Still Showing Them What Can Be Done

Still Showing Them What Can Be Done
Fred Hearn Construction Marks Three Secades In Building Industry
By Robin Miller
Article Launched: 03/16/2008



Fred Hearn, CEO of the construction company that bears his name, is marking 30 years in the business this month. (Rick Roach / The Reporter)

It all began with a remodeling job on an old Victorian on Pleasants Valley Road.

It was the late 1970s and Fred Hearn was brand new to the construction business and still working on his license when he was called to take on the job.

"Mike Cherry had this house and every other builder had told him to just bulldoze it and start over," Hearn recalled. "But he wanted to restore it so I took it on and did it."

The Reporter, and then cub staffer Steve Huddleston, did a huge feature on the final product, emblazoned with a headline that read: "They Said It Couldn't Be Done."

"That put us on the map," Hearn recalled. "We started getting calls and things took off."

To say the least.

Fred Hearn Construction, which marks its 30th year in business this month, is now a $70 million a year firm with 80 some employees.

Through the years, the Vacaville firm has built just about every kind of project: houses, offices, banks, credit unions, hotels, churches, theaters, fire stations, and even remodeled a jail and built a roller coaster.

"You almost can't drive down a block without seeing something we've worked on," Hearn quipped.

But it has taken three decades of hard work for the company to become one of the most recognized and honored construction firms in the state.

Things were different back in 1978. In those days, Hearn put on his tool bag, worked all day as a carpenter, then came home and bid jobs in the evening and his wife Diane did the bookkeeping.

The business started out as Fred Hearn Construction, with Fred as its only employee. His slogan was "The only thing better than the price is the quality of the work."

Seven years later, Hearn teamed up with Jerry Swank, an engineer at the time, to form Hearn & Swank Construction. "Jerry brought discipline and corporate structure to the team", he said. The company moved into a better location off of Highway 80 on Bella Vista Drive now occupied by Swank Construction and changed from residential projects into commercial work.

In the recession of the early 1990s, construction slowed. Hearn & Swank experienced a decrease in business and went their separate ways in 1993.

Despite the slump, Hearn managed to expand - which he credited at the time to good management and diversification.

He hired a core group of employees, Rory McLeod, Fred Stage, Oscar Gutierrez, Donna DeQuillettes, and Rick Fisher. With the exception of Fisher, who retired last year, that devoted crew remains with Hearn today. "The key to our success ... has been assembling talented employees who are committed to delivering superior service and rewarding them for doing so," he said.

Another change for the firm took place in 1994, when Hearn met Gordon Stankowski, now Hearn's executive vice president. They worked together when Hearn was awarded the contract for the Notre Dame School Computer Science Lab. Admiring Stankowski's administrative and construction skills, Hearn offered him a job and Stankowski, he said, brought big company ideas and skills needed to support the company's steady growth. Stankowski established policies and procedures, including the dynamic project management programthe firm still uses, and eventually became part owner of the company and a board member.

The company continued to grow. Hearn purchased and remodeled the old Vacaville Lights Building at 630 Davis Street, which became his new offices. The office quickly grew too small, and Hearn purchased the Basic American Foods Lab Building at 411 Davis Street, which was refurbished and expanded to form the company's current headquarters.

The company incorporated in 1998 under the new name Hearn Construction and in 2005 merged with James Nolan Construction Inc., of Napa, forming Napa Pacific Inc., a holding company which owns both Hearn and Nolan.

Looking back, there are a number of projects that stand out in his memory, including the Madusa rollercoaster at Marine World in Vallejo, the remodeled Lincoln Theater in Yountville, the recently completed luxury hotel resort LeRivage along the Sacramento River, and the various projects that have provided low-income and senior housing as well as homeless and battered women's shelters.

"Those are the projects that make you feel like you are really giving something back to your community," he explained. "I feel blessed that the community has been supportive over the years. I owe my success to my family and friends, great employees and to the local subcontractors and suppliers."

As for the future, Hearn believes the possibilities are endless. Asked if there is anything he hasn't built, he quipped, "No bridges or skyscrapers, but some day ..."



The Davis Street brick and glass building that houses Fred Hearn Construction is among many past projects of the firm which is turning 30 this month. (Reporter file)