Thomas Crowther, President and CEO of The Crowther Group, a commercial general contractor specializing in multi-site projects, tells us about doing business in Dallas, his company’s focus on workforce development as an industry partner with Dallas County Community College District and Dallas ISD’s P-TECH/ECHS initiative, and the Target Corporation’s ConstructReach.
How does your company help other businesses become more effective?
The Crowther Group’s vision is to be a thought leader igniting change that impacts lives in diverse communities, one project at a time. We do that by aligning with and serving sophisticated clients that are passionate about impacting the communities they serve. These business relationships open doors for small businesses and young professionals to learn from the Fortune 500’s and high-profile local clients of The Crowther Group. Target Corporation, a Fortune 39 organization that endorses a workforce development program called ConstructReach, is a perfect example of this. This online community innovatively impacts both businesses and Dallas Region communities by connecting young talent seeking opportunity with others like them and companies looking to hire them. We applaud clients such as Target for supporting initiatives such as ConstructReach that make a difference. Seeing and hearing from successful women in construction, including Misti Munson, is priceless to students interested in our industry. This opportunity would have been a challenge without our alliance as a Dallas ISD PTECH/ECHS industry partner and business relationship with Target Corporation.
What differentiates your company from others in your industry?
The Crowther Group is a 100 percent African American-owned general contracting company in an industry where this demographic is underserved. We exist every day to bring vison to reality though excellence in construction. Our strategy is to align with trusted brands that want to impact the communities they serve. This strategy allows us to serve others above ourselves, which is a differentiator in a bottom-line driven industry. A perfect example of this is our partnership with two other DRC members, HKS Architects and McCarthy Building Company, on Dallas County’s largest health care and hospital system, Parkland Hospital, to build a new, $164 million Outpatient Clinic project. The new Outpatient Clinic is on target for completion by 2021 and is anticipated to spend approximately 30 percent of construction budget with smaller disadvantage and minority businesses in North Texas’ commercial construction community. This is significant as many of these businesses traditionally would not have an opportunity to work on a project of this magnitude. More importantly, the clinic adds approximately 525,000 square feet of state-of-the-art health care and preventative care space, including breast cancer, HIV, diabetes, and mental health care treatment to underprivileged Dallas County residents.
What do you enjoy most about doing business in Dallas?
The most exciting thing about working in the Dallas business community is being in the winning locker room. The Dallas Region has experienced tremendous growth with relocations of corporate headquarters and major company operations. We are now home to 22 Fortune 500 companies, attracting economic growth, community stewardship, and global thought leaders to our region.
Why did you decide to become a DRC member?
The Dallas Regional Chamber offers us a unique opportunity to serve in areas we are passionate about while connecting with our clients and partners. With emphasis on the area of education and workforce development, the DRC has become one of our most valuable assets as we share the charge to increase economic growth, create the best possible quality of life to attract the best and brightest workers from around the world, and strengthen the local talent pipeline for all students from pre-K through higher education. DRC team members are great stewards of our time as a small business by offering flexible opportunities to be involved.
How has your business changed in the past five years?
Five years ago, the construction market was considered reasonably good. Now, it is a mega-market. Being entrepreneurial in such a market means we must attract bench-ready, experienced construction pros that can be coaches and mentors to the millennials we are hiring. This is a key to our business model: nurturing young leaders who will take our company into the future. At our heart, we are a company that builds trusted relationships, one partner at a time. Our team’s greatest motivator is that today’s client wants more than just the sticks and bricks of our business; they want impactful solutions that build great assets while leaving the communities they engage in better than they found them.