The company, which builds high-end homes and does remodeling and custom commercial work, has a customer base throughout the Puget Sound area. But many of the projects are done close to home. Company President Brian Dempsey notes that they built most of the buildings located on the waterfront street where the company is headquartered.

Demspey has been with the company for 25 years, starting out as a laborer in his first construction job. Back in those days, he and Fairbank worked in the field side by side. Today, he manages the pulse of the company, the day to day operations, while Fairbank is involved in strategic planning, vision implementation, brainstorming and the like.

Demspey is one of many employees who have worked for a company for as long as two decades. One of the longtime employees, project manager Greg Livdahl, is the first vice president of the Home Builders Association of Kitsap this year, and will become president next year.

The company has more than 50 employees and about 100 contractors. Dempsey said many people who get hired stay on for a long time — somewhat unusual in an industry with high turnover rates. The secrets to retaining those employees include providing them with year-round work (also not too common for construction work), offering good benefits, and treating them with respect.

“We have some great craftsmen who can build things Ted and I couldn’t,” Dempsey said. Having those skilled helpers is crucial to the company’s success, as the industry struggles with finding new qualified workers in the Information Age.

Technology has changed a lot of the way work is done, especially in the area of project management and communicating with clients. Often times, they take photos on site, instantly download and send them to clients who may be traveling on the other side of the world. Clients, too, expect service much faster — but the nails can only get hammered in so fast. And despite all the technology advancements, building a good home is still very much about physical labor.

“The management and tracking of the jobs is more sophisticated today from 10 years ago, but it still gets down to a good carpenter…and other tradesmen,” Dempsey said. “We are trying to have the best systems to manage work but also keep the best craftsmen.”

Fairbank Construction (www.fairbankconstruction.com) is operating in a very competitive arena, and Dempsey said they talk with competitors on occasion, and maintain good relationships with a number of them. When they don’t win a bid, they try to find out why — and look for other ways to get feedback. Success can be measured by feedback from the 20 to 30 architects with whom they work, by customer satisfaction, and by word of mouth — which is the way most of their work finds them.

To keep up with customer demand, the company recently opened a division called Fairbank Special Services for smaller projects such as additions, remodels, decks and other projects under $250,000. “It’s a way to fully service current customers and be more available to the community,” Dempsey said.

The average homes the company builds are about 4,000 to 6,000 square feet, and usually cost between $250 to $400 per square foot. Some customers go for the full technological works. For example, they can turn on the air conditioner or warm up the hot tub with a remote as soon as they get off the ferry on Bainbridge Island. Others, however, prefer to stay low-tech.

Those kinds of varied needs and preferences provide for a great variety on the job. Every house is unique, driven by the customer’s vision. The “new challenge of the next home, trying to win the next client” still keeps the work fun for him, Dempsey said. “Winning the client is still exciting — and seeing them love their home,” he said. “It’s quite a rush to see the client fall in love with the home we’ve built for them.”.