Randolph Construction Services, Inc. News

Randolph Construction Services Inc., was honored for their customer service, community relations and valuing employees.

A few examples of the company's work includes profit-sharing for employees, responding to emergency calls within four hours and participating in a variety of community events, such as Junior Achievement, Relay for Life and many more.

The company is owned by Khristina L. Judy and Lori A. Cook and received the silver award last year.

More than 450 people attended the event at the Three Rivers Convention Center.

The awards are presented by the Three Rivers Alliance of Chambers.

Other Small Business of the Year award winners include:

Silver: Salon Monroe. Notable attributes include educational opportunities for employees, the practice of sending birthday and thank you cards to customers and participation and sponsorship of community events. The salon received the bronze award last year.

Bronze: Tri-Cities Digestive Health Center. Notable attributes include continuing education for employees paid for by the company, constantly measured and improving customer wait times and employees who volunteer all over the community.

Microbusiness (for a business with fewer than 10 full-time employees): Tu Decides. Notable attributes include providing dinner for employees when they work long hours; customers receive a satisfaction guarantee and membership in a variety of business and Hispanic organization.

Winners were chosen by a panel of seven judges, who awarded points based on each of the nominees' applications, mainly in the categories of employee, customer and community relations.

Randolph Construction Services Inc. of Pasco was named Prime Contractor of the Year and Federal Engineers & Constructors Inc. of Richland was named Subcontractor of the Year.

The recognition was part of the agency's 2009 Small Business Awards program for Region X, which covers Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Alaska

The State Small Business Award Winners are nominated by local trade associations, chambers of commerce and business organizations and government agencies.

The awards recognize small businesses in Benton and Franklin counties for exceptional customer service, outstanding commitment to employees and superior community relations.

The nominees include ANR Group Inc.; Columbia Basin Racquet Club; Columbia Kayak Adventures; Einan's Funeral Home; Freestone Environmental Services Inc.; From the Heart; Harms Engineering Inc.; Indian Eyes LLC; J&D Sales; Mid-Columbia Engineering Inc.; Pacific Supply & Safety LLC; Preston Premium Wines; Racing Limos of Tri Cities; Randolph Construction Services Inc.; Law Office of Ruth Coleman; Salon Monro; TradeWind Services LLC; Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business; Tri-Citis Digestive Health Center PS; tu Decides and Vicki Monteagudo & Associates Inc.

Winners will be honored at a banquet May 7 at Three Rivers Convention Center:

Tickets are $35 each and a table for eight costs $280. For more information, contact Tracy Hill, event coordinator at 967-1068 or Tracy@ImageThatPR.com.

"This is quite an honor, to be recognized by other small-business owners," said Cory Manley, CEO of the clinic as he and his colleagues accepted the award.

A roomful of about 500 business people couldn't help but hoot, holler and applaud during the 2008 Mid-Columbia Small Business Awards Banquet at the Three Rivers Convention Center in Kennewick, during which 21 nominees were recognized and four received awards.

"With all of the winners, there's a common theme and that's pride and passion in their businesses," said judging coordinator Brian Johnson.

Winners were chosen by a panel of seven judges, who awarded points based on each of the nominees' applications, mainly in the categories of employee, customer and community relations.

The Three Rivers Alliance of Chambers coordinated the 13th annual awards committee.

The Small Business of the Year award winners include:

• Gold: Pasco Vision Clinic P.S. Provides routine and medical eye care and vision therapy. CEO is Cory W. Manley, secretary is Gerald L. Wodtli. Staffed by four optometric physicians and 22 employees. Open since 1969. Nominated by Gerri A. Good, senior employee and Linsey Craghill, clinic director.
• Silver: Randolph Construction Services, Pasco. Provides construction and design services. Owned by Khristina L. Judy and Lori A. Cook. Staffs 20 to 30 employees. In business for 26 years. Nominated by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
• Bronze: Salon Monroe, Kennewick. Provides hair and spa services. Owned by Jamie and Jana Monroe. Staffed by 12 employees (9.5 full time) and 10 independent contractors. Open sinec October 2006. Nominated by Jamie Monroe and Carmen Stafford.
• Micro-Business (for business with fewer than 10 full-time employees): networkTask.com, Kennewick. Provides a variety of services, including computer networking and repair and graphic design. Owned by Craig Sutton, Aaron W. McCall and Robert Marple Jr. Staffed by seven full-time and four part-time employees. Open for three years. Nominated by the West Richland Area Chamber of Commerce.

The winners had impressive résumés, Johnson said.

The Pasco Vision Clinic features a room designed just for kids, complete with a stuffed animal waiting in the chair, Johnson said.

Employees at networkTask.com use ergonomic chairs and monitors, while staff at Salon Monroe use their fingerprints to unlock entrances, he said.

Randolph Construction Services, Inc. has a motto of walking away from every job as proud as possible, Johnson said.

"They are doing everything right," he said.

All four contribute to a myriad of community groups and service organizations as well.

The business will bid on contracts worth $700 million to install radiation detection equipment and communication systems in more than 30 countries for the National Nuclear Security Administration, said agency spokeswoman Julianne Smith.

"A minimum amount of work is guaranteed," she said.

The companies will work at border crossings, airports and seaports to support the agency's Second Line of Defense program, in collaboration with foreign governments. Specific projects haven't been determined yet, Smith said.

Randolph Construction Services perhaps was selected because of its experience in deploying radiation detection systems nationwide, said Khris Judy, company president. The Small Business Administration named Randolph the Region 10 family-owned business of the year a few months ago.

Judy said it's the first time her company is working with NNSA, a semi-autonomous agency within the U.S. Department of Energy, which works to promote nuclear safety within the U.S. and abroad.

The biggest challenge will be to do the job without disrupting operations at international locations, Judy said.

"You've got to be efficient," so as to not impede commerce, she said.

The company, which was started by Judy's parents in 1982, may hire additional help in the future, said Judy, who expects to complete legal formalities for an agreement with NNSA this week.

NNSA spokeswoman Smith said the contract runs for three years and offers two possible extensions of two years each.

Once the radiation detection equipment is installed, NNSA trains foreign agencies to run it. So, far the program has helped set up equipment at more than 160 sites around the world.

"There is a great deal of important nonproliferation work to be done overseas to secure ports, borders and airports and we are eager to continue this effort," said William Tobey, head of NNSA's nonproliferation programs. "Working together with the private sector and in particular these three small business teams, NNSA will be able efficiently and effectively to accomplish our mission around the globe."

NNSA received 10 timely proposals for the nonproliferation work in response to the October 2006 solicitation for proposals from small businesses. Of the proposals, it was determined that the following small businesses provided the best value to NNSA and have been selected for contract award: Ahtna Government Services Corporation located in West Sacramento, CA; Randolph Construction Services, Inc. located in Pasco, WA; and SES-TECH Global Solutions located in Bellevue, WA.

Known as the Design, Integration, Construction, Communication, and Engineering (DICCE) acquisition, the contractors will install sustainable radiation detection equipment (portal monitors and hand-held devices) and the necessary, accompanying communication systems in over 30 foreign countries at up to 270 international land border crossings, seaports and airports.

Each contract is for a three-year term with two, two-year options for a total of seven years. Issuance of individual task orders will enable deployment of nonproliferation detection equipment and systems that are robust, cost-effective, easy to use, configure and maintain, and most importantly will not disrupt operations at any point of entry.

NNSA's Second Line of Defense program works collaboratively with foreign partners to equip border crossings, airports and seaports with radiation detection equipment and to provide training so that the host government can assume operational responsibility for the equipment. To date, the program has equipped over 160 sites.

"We were free labor," said Judy, now a mom, a construction manager and president of the construction company.

The daughters bought out their father five years ago, and with the help of their mom, have taken the company, which averaged $1 million in annual sales during its first decade, to about $10 million.

The U.S. Small Business Administration recently named Randolph Construction its Region 10 family-owned business of the year.

Nancy Gilbertson, SBA's district director for Washington, said the company has built a reputation as a dynamic, successful firm by focusing on schedule and cost reduction.

"We bid on the projects nobody else wants," Judy said. "Projects with difficult side conditions or aggressive schedules -- when it has to be done on time." Then they concentrate on getting the job done.

That's how the sisters, now in their mid-30s, approach pretty much everything.

Neither grew up itching to be part of their father's business and after high school, they went separate directions.

Judy went into the Army and Cook got a job with Westinghouse, working at Hanford. When Judy returned from the military, she was recently divorced, had a young son and was working for $7.25 an hour.

"I was under the mindset that only people who couldn't get real jobs worked for their parents," she said.

But her son had medical problems, and her dad's company had better health coverage. So when a position at Randolph came open, she decided to make the move.

Cook spent years at Westinghouse. But she didn't have a college degree and kept seeing others get promoted above her.

"I couldn't go back to school and knew (the degree) wouldn't matter here," she said.

So in the late 1990s, they were back at Randolph, starting on the bottom rung.

"I was harder on them than I would be on anyone else," said Don Zoda. "Lori would come to work right at 8 a.m., and I told her she had to be working at 8 a.m."

Cook, tall and thin with long blond hair, was more like her mother, excelling in the financial part of the business and being a calm, even-headed mediator between her father and sister, who are cut from the same mold.

"We're both bull-headed -- stubborn, and Lori is always there to remind us to look at the other side of the story," Judy said.

Judy was always the mechanical one, said Zoda. Even as a child, she'd follow him out to the garage to help -- never worrying about getting grease under her fingernails.

And as the two women worked their way through the company ranks, they found they had to prove themselves every day.

And to some people in the industry, it didn't matter how hard they worked or how savvy they were -- they were still women in a male-dominated industry.

When the company's general manager left in 1999 and Judy took over the job, 70 percent of their craft workers left within six months. "They didn't want to work for a woman," Judy said.

So they found new workers and began moving the company, which had always specialized in HVAC and sheet metal work, in a new direction -- as a general contractor.

"It was a business decision that was hard -- but we wanted to be closer to the money and to mitigate our risk," Judy said.

Their dad retired, but their mom, Kay Zoda, stayed on to help as chief financial officer and executive vice president. "Mom's amazing because she can always just look at the numbers and tell when there is a problem. And when she says there is a problem, you better look into it," Judy said.

Don and Kay Zoda had operated the business successfully for 20 years on a relatively small line of credit, doing work close to home.

But their daughters knew if they were going to bid on large construction projects nationwide, they would need at least $1 million line of credit. "Even successful companies can outgrow their ability to work if they don't have financing," Judy said.

In 2002, the company designed and built a structural retrofit room enclosure for the PUREX and B Plant facilities at Hanford -- a $2.3 million project with tight schedules and radiological issues.

They started bidding projects across the country and have worked on projects in Florida, South Carolina, Los Angeles, New York. Right now, they are putting siding up on Hanford High School and building a generator for Seattle's VA hospital.

Now they don't use the credit line. Instead Cook works to negotiate billing terms that help keep cash flow moving through the company.

They also have decided to get out of the fabrication business and are selling all the company's fabrication equipment at an auction May 22. The equipment is very expensive to maintain, Judy said, and Mike Grothe, the company's first employee who has been doing the fabrication work for 25 years, is retiring.

The sisters, who weren't always the best of friends when they were growing up, have become business partners who trust and rely on each other.

"It took some time -- probably a couple of years," Judy said. "Then we figured out we had the same work ethic. I can't imagine doing this without her."

The company, which started with two employees in 1982, now has about 35 workers and the recent growth and success has given the women the ability to give back to employees and the community.

They have started a profit-sharing program and offer on-the-job training.

"It's nice to be able to do the things we have always wanted to do," said Judy. "Last year, Lori organized a golf tournament that raised nearly $10,000 for Domestic Violence Services, and I'm very active with Junior Achievement."

But none of it would have been possible without their parents, who not only started the business but built it based on quality, integrity and honesty. Although the business model may change, those traits will remain, they said.

"We are very appreciative of what they have left us," Judy said. "And we want to be proud of every project we do."

"Small business success happens when the going gets tough and the tough get going, and in Say's case growing into a multi-million dollar operation," said SBA Seattle District Director, Nancy Gilbertson. "Say exemplifies a winning combination of tenacity and true grit."

An independent panel of judges selected the winner based on several criteria, including staying power, business growth, increase in employees, response to adversity, innovation, leadership and contributions to the small business community, and evidence of community-oriented projects. As the state winner, Say will compete with 52 other winners from across the country for the national Small Business Person of the Year award.

The Washington State SBA Small Busisness Awards Event - a big night for small business - will be held in Seattle on May 4 at the Marion Oliver McCaw Hall at Seattle Center. In addition to celebrating Say's outstanding accomplishments, the award ceremoney will honor:

• Young Entrepreneurs - Jeremy Ames and David Nilssen, Guidant Financial Group, Inc. in Bellevue;
• Jeffrey Butland Family-Owned Business - Khristina Judy, Lori Cook and Katherine Zoda, Randolph Construction Services, Inc. in Pasco

Also featured will be five Washington State SBA Champion award winners who support and advocate on behalf of small businesses and entrepreneurship.

• Financial Services Champion - Cheri L. Pieterman, Key Bank in Tacoma;
• Minority Small Business Champion - Victor Valdez in Seattle;
• Women-owned Business Champion - Christine Clair Wallace, Gracewinds Perinatal Services, Inc. in Seattle;
• Veteran Business Champion - Jeffrey A. Slotnick, Setracon Inc. in Tacoma, and;
• Small Business Journalist - David G. Cortinas, La Voz Hispanic Newspaper in Pasco

"Our winners remind us that the entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well in Washington State," said SBA Seattle District Director, Nancy Gilbertson. "They are the cream of the crop."

For information about SBA's National Small Business Week 2007 celebrations in Washington, D.C., go to http://www.sba.gov/nominationsguidelines/index.html