Top 75 Contractors

Contractors may be looking ahead at an uncertain future for the industry, but many of those same firms can glance back at glowing results for 2008. Clear trends arose in this year’s rankings, as private sector opportunities dried up and the public sector gathered steam.

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Turner Construction and Hensel Phelps Construction both moved from big hospitality jobs to major projects in DOD’s Base Realignment and Closure program. Turner completed Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in Prince George’s County, Md., and broke ground on C4ISR Center of Excellence at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Harford County, Md. Hensel Phelps finished the Hilton Baltimore Convention Center Hotel and started up the Defense Information Systems Agency at Fort Meade, Md.

The BRAC program, which is at peak funding, is paying off for many contractors in weak economic times. BRAC work helped propel Clark Construction Group to the top of our rankings, emerging as the first company to break $2 billion in annual regional revenues. Clark’s big new jobs for 2008 included the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.

Although these are unsteady times in the industry, it appears that these trends will strengthen in 2009 and should make for a significant shuffling of firms within next year’s rankings.