When I joined my family’s mechanical contracting business full-time in 1994, the company was primarily a “plan and spec” public contractor based in Sacramento. It was already in its second chapter; Lawson Mechanical Contractors grew out of a business founded by my grandfather. In 1986, my father and grandfather moved the business to South Sacramento and, under my father’s leadership and then mine, we have expanded into a 56,000-square-foot fabrication facility serving northern California, parts of central California, and Nevada. Our growth has been driven by a disciplined, relationship-first approach to geographic expansion.

Although it doesn’t have to happen fast, over time, all companies must grow to survive. As we moved toward the new millennium, our work had historically been bid-based public work. We were looking for the right strategy for our next phase of growth, and it was clear that this would require some diversification. In the early 2000s, we began offering design-build services as well. Eventually, we added a service department in 2012–2013. In the early phases of our vertical integration, all of this happened in Sacramento. Since we were already very focused on our client and community relationships, this gave us the opportunity to deepen them further, making ourselves viable partners for the full lifecycle of a building. Our strong relationships were key to making this expansion successful.