Bruce Shannon

 Vice President of Construction - Industrial and Design Build Services

Q: Bruce, let’s start with your role at ITAC.

A: I’m responsible for construction management, design/build projects, and for industrial electrical and industrial mechanical projects. It’s really supervising multiple groups. We have approximately 55 people in electrical construction, 15 in mechanical construction, and three to four people in construction management.

 
Q: What is Design/Build?

A: Design/Build is when we get a turnkey job to design and construct a facility from concept to completion. It can start as early as the scoping stage, where we define what the project is and help with the cost estimates. Then we do the design and all the construction. Design/Build is a construction-led approach, which differs from the traditional engineering-first approach. Customers appreciate Design/Build because it offers faster project turnaround times and quicker returns on investment. And the result is this approach has gained widespread popularity with customers over time.

Q: How long have you been involved in Design/Build?

 A: My background in Design/Build dates back to my very first day at ITAC, back in 1989. ITAC was founded with a commitment to the Design/Build approach — it was a key premise to the company’s vision of doing business and serving customers. My first project was a large process and controls upgrade to the Natrasol process for a customer. It was a fast-tracked job covering all the disciplines.

Q: Do you foresee projects becoming more cross-disciplinary, staying focused in one area, or are they just coming all ways?

A: They really come all ways. Some projects are just an electrical job, a mechanical job or a civil structural job, to cite a few examples. The jobs I find most fun are the fast-tracked projects involving multiple disciplines. I love the challenge of getting everything done right, done on time, and done to the customer’s complete satisfaction.

Q: Can you give us an example?

A: The Kings Dominion theme park in Central Virginia is a real success story that comes to mind. We had handled several smaller jobs for them. Then we worked on their new roller coaster, called the Intimidator. It’s based on the late Dale Earnhardt, the NASCAR race driver, who was known as “The Intimidator.”

Q: With Kings Dominion being in the heart of NASCAR country, couldn’t this be a trophy project for ITAC?

A: Absolutely, and for two reasons. First, because the project was a quite an undertaking in and of itself — very long and involved. And second, because it was outside. We battled snow and rain all winter long while doing the electrical construction work.

Q: What a terrible winter to work outside.

A: We had a hard deadline of April 1, 2010. That was “media day,” when the roller coaster would be unveiled to the press. Dale Earnhardt, Jr., and Teresa Earnhardt were going to be there, so this thing had to be done. In spite of the weather, our people overcame all that and got it done when they were supposed to. It was a challenge with the winter we had. We couldn’t have asked for a worse winter to build a roller coaster than what we had. That conspired against us, but we overcame it.

Q: Who are some other customers you serve?

A: We’ve done extensive work for, among others, Philip Morris, Honeywell, B.I. Chemicals, Old Dominion Electric Co-Op, Sabra and Dominion Power.

Q: How do you think ITAC is viewed by the industry?

A: When a customer is really in a pinch — when they have a project that has gone south and really needs to be pulled out of the fire, and when time is crucial — ITAC is high on their list to come in and solve everything. Our strength in project management and construction management is among the reasons why. Moreover, we have the engineers, the project managers, the construction managers, and the multi-disciplined electrical and mechanical resources to deliver the whole solution.

Q: Sounds like ITAC keeps customers a long time.

A: Absolutely. Keeping customers is an important measuring stick, because it proves you’ve got what it takes to take care of them. If you do, they keep coming back to you and giving you the opportunity to bid on the next job. It’s gratifying to know they trust your abilities.

Q: Are you expanding your geographical footprint?

A: Yes. Most of our work has traditionally been in Central Virginia, but we’ll go wherever customers need us. We’ve recently scoped jobs in Nebraska and New Mexico, for example. And we’ve handled engineering jobs for a major customer that took us to Brazil, Mexico, Trinidad and Russia. We’re in a global economy, and that means serving customers regardless of location.

Q: Do you partner with local suppliers on that type of work?

A: Definitely. You’ve got to find the right local or regional contractors. If they are there with the infrastructure and the people, it may make more sense to put an ITAC management team out there to oversee the effort, and then use local contractors on location on an ongoing basis and support them after the job is up and running. When we do a project, we want to be there to follow up and support it after the project is done — do follow-up work.

Q: How big is the follow-up work in your business?

A: It’s a major part of what we do, and we do it around the needs of our customers. For example, some of our customers have plants that are running 24/7 and have limited opportunities when their facility can be shut down. You have to do everything in a very tight timeframe.

Q: Where do you see the industry going?

A: I am optimistic. It’s been a tough economy, but I’ve always believed in giving the customer a competitive bid and putting together the best plan. A lot of the projects I have done over the years have been based on putting together a solid execution plan and explaining to customers, “This is the way we’re going to get your project done and meet the date, all while having minimal impact on your production.”

Q: Customers must be concerned with production hiccups.

A: When it’s costing them $20,000 or $50,000, or even $100,000 per hour to not be running production, it is hugely important. And when they tell us, “I’ve got to start up Monday at 8:00 a.m.; I can’t afford to be down any longer,” we’ll move heaven and earth to meet the deadline. That’s why ITAC emphasizes putting together a solid execution plan, and then executing it.

Q: With all that’s at stake, customers must be looking for more than just the lowest bidder.

 A: Most customers want quality. And with the economy, we’re always looking for ways to work smarter to help save our customers money. For example, we recently did a design/build job for an ethanol company where we bid $1 million less than what they had budgeted. We were able to do that largely because we were handling the construction and we have engineers on staff.

Q: Anything else you’d like to say about ITAC?

A: We want customers to see ITAC as their single point of contact for all of their industrial services or commercial services, and where to get their construction, engineering and design/build services. Our menu of services is a really competitive advantage for us.