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Bruce Holland
learned the construction business from his father, a home builder.
“I followed him around a lot,” he says. “But he told me, ‘If you
want to make something of yourself, go work for someone else.’”
Holland did work for another company and ultimately for himself—and
as a result, through Holland Construction Services and family and
community
connections, he continues to make a real difference in southwestern
Illinois and the St. Louis region.
“Bruce Holland is one of those rare individuals who constantly goes
the extra mile in business and in community service,” says Jim Pennekamp,
executive director of the Leadership Council Southwest Illinois.
“He is someone who believes strongly in giving back to the community
and is one of Southwestern Illinois’ finest regional citizens.”
Holland was born in Detroit but grew up in the Fairview Heights-Belleville-O’Fallon
area. “I went to Belleville Township High School,” he volunteers.
He also attended Belleville Area College (now Southwestern Illinois
College) and Southern Illinois University–Edwardsville. But construction
was in his soul, so he became a carpenter’s apprentice, then a superintendent.
Holland’s father was “a great gentleman,” he says. “He helped people
who couldn’t afford it. It was not his goal to make a lot of money.”
That plus his father’s encouragement led Holland to leave the family
business in 1962 and go to work for another company—for 24 years.
In fact, he managed that business, Bauer Brothers Construction Company,
the last eight years he was employed there.
“I was very happy,” Holland says. “I was treated very well but toward
the end I could see things were slowing down. The founding family
members were gone and there was a lack of interest among the rest
of the family.” Holland left Bauer Brothers in May 1986.
ON HIS OWN
“I was always entrepreneurial,” Holland says. “I was not afraid
of being in business for myself.”
Around
the planning table, (left to right) Bruce Holland
discusses a project with Project Manager Jim Mundy
and Senior Estimator Ron Covarrubias. |
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With that confident attitude (and with three former Bauer employees),
Holland founded Holland Construction Services in Swansea, Ill. Unlike
Bauer, which pursued winning competitive bids for building public
projects, “I wanted my company to be relationship-oriented, where
you negotiate the project,” Holland says. “I wanted to be selected
on the basis of our qualifications and to establish continuing relationships
in order to earn repeat business.”
One of the new company’s early projects was a Schnucks store. “We
happened to be the lowest bid, but since then we’ve done about 15
more projects for them,” as well as for the DESCO Group, Holland
says. “After that first store it was a matter of providing the services
they needed. And they gave us some truly challenging projects with
tight schedules and aggressive budgets. But we don’t mind a challenge.”
From that beginning with a retail client, Holland’s company has
grown to serve the commercial, industrial, educational, healthcare
and hospitality markets with design/build, construction management
and general contracting services.
The company typically employs 20 people in the office and 20 in
the field, and a total of 60 during peak times. The headquarters
remain in Swansea although about 40 to 60 percent of Holland’s business
originates in St. Louis. As a result he opened a St. Louis office
five years ago.
“We found that in order to have good relationships we needed an
office that would be easy for clients and architects to visit,”
he says. “Once we opened it, we found we were getting more work
referred to us.”
HOSPITALS, SCHOOLS AND A STADIUM
Although most companies in the construction industry would say business
is still fairly slow, Holland says his company has benefited from
Illinois First, which has provided hundreds of millions of dollars
for capital improvements in schools. Through the program Holland
built a $19.7 million middle school in Edwardsville and has managed
construction of schools in Swansea, Carlyle and Nashville, among
other projects.
“We expect a couple more years of this funding, then the emphasis
will move to the next level, higher education.We hope to benefit
from that as well,” Holland says.
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A
stunning view from inside Liberty Middle School in
Edwardsville, Ill. Holland Construction Services built
the ultra-modern facility in 2002 for $19.7 million.
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Retail and healthcare make up about 60 percent of the company’s
work. In addition to the Schnucks and DESCO projects, Holland has
built numerous Walgreens stores, as well as a Best Buy, Auffenberg
car dealerships and shopping centers. The company also recently
completed Cambridge House independent living facility in O’Fallon,
Ill. and is the construction manager on a nursing home in Waterloo,
Ill. BJC, St. Elizabeth, Memorial and St. Mary’s Hospitals also
are clients.
The company recently finished its first hotel and conference center,
The Fountains of Fairview Heights. “That was interesting because
the hotel was done by a developer and the conference center by the
city,” Holland says. Another “interesting” project will be a new
sports complex for the YMCA in Edwardsville, including an indoor
tennis court and in-line skating rink, fitness center and climbing
wall.
In 2002 Holland completed the Gateway Grizzlies baseball stadium
in Sauget, Ill. “That was fun,” he says. “We never built a minor
league ball field before.” Another first was managing the construction
of O’Fallon, Ill.’s $8 million public safety facility.
The company has built an Anheuser-Busch distributorship and truck
terminals but “the market has slowed down for tilt-up concrete buildings,”
Holland says. “To keep the flow of work steady you go where the
work is. Besides, that gives people new challenges, and we’re multi-talented.”
With annual revenues of approximately $55 million, Holland Construction
Services is the largest construction company in the Belleville/Fairview
Heights area and the 18th largest in the region. “But our goal never
has been to be the largest,” Holland says. “We’re fortunate that
we’ve never had to lay off salaried staff due to lack of work.”
He attributes that success to “relationships and personal attention
to customers,” he says. “We are fair, open and honest. I think people
can see that right away. Once we do a project for someone, he’ll
call us back for the next one.”
Holland also emphasizes building relationships with employees. Project
managers and superintendents regularly get together at dinner meetings
to share what they’ve learned on specific projects, safety ideas,
new systems and more.
“Employees and their spouses will all get on a bus and go to the
Missouri wine country, or employees and their families all go to
the Grizzlies baseball games at the stadium we built,” Holland says.
Employees also sponsor a winter golf tournament, the Klondike Klassic,
which has raised as much as $20,000 a year for children’s charities.
“Everyone enjoys working together and being together, and that helps
with team building and motivation,” Holland says. “You have to spend
most of your time working so it might as well be something you enjoy,
if you are fortunate enough to have a choice.”
PERSONAL STYLE
Holland misses “the hands-on days,” as he calls them. “I trust my
management team—people like Dave Birk, our vice president of construction
operations, who keep reminding me my job is to round up new business.
But I’m lucky to have a great group of operations people so I don’t
need to worry about the majority of the day-to-day operations.”
He likes to “get out to the jobs and talk to the guys” when he can,
but if that’s not possible, “it’s pretty easy to view projects without
leaving the office because all the superintendents e-mail pictures
from the work sites to the office,” he says.
Holland usually is at the office before 7 a.m. “Unless I have a
business luncheon, lunch is 30 minutes someplace quick,” he says.
The rest of the time he’s on the phone, in meetings, working on
proposals or prospecting business. “I like to spend more than half
my time outside the office,” he says. “I’m more productive if I’m
in a client’s office or meeting with architects.” It’s not unusual,
however, for Holland to leave around 5:30 p.m., go home, run four
miles, shower and go back to the office until late.
But he may not be working on Holland Construction Services issues.
Holland estimates he spends about 20 percent of his time on professional
and community activities. Professional activities include chairman
and trustee of the Southern Illinois Construction Advancement program,
past president of the Associated General Contractors/Southern Illinois
Builders Association and trustee of the Illinois Laborers-Employers
Cooperation and Education Trust.
An impressive list of civic activities includes chairman of the
Illinois Auxiliary Board of Directors of the United Way of Greater
St. Louis, past president of Belleville Economic Progress Inc.,
and board member of the Southwestern Illinois College Foundation.
Holland also is past president of the Leadership Council Southwestern
Illinois. In that position, “Bruce guided the organization successfully
through the last round of military base closure,” Pennekamp says.
“Today he serves on the Council’s executive committee as chairman
of the transportation committee and has led the effort to build
a new Mississippi River bridge.”
In fact, Holland heads the New Mississippi River Bridge committee
for the RCGA, where he leads the regionwide effort to build the
new bridge. He also serves on the executive committee of the RCGA
board. “It takes a lot of time and it’s challenging but fulfilling,”
Holland says. “The design is coming along well.” Regarding funding
the estimated $1.6 billion bridge, a lot depends on the federal
Transportation Act which is due in February.
“This is the first time the U.S. Senate has earmarked funds, $50
million, for the bridge,” Holland says. “It’s a start.” Illinois
has committed more than $300 million, and Missouri has committed
matching funds plus some money for design work, he says. “I have
been genuinely pleased to see how well MoDOT and IDOT work together
on this bridge,” Holland says. “Thanks to Forward Metro St. Louis,
business people have some real clout when they tell their legislators
what the needs are. With legislators working together on both sides
of the aisle and both sides of the river we have real unity.”
Bridge progress also may have something to do with Bruce Holland
himself, says Doug Yaeger, RCGA Board Chairman and President, Chairman
and CEO of Laclede Group. “Bruce has done an amazing job with the
Mississippi River Bridge committee in terms of keeping both the
political and business people working together and focused,” Yaeger
says. “He has a wonderful way with people, and his optimism keeps
the momentum moving forward even if things look bleak.”
Holland notes even if construction starts in 2005, the earliest
a new bridge could be completed would be 2012. “One of the problems
is it gets harder as you go along, and costs go up,” he says. “But
this bridge is necessary for the growth of our region and economic
development.”
In addition to a new bridge, Holland, who served on the Business
Task Force on Lambert Airport, says “having a regional airport authority,
including counties in Missouri and counties in Illinois, would be
good for the region. There’s been some discussion about it.”
WHAT'S AHEAD
Holland enjoys some “hands-on days” at home where he can indulge
himself in home-improvement projects. “I’m pretty handy,” he says.
He also likes to play golf, jog and ski, travel and spend time at
his Lake of the Ozarks home. Holland and his wife of 39 years, Gloria,
have one daughter, who’s involved in the financial services industry,
and two sons, who each own and operate their own businesses in construction
and development. The Hollands also have four grandchildren.
Holland’s father worked until he was 82, and although Holland loves
his work, “if something would happen to me, the company would continue,”
he says. “Things are in place for that.”
In the future, “maybe I won’t work as much,” he imagines, “but I
still want to be part of the business, and a productive asset for
it.”
Pam Droog is a frequent contributor to St. Louis Commerce Magazine.
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