Martin Concrete Construction’s website points up a number that Cory Lee, the company's president, says epitomizes what the Atlanta-based turn-key concrete specialty contractor is all about—a 93% repeat customer rate. That impressive figure is the result of a 32-year-long commitment to providing customers with a unique, positive experience, he says.

“It doesn’t mean everything we do is going to be perfect,” Lee says. “It’s how you handle the issues that arise during construction so that the overall experience is positive from the moment we have the first conversation with a potential customer to the last day on the job.”

Electric Owl Studios' Atlanta location is the world's first LEED Gold certified film and TV studio.
Photo courtesy Liebherr

Other numbers are equally illustrative of Martin Concrete’s recent success. The company says it earned $233 million in Southeast regional revenue in 2022, a 42% increase over the previous year. Much of that activity came from industrial and tilt-up projects, a long-standing specialty area. Martin Concrete recently completed the $17.8-million Savannah Port Logistics Center 2, a nearly 1.2-million-sq-ft facility in Pooler, Ga., that includes 8-in. reinforced concrete flooring.

Martin Concrete also has applied its expertise to other types of projects, including the recently opened downtown Atlanta campus of Electric Owl Studios. Reportedly the world’s first purpose-built LEED Gold certified film and TV studio, the facility includes 140,000 sq ft of sound stages as well as production offices and support spaces. Construction is also underway on Georgia Pacific’s new $425-million, 900,000-sq-ft Dixie manufacturing facility in Jackson, Tenn.

The nearly 1.2-million-sq-ft Savannah Port Logistics Center 2 in Georgia used 228 tilt-up panels.
courtesy Capital Development Partners

Strategic steps

In the years since founder and CEO Jeff Martin got the company off the ground by selling his two motorcycles, Martin Concrete’s senior management has adhered to a growth plan that identifies goals and detailed steps necessary to achieve them.

Citing the adage, “if you aim at nothing, that’s probably what you’re going to hit,” Lee says Martin Concrete takes the exact opposite approach.

“We go into a lot of detail in our plan, from 10 years out to three years out to one year out to ‘What do I need to get done this week to move that along,’” he says. “That’s been the key to all of it.”

Another facet—ensuring the availability of resources to handle whatever project opportunities might come its way—led to Martin Concrete performing typically subcontracted elements of the construction process in-house and growing them into subsidiaries that regularly take on assignments for other contractors.

Along with finishing and ready-mix divisions, Martin Concrete’s Full-Tilt Crane Services provides a fleet of large-capacity cranes. They include the first Liebherr LR 1400SX 400-ton crawler crane sold in the U.S., an acquisition that opened the door to larger tilt-up projects, beginning with Electric Owl Studios’ panels, the heaviest of which weighed more than 157,000 lb.

“It goes back to customer experience,” Martin Concrete executive vice president Rick Galloway says of the company’s vertical integration approach. “We expect more of ourselves so our customers can expect more from us. With the crane, for example, we’re not beholden to someone else to dictate when it shows up, when it leaves and how much it will cost.”

Martin Concrete’s adaptability to each project’s specific priorities, opportunities and challenges has been essential for helping its general contractor customers deliver value to their clients, says Brett Strength, a senior vice president with JE Dunn Construction.

“From reliable, competitive pricing to delivering aggressive schedules that meet speed-to-market demands, we trust Martin to safely and consistently deliver a high-quality product,” says Strength, who cites efforts such as the Georgia Pacific project and the 350,000-sq-ft Southeast Toyota Distribution Facility in Commerce, Ga., completed in early 2021.

Martin's Full-Tilt Crane Service means the firm isn't relying on someone else to dictate cost and schedule for large tilt-up projects.
Photo courtesy Liebherr

Lee likewise credits Kristin McKenzie, Martin Concrete’s vice president of employee experience, for developing a robust safety culture that has resulted in a current EMR of 0.70, enabling the company to become a third-party provider of safety training and onsite monitoring services.

“That’s how a lot of these companies got born,” Lee says. “We were good at what we did, and the ability to do it as a third party helps us control our own destiny.”

Not all aspects of construction are so easily managed, however. Galloway says that while the Southeast’s overall construction market has remained strong, higher interest rates and other factors have diminished what for a time had been the steady demand for speculative big-box tilt-up warehouse and distribution facilities.

“It’s been a choppy year, making it difficult to get a footing,” Galloway says of the past 12 months.

Electric Owl Studios includes purpose-built sound stages, production offices and support spaces.
Photo courtesy Liebherr

Material shortages

Nor has Martin Concrete been immune from post-pandemic material shortages, price escalation and other complications that threaten to throw wrenches into project schedules.

“Overcoming challenges is what we’re good at,” Lee adds. “If we encounter a barrier, we either go over it, under it or knock it down.”

That capability was put to the test last summer when a nationwide cement shortage threatened to upend the schedule for Pratt Industries’ 750,000-sq-ft corrugated box manufacturing facility in Henderson, Ky.

Andy McHugh, a project manager with Cincinnati-based general contractor Miller Valentine, says Martin Concrete provided options with cost and schedule impacts, then took ownership of managing the supply chain. As a result, the project was scheduled to wrap up at the end of August 2023, approximately a month later than originally planned.

“We look for great collaboration with our trade partners, and they’re one of the best at it,” McHugh says. “In addition to being open with issues and information, they look for value engineering opportunities that will benefit the client.”

Martin Concrete tackled a similar schedule challenge when rainy weather and other factors delayed the turnover of a Jackson, Ga., industrial site and the start of construction on Project Boombox, a 1.7-million-sq-ft large-scale warehouse and distribution facility for Procter & Gamble.

“They’ve worked to get the project back on schedule by always adjusting as needed,” says Scott Anderson, project manager for general contractor Alston Construction. He adds that keeping Project Boombox on pace since its mid-2022 groundbreaking has been particularly important, given that concrete work makes up approximately 20% of the project’s total construction value.

“When one sub has that much, it can make or break a project,” Anderson says. “They’ve done it very well.”

The $17.8-million Savannah Port Logistics Center 2 includes 8-in. reinforced concrete flooring.
Photo courtesy Capital Development Partners

Stand by your plan

Martin Concrete has made a similarly strong investment in its staff of nearly 580 employees, located in both Atlanta and a branch office in Nashville that opened in 2014. Last year, the company was named one of the Best Places to Work by the Atlanta Business Chronicle and a Top Work Place by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

“Most people are looking for opportunities to grow and take on new challenges,” Galloway says. “By continually expanding and updating our training programs, we make sure they can build their careers while remaining part of our company.”

Similarly, Martin Concrete is active in the community through its own efforts and collaborations with its customers. Along with being one of the headline sponsors for J.E. Dunn’s annual Hammer Down 5K and 10K race in Atlanta, the firm supports youth-oriented efforts such as the Orange Duffel Bag Initiative, which provides supplies and other assistance to students in need.

Galloway is particularly proud of Martin Concrete’s annual holiday toy drive, conducted with Atlanta Angels, another youth services group.

“While we can always count on our office staff to pitch in, what’s really fun is seeing what our field personnel pull together and give to needy families around the holidays,” he says.

Galloway admits that the extensive planning that has sustained Martin Concrete’s growth likely will be challenged by “a few tough quarters” coming up. After that, he adds, the region’s construction industry should see a breakthrough of pent-up demand.

“It may not be like what we saw right after COVID, but the market will reset,” Galloway predicts, adding that even if interest rates remain high, “expectations will change at that point and there will be plenty of opportunities for us for sure.”

Lee shares that optimism, even if it means that along the way a customer chooses to work with another concrete contractor.

“As long as they say the other company was good, but it wasn’t the ‘Martin experience,’ that’s what I want to hear,” he says.