EDITOR’S NOTE: We recently caught up with Janie Stephens, president of Montana Structural Concrete, Inc., MSC. after she attended one of CFA’s Certified Contractor seminars. Janie started MSC in June of 2006 after working for a large volume concrete contractor. She says that after “being inundated with requests for a quality, trustworthy, concrete contractor, she started Montana Structural Concrete, Inc.”

When Janie took the Certification Exam, she said that “one of the reasons I am setting for this exam is our company’s commitment to those contractors. The second reason is having sat for the AIC Constructor Certification exam in 2001 and graduating with a 3.2 GPA from MSU with a BS in Construction Engineering Technology, I believe in learning and continuing education. This class and test will help with the continuing education requirements needed to keep current my Associate Constructor’s status. In addition, I am hoping this will help prepare me for the Level II examination leading to the Professional Constructors Certificate.” She says that they plan to have at least one representative of the company take this exam every year. “This will help keep MSC current in the industry and add to another competitive edge in a soft market.”

Enjoy the following interview with Janie…

You started Montana Structural Concrete in 2006 — it’s been three years now. What have been your 3 biggest challenges? As with any new business, there are new challenges every day. I guess that the three biggest would be;

1. Building a client base, based on a reputation of quality and performance while staying competitive price wise.
2. Maintaining a crew that meets or exceeds standards under all of the conditions that we face, i.e. poor site conditions, harsh weather, last minute design changes… and
3. Adapting to the economic situation by expanding our market to multiple states and still maintaining the quality and control that I insist on.

How have you promoted Montana Structural Concrete? I have made customer satisfaction my number one priority so word of mouth has been my best marketing tool. While expanding our market, I have had to “sell” MSC a bit more but, I still try to do this face to face or with phone calls directly to potential customers.

What is one way you’d like to promote your business in the future, but are not doing now? I would like to have a comprehensive website and possibly get involved in trade shows in the future.

Tell us about your educational and professional background and how you got to where you are today? I have a B.S. in Construction Engineering Technology from Montana State University as well as certifications with The American Institute of Constructors, Woman Owned Business Enterprises and, of course, the CFA Foundation Technician certificate. I served a two-year internship with Dick Anderson Construction (Helena, Mt.), was employed as a Field Engineer on a wind energy project near Scranton, Pennsylvania with Blattner Construction (Avon, Mn.) for 1 year and, before opening MSC, I worked for Hercules – Atlas Company (Gallatin Gateway, Mt.) for over two years as a Senior Field Engineer on high end residential concrete projects.

What attracted you to the CFA as a foundation contractor and inspires you to place energy into getting the most from your investment? I strongly believe that any education and accreditations that I can get help to give me an edge over my competitors and add to the marketability of my company. Involvement in trade organizations like the CFA will ultimately add to promotion also. Who could argue that a company with trained and certified leadership is more qualified than one who is not?

What did you bring home from the CFA Certification Seminar that will be helpful to you? I brought home surprise at the number of foundations going in the ground that have not been properly designed or engineered. This is one of many arguments for industry wide compliance with certification and/or licensing requirements. What was helpful? The whole seminar!

You mentioned you will use your Certification in promotion of Montana Structural Concrete. How important do you see this certification in years to come? Well, I hope that there comes a time when we see certification requirements written into bid documents and permitting requirements for both commercial and residential projects. There really needs to be a better accountability of contractors as a whole as to who is bidding and potentially performing work and their qualifications. With lending institutions struggling to regain trust and creditability, I would expect that they will demand more stringent qualifications from contractors as to who is performing work on their dollar.

You mentioned that your plans are to send at least one representative of your company to the Certification Exam yearly. Tell us more about your views on employee education. MSC is not a one man (woman!) army. Ultimately, I’d like to have all of our leadership certified to the extent that their job descriptions would warrant. This not only improves production and performance but, again, gives us an edge over competitors who haven’t invested time or resources into the growth and future of their companies. I think that there is a potential for increased morale as well. If you are willing to invest in your employees, they usually will respond with a more positive attitude in general and feel that they have a stake in their work.

What is something you’d like to learn more about — what would make a good seminar topic that would be helpful to you? Well, any specialty forming techniques/products like tank forming, shoring and, of course, always, any safety ideas.

What is your best ‘surviving the current economy’ tip? LOL… Don’t give up and keep your mind open to new ideas like different markets or scopes of work. This really could be a time to experiment a bit and maybe find a new “niche” in the market.

What is ‘next’ for the Janie and Montana Sructural Concrete? I’ll have to pass on that question. We have a couple of ideas that were working on to broaden our horizon….