Saginaw Contracting, Inc.
Owner Steve Erickson
Saginaw Contracting, Inc.
Owner Steve Erickson
DULUTH, Minn. — Business conditions may change from month to month, but experience has taught Steve Erickson that there’s one constant in his construction business: “If you do good work, build a good reputation, we always feel like we have a tomorrow.”
It also helps, he hastens to add, to have a battle-hardened SBDC consultant to turn to.
It was 1998 and Erickson had been a salesman at Saginaw Construction for several years when the owner, looking toward retirement, offered to help him buy the asphalt paving company.
Erickson had used the SBDC in the past for help on a couple of sideline businesses, so it was only natural that he turn again to consultant Dick Braun when he decided to buy out his boss.
“A bank wouldn’t even talk to you unless you had a business plan,” says Erickson. “So that’s where we started.” Braun guided his client through each step of the acquisition, scrutinizing even the smallest detail, questioning every assumption, sharpening every projection and meticulously assembling a plan that could succeed.
“Dick is a mentor to me,” says Erickson. “When I really need an opinion that is unbiased, one that I can trust – some calculating, cold-blooded analysis – that’s where I go. That’s the best thing about him.”
The first building project Erickson took on after he bought Saginaw was to expand the company’s services beyond asphalt work. Soon the general contractor was paving sidewalks, building decks, garages, home additions and four-plexes in retirement communities.
The SBDC also helped the company navigate the federal government’s contract certification process, an important development in Saginaw’s long-term future because Congress gives preferences to companies owned by service-disabled veterans like Erickson.
“It’s a lot easier to work for someone else, but if you’re struck with the entrepreneurial spirit, it’s a disease,” says Erickson. “The most difficult thing to continue to do is to get the company to settle down. You can’t expect a business to be on cruise control. It’s a lot of struggle and points when you’re nearly out of business. That’s something you just have to accept. Without the SBDC I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be here.” 2005 Northeast Minnesota SBDC