From Water Towers to Water Plants: Texas Contractor Finds its Niche

Since playing with blocks and Erector sets as a child, Jim Schier has been involved in construction.

A native of Buffalo, New York, Jim earned a civil engineering degree from the University of Kentucky and immediately started a career in civil construction focused on water solutions. 

After 10 years in the industry, Schier Construction Inc. was founded in 1980 as a contractor in the Houston area focused on elevated water towers all over Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana.

"When I started this business, I wanted to go into water because regardless of what happens, everyone needs water," says Jim. "We've made it 44 years through the good times the bad times, but we haven't had many bad times because we're so diverse in the water plant work."

Starting with revenues of around $250,000 in his first year, Jim built the business up to $5 million to $6 million building water tower foundations. After 42 years and over 1,000 projects completed, Jim’s son Brent has joined the company. Brent brings more than 25 years of engineering, management and executive experience that he is weaving into the business.

Today, thanks to a more in-depth analysis by Brent and their VP of operations, Don Maas, the company has transitioned to dominantly serving as a general contractor on the water plant construction, which has put the company in the $18 million to $20 million revenue range.

“We try to do as much as we can ourselves,” Jim says.

Taking on the GC role was a shift for Schier Construction, but that is not a unique feature of the firm.

The difference at Schier is the way they treat their employees. An insurance provider once told them directly how different the company is when she admitted that she had not seen anyone else doing what Schier was doing.

“This is absurd that you're treating these guys like executive professionals in the construction industry,” Brent recalls her saying.

He readily agrees.

“We're extremely unique in what we do and how we treat our people, and that makes us real special in this industry,” Brent says.

Those unique attributes led Schier Construction to be among the 12 finalists for Equipment World’s 2024 Contractor of the Year. It was the second time the company had been a finalist for the award, having previously been recognized in 2005.

In addition to being a finalist, Schier was honored with the 2024 Equipment World Safety Award. The company currently has a mod rate of .88 and has had no recorded incidents over the past three years.

“It’s really about creating a culture where all these guys are responsible and they look out for each other,” Brent says. “When you look at company culture, we’re very people-driven."

Every morning, Jim and Brent arrive at the office at 6 a.m., making sure to be present to greet the employees before they head out to the jobsites of the day.

One employee once said, "I see them every day. In my old places, I never saw the owners of the company. You guys are out with us every single day."

Of course, every small business likes to lay claim to the concept of having a family culture, but Schier Construction lives up to the designation.

Both Jim and Brent are familiar with all the personal details of the employees’ lives. The pair stay in touch if someone’s child is ill or if someone’s wife is having a baby, and they’ll give them some time off.

“This is an extended family business,” Brent said. “If you interview our guys today, I think almost everyone would say this is a family. We're part of a family. That's how we started, and that's how we're growing.”

Both Brent and Jim are personally involved with every new hire. While they are always searching for experienced skilled laborers, there is always something extra they want in a new employee.

“Yes, experience matters, but much more than experience is them fitting into our culture,” says Brent. “We need dependability, reliability, guys that fit into what we're doing.”

Some of their best hires come in via referrals. Employees are paid to bring in referrals. If an application comes in with someone’s name on the bottom, $20 will be given out. There is no requirement for the person to be hired, just that there was a referral. If the person is hired and works for 3 months, $250 is presented.

“Who's better to bring guys into than the employees who are working for you?” Jim says.

Recognizing the comfort of its finances, nearly 80% of the company’s profits are given back to the company’s 37 employees in bonuses, vacation days, and retirement planning. According to Brent and Jim, employees receive mid-year, end-of-year, and Christmas bonuses, a 401(k), 80% of paid healthcare, profit-sharing, vacation time, and guaranteed time off the week between Christmas and New Year's.

Annual reviews are completed to better explain to each employee how their net and gross pay breaks down among all the benefits. Even granting some financial assistance via interest-free loans to those in a tight financial spot is not unheard of.

“We take care of our employees extremely well,” Brent says.

New suggestions or ideas of how to improve the company are always welcome and often rewarded.

When making budget expenditure decisions, Brent and Jim always analyze whether new software or a new piece of equipment is worth cutting $500 or whatever the number is from employee bonuses that particular year.

“Our goal is to pay more,” Brent says. “We're not just looking to take every dollar out of this; we put a lot back into it and leave a lot here and take care of employees.”

Equipment WorldOn their own

Schier Construction has its own mechanic to keep up with its 13 pieces of heavy equipment, a fleet of 12 company vehicles and numerous small engine equipment.

Most of the equipment is purchased new, with some smaller items that are not regularly used that are rented, such as compaction rollers.

While the equipment is new and from Houston-area dealers, neither Brent nor Jim say they are loyal to any brand. The company's fleet is a real mix of a few different brands, including Cat, Case, and John Deere.

“It's kind of a mix because if we can get a deal on something, then we'll go with that,” Brent says.

In addition, the company employs a CDL truck driver whose primary role is moving equipment from jobsite to jobsite.

“We have our own equipment, we maintain our own equipment, we service our own equipment, we move our own equipment,” Brent says.

For any service or repair, they will try and get it done themselves first to keep costs down.

While not unusual for a smaller company, Schier Construction has no full-time operators on staff. Most of the crew members know how to operate almost everything, with the superintendents generally recognized as having the most knowledge.

“We look for the right opportunities to get all of the guys experience on the equipment,” Brent says. “We want everyone to learn how to operate. We're not forcing anybody, but most of the guys that come in that really like construction, they want to run the big stuff.”

Maintenance schedules are kept on a whiteboard and windshield stickers.

The company has recently invested in the use of Raken’s mobile and web app. Compatible with Android or iOS phones, tablets, or desktops, managers, foremen, and superintendents can generate daily reports, work logs, production schedules, and budget percentages using timecards and customizable cost codes for labor, material, and equipment tracking.

Keeping with the company's family atmosphere, for Schier, the software is set up so everyone can see everything going on in the system. All the superintendents will know what's going on at other jobsites and where equipment is being utilized.

“That's been a big step forward for us because, after 44 years, there's still a lot of hand handwritten documents,” Brent says.

“We're extremely unique in how we do it, how we're made up the diversity of our equipment, how we use it, owning our equipment, all those things are unique,” Jim says. “We can do a whole lot by ourselves without relying on other people.”

Pricing is rarely a problem for Schier thanks to relationships with subcontractors and engineers that date back 25 years or more. According to Jim, it all plays into the company being able to be extremely competitive.

The unique rapport Schier has with its customers and engineers was demonstrated a few years ago on one of its largest-ever projects, a water plant for a new Coca-Cola bottling plant.

Schier reportedly came in third through the bidding process. However, the engineer reviewing the bids was familiar with the firm’s work and reputation and was confident that they could meet the schedule deadlines offered in their proposal.

Despite a large price difference, Schier ultimately won the bid, completed the project a month ahead of schedule, and received a bonus.

“If we want a project, we can be aggressive just because we are set up differently than everybody in our industry,” Jim says.

Both he and Brent agree that they have created something special with Schier Construction.