercial builders in America and among the top users of technology tools in the construction industry (Building Design & Construction, July 2011). McCarthy has offices in St. Louis, Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Newport Beach, San Diego, Sacramento and San Francisco,.  McCarthy is 100 percent employee owned. More information about the company is available online at http://www.mccarthy.com/.

Over the next two years, all McCarthy LEED AP’s will complete the required 30 hours of training through the McCarthy Green Curriculum to maintain the new credential. Existing green training programs typically focus on design issues. The McCarthy Green Curriculum is unique, presented from the builder’s perspective. This curriculum focuses on what McCarthy and the building team can do during design, construction and operations to have a positive impact on the sustainability of the project.

In addition to employee training, McCarthy’s commitment to sustainability requires continual review of day-to-day operations affecting the environment to look for different ways to do the same or more, while reducing the environmental impact. McCarthy has also implemented the following:

Policies—McCarthy has established office, field, wellness and transportation policies to track and reduce the firm’s impact on the environment. These include use of recycled materials and improving fleet efficiency every year.

Carbon Footprint—McCarthy has adopted a carbon footprint methodology, established a company baseline and is working towards a 5% reduction over the next five years.

Leadership—In addition to sustainable leadership at the national level, each McCarthy project has an identified sustainability leader and champion.

“Green building techniques and materials are being incorporated into every one of our projects today, and clients and partners need a builder they can count on,” explained McCarthy Vice President, Quality and Sustainability Chad Dorgan. “The GBCI program provides a consistent framework for our industry and at the same time provides owners with a green standard they can trust. By upgrading all of our employees, we are providing this same level of consistency for all clients nationwide.”

About McCarthy
McCarthy is one of the nation’s oldest and largest privately held commercial construction companies. More than a decade ago, McCarthy formalized a national in-house green knowledge network to capture and build upon the best green practices across the country. Today, the McCarthy Green Team is comprised of approximately 400 USGBC LEED Accredited Professionals (ranking the company in the top 10 for LEED AP’s by Building Design and Construction and among the nation’s Top 20 Green Construction Companies in America by Engineering News-Record). The firm’s resumé of sustainable projects is valued at over $6 billion. Nationally recognized on the Training 125 list for the firm’s outstanding employee training and development programs, McCarthy is 100 percent employee owned. More information is available online at www.mccarthy.com/about/green.

“McCarthy has a strong national partnership with the American Heart Association,” commented Tracy Brazelton, AHA executive director in St. Louis. “As a company, they have made great strides in focusing on improving employee health both here in St. Louis and across America. This award recognizes the best-of-the-best companies, and McCarthy is certainly one of these.”

Developed and launched in 2010, McCarthy Build for Life is a comprehensive wellness program designed to encourage all employees and their families to strive toward optimal mental, physical and emotional well-being. The program focuses on four key areas: awareness, prevention, activity, and lifestyle & stress.

“When it comes to our construction projects, our approach has always been to invest a significant effort up front to prevent issues before they occur,” noted McCarthy President and COO Derek Glanvill. “We have extended this same proactive approach to our Build for Life program, encouraging employees to make wellness a part of their everyday lives.”

To jump start McCarthy’s wellness program in 2010, the company launched an Activity Challenge. All 1,400 employees received a free pedometer and used an online step tracking program to log daily steps over a 3-month period. More than 50% of employees participated in the program, logging 184,974,999 steps. The 2011 Activity Challenge, expanded to include spouses and partners, began on May 1.

Designed as a grassroots program, McCarthy Build for Life is supported by Wellness Champions in each McCarthy office who communicate to employees in their region. Key McCarthy Build for Life program features include:

• Regular wellness webinars available to employees and their families
• Quarterly wellness newsletter delivered to homes of all employees, in partnership with the Mayo Clinic, and discount subscriptions to other health-related publications
• Complimentary health screenings for McCarthy employees and spouses/partners, including blood pressure screening, BMI/waist circumference checks, cholesterol/HDL/Glucose screenings, and Prostate Specific Antigen screenings
• Wellness areas at all-employee biannual meetings featuring material on health, nutrition, activity,  and stress/lifestyle management
• Wide array of company-sponsored wellness employee events

About McCarthy
McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. is one of the nation’s oldest and largest commercial construction companies. Committed to the construction of high performance buildings, the company provides general contracting, construction management, and design-build services for healthcare, educational, commercial, parking structures, science and technology facilities; office buildings; tenant interiors; mixed-use; bridges; and highways. McCarthy has full-service offices in Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Las Vegas, Newport Beach, Phoenix, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco and St. Louis. Repeatedly honored as a Best Place to Work, McCarthy is 100 percent employee owned. More information about the company is available online at www.mccarthy.com.

The CorpU Awards salute corporate and government learning organizations that create exciting, impactful programs resulting in measurable improvements in employee and business performance. Since 1999, the Awards, given by CorpU, the leading provider of corporate education research, benchmarking and advisory services for the enterprise learning marketplace, have set the standard for corporate learning.

“The winning programs show how important learning excellence is in enabling companies to execute their business strategy,” said Peter McAteer, CEO of CorpU. “We congratulate them.”

“Operating in today’s business world is more complicated than ever,” commented McCarthy Chairman and CEO Mike Bolen. “Through McCarthy Build U^® we are able to provide our employee-owners with a comprehensive training and development program designed to result in both short- and long-term success. To be included among this year’s CorpU Xchange award winners is truly an honor.”

Founded as a family owned business almost 150 years ago, McCarthy is one of the largest 100% employee-owned companies in America today. The firm has long fostered a culture dedicated to continuous improvement, and “Learning” represents one of McCarthy’s six company Core Values.

While a formal McCarthy Training Program had been in place for decades, McCarthy formally launched an entirely revamped training program in 2008 under McCarthy Build U. Unusual in the construction industry and among best-in-class training programs outside of the construction industry, the McCarthy Build U framework provides the company with the structure, alignment, centralization and flexibility needed to personalize training to meet both individual and business needs.

About Corporate University Xchange
Corporate University Xchange is a private membership of senior learning and talent executives. Founded in 1997, members have access to cutting-edge research, practitioner-tested tools, and expertly facilitated peer-to-peer networking.

About McCarthy
McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. is one of the nation’s oldest and largest domestic general contractors. Committed to the construction of high performance buildings, the company provides general contracting, construction management, and design-build services for healthcare, educational, commercial, parking structures, science and technology facilities; office buildings; tenant interiors; mixed-use; bridges; and highways. Repeatedly honored as a Best Place to Work, McCarthy is 100 percent employee owned. More information is available online at www.mccarthy.com.

The CAPE program, which emulates the highly esteemed Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Program, recognizes organizations that demonstrate superior performance in seven key business areas including leadership, strategic planning, customer and market focus, measurement, analysis and knowledge management, workforce focus, process management and results.

Brent Duggleby, chair of the CAPE Council applauded this year’s winners. “The commitment of these organizations to the principles and core elements of the Baldrige criteria is truly inspiring to everyone. Each organization that participates in the process gains and these organizations that are being recognized are exceptional examples of excellence.”

Founded in 1864, McCarthy is one of the nation’s oldest and largest commercial builders. Repeatedly recognized as one of the safest contractors in America, the firm also continues to raise the bar on construction quality through the McCarthy Quality Without Question Program. In addition, the company’s personalized approach to employee training and development, which garnered McCarthy a spot on the nationally recognized 2011 Training Top 125 list, ensures current employees and future company leaders remain the best in the business.

“A driving force behind all aspects of our success is the commitment to continuous improvement,” noted McCarthy California Region President Carter Chappell. “This commitment provides for superior results for our employee-owners, clients, partners and communities. We are honored to be recognized for the success of these efforts by the California Council for Excellence.

“We are pleased to be recognized as a CAPE winner along with other prestigious recipients including premier healthcare and education institutions,” added Chad Dorgan, McCarthy vice president, quality and sustainability. “McCarthy’s integrative and team-based approach to quality, our community, and our employees has positioned us as best-in-class, not just in construction, but in all industries in California.”

About the California Council for Excellence
Founded in 1992, the California Council for Excellence is a nonprofit educational foundation dedicated to helping California-based organizations achieve world-class results through the principles and criteria of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. The organization oversees programs such as CAPE™ and the California Team Excellence Awards.

About McCarthy
McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. is the nation’s top domestic general contractors and one of California’s premier builders.  In addition to Newport Beach, McCarthy has offices in San Diego, Sacramento and San Francisco, Calif.; Phoenix; Las Vegas; Dallas; Houston; St. Louis and Atlanta. McCarthy is 100 percent employee owned.

“While many companies are cutting back on training in the current economic climate, McCarthy continues to expand our focus on employee development,” explained McCarthy Chairman and CEO Mike Bolen. “This commitment ensures our builders remain at the forefront of the construction industry. To be included among the Training Top 125 companies in a diverse array of industries is an outstanding honor.”

Lorri Freifeld, editor-in-chief of Training magazine added, “The 2011 Training Top 125 application focused on tying training to achievement of strategic corporate goals and showing demonstrable results. As always, it was a difficult task to choose the winners from the many excellent applications we received. Congratulations to the 2011 winners, who continue to blaze new paths in training design, development, delivery, and measurement.”

Founded as a family owned business almost 150 years ago, McCarthy is one of the largest 100% employee-owned companies in America today. The firm has long fostered a culture dedicated to continuous improvement, and “Learning” represents one of McCarthy’s six company Core Values.

While a formal McCarthy Training Program had been in place for decades, McCarthy formally launched an entirely revamped training program in 2008 under McCarthy Build U. Unusual in the construction industry and among best-in-class training programs outside of the construction industry, McCarthy Build U is a personalized approach to employee development. Core tenets of McCarthy Build U include:

• A shared commitment on the part of each employee to begin their training and development on (or even before) Day 1;
• A belief that in addition to full-time professional trainers on staff, all employee-owners, from Chairman/CEO down, is a trainer who has valuable knowledge to share;
• A focus on blended training vehicles, including instructor-led programs, self-paced online training, hands-on experience simulations and on-the-job training makes the program truly comprehensive;
• A well defined development path with significant flexibility based on personal needs;
• A development philosophy based on the notion of a two-way street. McCarthy will provide every tool and opportunity for learning and the employee must actively take control of their career and development.

“The McCarthy Build U program provides a balance of structure and flexibility to help each employee meet their individual development needs in alignment with company business objectives,” noted McCarthy Vice President of Human Resources Al Berardi. “This comprehensive approach helps ensure McCarthy builders remain the best in the business.”

About the Training 125

Now in its 11th year, the Training Top 125 ranking is based on myriad benchmarking statistics such as total training budget; percentage of payroll; number of training hours per employee program; goals, evaluation, measurement, and workplace surveys; hours of training per employee annually; and detailed formal programs. The ranking is determined by assessing a range of qualitative and quantitative factors, including financial investment in employee development, the scope of development programs, and how closely such development efforts are linked to business goals and objectives. More information about the 2011 Training Top 125 Award winners may be obtained online at www.trainingmag.com.

About McCarthy
McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. is one of the nation’s oldest and largest domestic general contractors. Committed to the construction of high performance buildings, the company provides general contracting, construction management, and design-build services for healthcare, educational, commercial, parking structures, science and technology facilities; office buildings; tenant interiors; mixed-use; bridges; and highways. Repeatedly honored as a Best Place to Work, McCarthy is 100 percent employee owned. More information about the company is available online at www.mccarthy.com.

McCarthy was recently honored with the number three spot on the 2009 Top 100 Workplaces by The Dallas Morning News. McCarthy was also selected as the top winner in the category for Best Company Direction. McCarthy was named the emerging leader in this category based on its employees’ confidence in the leadership of the company and the belief that McCarthy operates ethically with strong values during difficult times while continuing to progress in the right direction.

Put on by The Dallas Morning News and its partner, Workplace Dynamics LLC, this is the inaugural year of the Top 100 Workplaces award. Companies eligible for participation included public or private companies, as well as for-profit and nonprofit organizations with more than 50 employees in the DFW metroplex. The award seeks to recognize big and small companies and organizations that excel at creating a dynamic, supportive and inclusive workplace.

Each entry was judged based on an employee opinion survey, rating employers in different categories such as business operations, values, policies and facilities. More than 33,000 employees in the DFW area were surveyed, and based on that 100 companies made the top 100 list.  McCarthy, along with Southwest Airlines and The Richards Group took home the top three coveted spots on this lengthy list of the Top 100 Workplaces.

“We are honored that McCarthy’s Texas Division was recognized as one of the top three workplaces in Dallas by The Dallas Morning News.  It is exciting to be a part of the inaugural award,” said McCarthy Texas Division President, Mike McWay.  “McCarthy is 100 percent employee-owned, so we strive to create the best working environment possible for our family of employees.  It is encouraging that our employees recognize our commitment to excellent business operations and company values.  I’m also proud that our employees agree with and support the direction McCarthy is taking as a company.”

One McCarthy employee surveyed stated McCarthy should be considered a top workplace, “because the company puts it employees first above all else.  Safety, quality and doing a job right.” Another McCarthy employee gave this response in the survey, further reiterating why McCarthy was chosen as the company with the Best Company Direction: “We are continually looking for new and exciting business opportunities to stay positioned to weather any economic storm.  We are employee-owned and personally reap the benefits of our performance.”

McCarthy adds this award to a growing list of other business and industry-based awards the firm has received recently in the region, including the 2009 Contractor of the Year award given by the Dallas Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA).

The 2009 Top 100 Workplaces awards were featured in the Nov. 8 issue of the Dallas Morning News. For the complete list of this year’s winners, go to http://www.dallasnews.com/business/bestplacestowork/.

About McCarthy
Celebrating nearly 30 years of building in Texas, McCarthy is one of the nation’s oldest privately held construction firms.  An employee-owned company, McCarthy offers general contracting, construction management and design/build services for the following project types: healthcare, educational, office buildings, parking structures, bridges and highways, laboratory, biotechnology, entertainment, retail, microelectronic, and industrial facilities, tenant interiors, mixed-use and multifamily residential.  In addition to Dallas, McCarthy has offices in Sacramento, San Francisco, San Diego and Newport Beach, Calif.; Phoenix; Las Vegas; St. Louis and Atlanta.