Efficient processes and strategic planning are propelling McCON Building Corporation to the forefront of construction excellence
McCON Building Corporation (McCON) was established in family and is focused on its people. The company was founded 37 years ago by parents Jim and Jean, and three of their children, Kelly, Chris, and Matt in the small town of Highland, Wisconsin. Population: 869 people.
Construction Today had the pleasure of hearing from a team of McCON leaders, Emily Bublitz, and Chris and David McGuire, about the company’s approach to leadership, its projects and how it establishes strong working relationships. Underpinning each of these is a strong value system instilled by the family. “We were recently told by a franchisee that ‘generosity is the sign of a good soul.’ We, as a team, always hope to be generous with our time and focus on relationships with the people we work for and with. This includes the restaurant team members, owners, subcontractors, suppliers, and anyone else involved. Everyone must do the right thing every day – that is what will be remembered long after our team members and tools leave the job site,” shares Emily, who serves as Project Coordinator at McCON.
The business started out doing Wisconsin-based projects and quickly grew into building in other Midwest states. Over the years, it has built convenience stores, restaurants, hotels, laundromats, movie theaters, schools, churches, industrial spaces, offices, apartments, and single-family homes. Currently, it is heavily focused on building restaurants; primarily Culver’s franchise restaurant locations across the country, and remains grateful for and humbled by the continued trust and partnership.
“Last year was huge for us!” shares President, Chris McGuire. “We celebrated 35 years with some of our team members, 27 years working with Culver’s restaurant franchisees, 38 percent year-over-year team growth, and moving to a new primary office location in Dodgeville. We are currently a Registered General Contractor in 30 states. We have team members who reside in four states across the country – Wisconsin, Michigan, Florida, and Washington.”
McCON boasts 570 completed Culver’s projects, including 237 ground-up builds, 258 remodels, and 75 double drive-thru projects nationwide. Remodels take an average of just four and a half days with no shutdown required, while double drive-thru projects average only three days with uninterrupted business operations. The business tackles administrative hurdles efficiently, with permitting taking 60 times longer than construction. With 117 projects in the queue, McCON prioritizes relationships with clients, architects, engineers, and communities.
According to Emily, the company has been investing in its people by deciding to commit to paying higher remuneration to its team members than competitors. “We have outstanding team members and expect a lot from them! We also invest in our people by creating opportunities to constantly learn and grow professionally in the workplace. Finally, a majority of our team members are very experienced, which helps to provide on-the-job training for new employees to learn the nuances of our industry.”
Robust relationships
On the technology front, the business utilizes Bluebeam to draw up designs company-wide, SharePoint and Microsoft Teams for file management and streamlined communication, and DocuSign for expediting administrative tasks, just to name a few. “Regarding tools and equipment, we are focused on finding better, safer ways of doing everything to save labor. Our team is always looking at new tools and technologies to improve the efficiency of whatever it is we are doing. We discuss, test, and improve processes, constantly using new tools in the field,” continues Emily.
When it comes to projects, Superintendent, David McGuire, notes that the work is challenging but the fact that the business knows how to collaborate effectively helps create projects that are extremely rewarding. He shares: “Every day on every project is a constant learning experience, we are never bored. Our team members call each other almost every day to talk through project challenges or simply just to chat after a day on the job site. There is a very strong sense of team even though we are scattered across the country working on various projects each week. The full-time travel schedule takes some adjusting, but I get to meet new people all around the country, I build a lot of relationships and gain a lot of friends during each project,” David says. “It’s fun to see new places and experience working in different parts of the United States.
“Although the work we do is challenging, the reward of seeing the finished project 
greatly outweighs any stressors that come up on a project. When it comes to construction, there are always variables that are completely out of our control: weather, shortages, utility timeline delays, and many other things. It’s how we work together to push forward through these challenges that matters the most.”
The business takes this one step further by also ensuring that relationships with its supply chain network are just as strong. “We love nurturing long-term relationships with subcontractors and suppliers. Those professional relationships are extremely valuable when something goes wrong such as weather delays, delayed product deliveries, material shortages, unavailability of products, or whatever it happens to be. When you have a positive history with the trades, vendors, subcontractors, suppliers, and team members and we need help overcoming a problem they are willing to do so,” Emily expresses.
Circular construction
When asked about sustainability, the team of leaders respond by outlining that the quality of McCON’s work speaks to the inherent nature of keeping its carbon footprint as small as it can. “A huge part of our values means building it right and never cutting corners. This applies to everything from sitework, concrete, foundations, landscaping, utilities, and especially the building itself. Doing things the right way means the building will last as long as possible. A simple example is avoiding ‘dead air’ spaces where mold can grow, causing building materials to fail.
“We use climate-resilient building materials as applicable to each area of the country. For example, the methods of construction for masonry allow for dry stack masonry in the south, but that method can fail in the states where it freezes. Another example is that the materials used for vapor barriers vary widely from northern to southern states. Being aware of and following these standards not only ensures proper compliance with local building codes but also ensures the building will stand the test of time.
“Everyone is looking for ways to save energy. We have seen huge savings in energy use through LED lights, more efficient exhaust systems that are UL-rated for the application rather than oversized to meet code compliance requirements, and much more. We are testing DOAS make-up-air systems that can greatly reduce the amount of conditioned air needed, thus reducing electrical expenses by seven-to-ten percent. During restaurant remodels, we are changing all fixtures from fluorescent to LEDs to reduce energy consumption by another seven-to-ten percent,” says Chris.
The conversation then comes to a close on the topic of the future, for which the three leaders share their optimism. With a strong number of projects in the pipeline, the trio looks forward to a busy few years ahead. “Our remodel and double drive-thru projects allow for the optimization of resources and minimization of waste throughout the building life cycle. A buzzword we have been hearing so much recently is the concept of circular construction, but we have been putting this idea into action since the 1990s. Everyone brainstorms together to ensure spaces are used thoughtfully on every project.
“Another goal we have as a business is to continue to become licensed in more cities and states around the country so we can grow into new locations as our clients wish to grow. Beyond that, we would like to build our team to increase capacity and enable us to respond to all of the requests for building projects that come our way. This means hiring more team members in every department both in the office and in the field,” Emily concludes.