Flintco to exit Springfield market

News that Flintco Inc. would be closing its Springfield office later this year traveled swiftly through phone lines, Web sites and by word of mouth last week, blindsiding several businesspeople on the way.

The Tulsa, Okla.-based general construction contractor plans to close its Springfield office in November after completing two projects under contract - Aldersgate United Methodist Church in Nixa and Cherokee Middle School in Springfield. Flintco opened the local office, which employs 28 at 2935 W. Chestnut Expressway, in 1999, said Dana Birkes, the company's vice president of business development and marketing.

"We certainly weren't expecting that," said Dave Robertson, president of the Springfield Contractors Association Board of Directors. "There's been no hint of it."

Birkes said Flintco officials recently decided that Springfield does not fit into a strategic plan set into motion last year, but she dispelled notions that the imminent office closing is somehow tied to that oft-blamed scapegoat: the languid economy.

"The closure is a result of our company growing significantly," Birkes said. "We really need to focus our resources and attention on secondary markets."

Flintco will shift its attention to offices in Tulsa; Oklahoma City; Springdale, Ark.; Sacramento, Calif.; Albuquerque, N.M.; Austin, Texas; and Memphis, Tenn., Birkes said. Springfield will be the only Flintco office shut down as part of the strategic-planning effort.

Some of Flintco's recent projects include the $6.8 million, 30,000-square-foot Springfield Crime Laboratory, 425 E. Phelps St., and the two-story, 25,400-square-foot addition to Weaver Elementary School in north Springfield.

Other area projects on Flintco's résumé include the Greene County Justice Center, Hickory Hills Country Club, Noble Innovation Center and the $4 million renovation of the Springfield Police Department headquarters on East Chestnut Expressway.

"It's been a really good relationship with the Springfield community, and we've been fortunate to have worked on so many landmark projects out there," Birkes said. "We're very, very proud of our work there. But fundamentally, when we looked at where we were going as an organization with some significant growth we've had recently, the Springfield location was not in alignment with that strategic plan."

SCA President Robertson, with concrete subcontractor Prestressed Casting Co., said Flintco has been a valuable member of the construction community and the contractor's association. Flintco project manager Mike Holland has served on the SCA board for several years.

Although initially surprised, Robertson said the company's decision makes sense. He said word of Flintco's success in some of its other markets has been circulating for a couple of years.

"I know they're extremely active in Oklahoma and other markets, and they're always looking at new markets," he said. "On a national level, general contractors do that all the time. They'll relocate their assets to a market where they think they've got a better opportunity."

Birkes could not provide details about what would happen to Flintco's local employees when the Springfield office closes later this year. "We're spending time with each (employee) to talk about what transition plans might be in place and work with them individually," she said.

In November, Jim Blose, Flintco vice president and area manager, told Springfield Business Journal that work was steady in the government and education sectors, where projects financed over a period of several years by large bond issues were still moving forward despite a slowdown in the construction sector.

But competition for construction work in the Springfield market remains intense, Robertson said, adding that market fluctuations have been reflected in bidding practices and corporate decisions.

"It's all topsy-turvy and will be as long as the economy's like it is," he said. "(Flintco isn't) the first office that has had major changes here ... and probably won't be the last."

Jerry Hackleman, president emeritus of DeWitt & Associates Inc., said a thinning of Springfield's subcontractor herd might be next. Hackleman said DeWitt and Flintco went head-to-head on several Springfield Public Schools projects.

"As a general contractor, we didn't mind competing against them because we usually ran pretty close to each other," he said. "There will be a little more opportunity. There's going to be less people competing for the same few jobs."