Arts & Entertainment  July 9, 2004

Neenan returns to take reins at construction firm

David Neenan has resumed his role as president of The Neenan Co. after a six-year hiatus, part of an executive reshuffling for one of Northern Colorado?s largest commercial contractors.
Neenan took back the president?s position after Jim Neenan, his cousin, decided in the spring he wanted to focus on sales activities. Jim Neenan had been president of The Neenan Co. since 1998.
The shift puts David Neenan, who had remained chairman and chief executive of the company, back in charge of daily operations for the business he started in 1973. The Neenan Co. ranked as one of the nation?s 400-largest commercial contractors in 2003 and was fourth-largest in Northern Colorado.
?I didn?t necessarily make the decision,? David Neenan said. ?He (Jim Neenan) stated he wanted to be back in sales. He asked if I was willing to take the reins again. I said I would.?
David Neenan, 61, said his cousin ?was our best sales person. He was out of his element ? I was kind of sitting on the sidelines.?
In addition to David Neenan?s expanded role, the company also announced the retirement of John Barberio as its COO. Paul Brinkman, who has headed The Neenan Co.?s health care projects group, replaced Barberio last month.
Barberio left after 22 years with the company. He rose through the ranks after starting on a steel framing crew, later becoming a project manager and senior project manager before becoming COO.
?I had no idea this guy with a beard in overalls had a degree in mathematics,? David Neenan said of Barberio. ?He?s been a real part of the heart and soul of this company the last two decades.?
Brinkman, 30, joined the company in 1997. He recently served as project manager for construction of a 100,000-square-foot surgery center in Longmont as well as $50 million worth of improvements at Longmont United Hospital.
Brinkman?s background in health care projects is fitting.
Medical contracts represent about half of The Neenan Co. sales, up from about 25 percent just five years ago. ?We continue to see 20 percent (annual) growth in volume in health care,? Brinkman said.
In the aftermath of the technology downturn, The Neenan Co. placed ?intentional focus? on health care and school projects, Brinkman said.
?They are somewhat countercyclical ? they?re not necessarily dependent on market economics,? he said. ?It has shaped what we are now. That?s probably 80 percent of our business (schools and health care) ? We?ll continue to pursue commercial and municipal work, but our foundation is really schools and health care.?
David Neenan said the demand for health care projects is due in part to demographic shifts, as millions of Americans enter retirement and seek expanded medical assistance.
?I would expect a three-to-five-year run,? he said.
The Neenan Co. is coming off a strong year in 2003, when revenues jumped 25 percent to $118.2 million ? that coming after a 22 percent drop in 2002.
Last year?s revenues were highlighted by completion of the Budweiser Events Center at The Ranch. Without such a high-dollar project under construction this year, however, Brinkman expects revenues to slip about 10 percent this year, then bouncing back in 2005.
?We?re projecting for next year to be 10 to 20 percent over this year,? Brinkman said.
Neenan is the contractor for the proposed Summit lifestyle center in Fort Collins, as well as two new medical buildings at Poudre Valley Hospital?s Harmony Campus. Both projects could come under construction in 2005. Neenan is also a partner with J.D. Dunn to oversee construction of the new Medical Center of the Rockies in Loveland.
Currently, The Neenan Co. is working on a $7 million office complex for the Association of Black Cardiologists in Atlanta, multiple schools, and the Rio Grande Hospital in Del Norte.v

David Neenan has resumed his role as president of The Neenan Co. after a six-year hiatus, part of an executive reshuffling for one of Northern Colorado?s largest commercial contractors.
Neenan took back the president?s position after Jim Neenan, his cousin, decided in the spring he wanted to focus on sales activities. Jim Neenan had been president of The Neenan Co. since 1998.
The shift puts David Neenan, who had remained chairman and chief executive of the company, back in charge of daily operations for the business he started in 1973. The Neenan Co. ranked as one of the nation?s 400-largest…

Christopher Wood
Christopher Wood is editor and publisher of BizWest, a regional business journal covering Boulder, Broomfield, Larimer and Weld counties. Wood co-founded the Northern Colorado Business Report in 1995 and served as publisher of the Boulder County Business Report until the two publications were merged to form BizWest in 2014. From 1990 to 1995, Wood served as reporter and managing editor of the Denver Business Journal. He is a Marine Corps veteran and a graduate of the University of Colorado Boulder. He has won numerous awards from the Colorado Press Association, Society of Professional Journalists and the Alliance of Area Business Publishers.
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