James May-June 2023 web - Flipbook - Page 32
INT ERFACE HEADQUA R T ER S IN AT L AN TA
“With inflation,” he continued, “the prices are starting to stabilize a lot more as compared to a year ago.
But construction prices still going up. And we preface
that when we price work for owners and developers so
they can plan. We say let’s prepare for that and have
contingencies. We hope that next year it starts righting
itself. But for now, construction prices are higher than
we’ve been used to.”
I turned the topic toward his company’s impressive
growth, and Henwood emphasized that “we are expanding— especially in the Southeast. We are doing a
job in Charlotte, and we’d love to work in Nashville and
that area. And we did a hotel in Nashville. We are also
doing a job in Knoxville. Yet we love to stay in Georgia
as much as we can simply to help our people.”
Speaking of Georgia, I asked him about specific projects. “We’re doing a project called The Dillion, a $135 million high-rise condominium right up
Peachtree Battle (in Atlanta),” he replied. “We finished
the Graydon Buckhead with the same developer, and
it’s a high-end condominium on Peachtree Road. We
have done several projects for Woodward Academy,
and we’re doing industrial jobs around the metro Atlanta area. We’ve never done movie studios, but we’re
doing medical office buildings for Piedmont Hospital
and The Interface headquarters with an all-glass exterior. We really touch a lot of markets.”
“We try to keep our work diverse because of the
economy,” he continued. “I lived through (the recession) of 2008, and the company I was with was doing
seven or eight condominiums. They put all their eggs
in one basket, and we don’t want to do that. We continue to diversify.”
He expanded on Integra’s growth, noting that “right
now we have 48 employees that includes field staff and
10 full-time superintendents in the field. Then we have
17 people in the office plus we have assistant supervisors and some foremen. We have three or four carpenters and some labor under them. Furthermore, our revenues are growing. I like the $200 million range— that
number would make it a good year.”
Henwood then looked into the crystal ball when it
comes to Georgia’s economy. “I wish I could predict the
economic outlook, but we know Atlanta is the hub— a
wealthy hub. People and companies are moving here.
And a lot of companies will want to expand. There’s
a lot of Fortune 500, 200 and 100 companies and they
always want to expand. There will always be work. It
may not be glamourous, like fixing up office buildings
and things but as far as our company we’ve got a great
leadership base in our company— partners that are
young and energetic.”
“As I look to the next five years. I don’t want to get
over $300 million or $350 million in revenues. I would
stay there. Why? When go over a certain revenue base,
there are so many layers— more the red tape, etc. You
get all these layers that we don’t necessarily want. Everything’s more manageable if we stay in that revenue
range. It keeps the costs lower doing the job. We want
to be a leaner company, and it keeps us competitive. So
that’s our model, and I’d to like to keep it that way.”
“Integra is a great family-oriented company and I
enjoy its culture,” he concludes. “That’s why I got into
it. We have a softball team. We are friends outside of
work. We do what we say we’re going to do, and we’re
honest. It’s a great team to work with and I’d like the
company to grow in the Atlanta area— and we want
Atlantans and Georgians to know about us.”
By the way, guess who’s the vice president and
general counsel of Integra? It’s W. Scott Henwood Sr. “I
get to see my Dad more than ever,” his son says. “And
that’s a good thing.”
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