May Construction

CEO Lewis May has been taking May Construction Co. in new directions since buying out his brother and partner in 1998. It has shown consistent growth.

May has been instilling a new culture within the company that has al-lowed it to succeed on a regional basis. The company emphasizes hiring people who are adaptable to change and then giving them the education they need to succeed, focusing on accountability for all work and undeniable ethics.

“Developing people sets us apart,” May said. “Not many companies our size have a full-time education person.” The company evaluates performance and helps employees improve in weak areas

Those processes have allowed the company to grow rather painlessly with fewer failures and problems, May said.

“Good people bring good people,” he said.

Sales have tripled in the past several years, and May said he expects the company to double again in the next four years. Sixty percent of the company’s business is retail and 60 percent is out of state.

The company has built a reputation for on-time and under-budget performance, and for exceeding its clients’ expectations in work schedule and work quality. One of his philosophical changes at the company, May said, was to pursue clients rather than jobs. That means building relationships with clients that lead to repeat business.

After landing a single Lowe’s store, the next year the company built two, then four, May said. Now 35 percent of the company’s business is with Lowe’s, which is predicting continued growth.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has also sent work to May Construction on the strength of its performance for Lowe’s.

Other recent major projects include the Acxiom Corp. Data Center and the expansion of the corporate headquarters of J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. at Lowell. May also built the first LEED-certified building in Arkansas, the University of Arkansas’ Innovation Center in Fayetteville.

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