Federal Construction specializes in banks

by Steven Diegel

SBJ Contributing Writer

A local construction company has earned a reputation as a safe investment with banking organizations throughout the state.

Boasting a background of experience and familiarity with the protection side of the business, Federal Construction Inc. has become something of a specialist in the design and construction of bank buildings.

"We are a design building contractor," said Cary Paschke, vice president of Federal Construction. "Probably 95 percent of our work is done with banks."

Paschke said Federal Construction, a sister company to security systems firm Federal Protection, can help in all phases of the bankÐbuilding process, advising banks on site selection and feasibility, design work and budgeting, and the actual construction of the facility itself. Other specialty needs, including interior design and decorating, can also be addressed.

"Basically, from the ground up we can supply everything and do everything for them," Paschke said. "All they have to do is bring in the people and the money."

Paschke reported that since its founding in 1995, Federal Construction has built approximately 10 new banks and worked on more than 40 expansion and remodeling projects.

The group also constructs and installs the smaller, more temporary modular banks seen throughout the state.

"We also do construction on modular banks ÐÐ buildings that look like mobile banks but are actually worked in on-site," Paschke said.

Paschke said that these modular banks can include full-service tellers, drive-through lanes, and a portable vault. Banks often utilize these as temporary facilities while a main location is being built, or sometimes to scout out potential expansion sites.

"Banks will also use them to check out different areas for new branches before they actually build the new branch," he said. "The cost for a bank to do something like this in a test area is actually much lower than building a new branch."

Paschke said the company also possesses a great deal of familiarity with the nuts and bolts of the bank-construction process.

"There are definitely a lot of structural requirements and specifications for how things need to be installed location-wise," Paschke said. This can include everything from a 25,000-pound bank-vault door to the placement and installation of security systems and drive-through service systems.

"Coordinating all of these things can be difficult," he said. "But that is really what we have strived to make our main focus providing that service at a reasonable cost."

Federal Construction got its start, Paschke said, when a shortage of contractors experienced in such specialty work led many banks serviced by sister company Federal Protection to inquire if the group could handle construction work.

"We basically came into existence because of the specialty construction needs that banks have with all the banking equipment, security systems and vaults," Paschke said. "There is a lot of special equipment that goes into a bank that needs a lot of special attention."

That need for special attention, and

recent developments in the banking industry, have kept the company quite busy over the past few years, according to

Paschke.

"There is a flurry of activity going on in the banking industry and the bank building industry right now," he said. Bank mergers, recent expansions, and other moves "have created a lot of opportunities for new banks, and they need a building to operate out of."

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