Over 60 Years of Combined Experience as Your Construction, Development, and Management Company
CDM7 is a familiar name and strong contender in the construction field. This construction, development, and management organization, remains committed to safety, quality, cost, and schedule to successfully serve clients. Construction is this company’s core function and founding business practice, with their principles, values, and culture allowing them to provide quality services that accommodate client needs for the successful completion of projects. CDM7’s impressive development portfolio is built around leveraging their construction resources, relationships, and partnerships, to create sustainable places for people to meet, explore, create, share, inspire, and live. CDM7 has over 60 years of combined relevant industry know-how that clients trust to keep their businesses moving, with less overhead.
Trey Harris founded CDM7 and leads as president and CEO. Harris has gained a keen proficiency in this industry, having worked in various positions in construction before CDM7. “I worked for a large commercial construction firm prior to founding CDM7. They made it mandatory for all employees to get 30 hours of training every year. Because of this, it provided me with a great foundation for understanding the construction business. Taking classes in business development, pre-construction, financial management, safety, and many others have, no doubt, provided me the skill set needed to strategically and effectively run a profitable construction company,” Harris said.
Under Harris’ leadership, CDM7 continues to grow, with a newly acquired license to complete work in Louisiana. This achievement allows the company to extend its reach beyond Texas, gaining more opportunities for new bids and contracts. The certifications, memberships, and associations combined with hard work contribute to CDM7 making its impressive mark in the construction industry. But Harris knows that without a core team of talented and ardent individuals, this company’s growth and achievements would not be possible.
Q&A with Trey Harris, president and CEO of CDM7:
What are some of the challenges you face in this industry, and how do you overcome those challenges to stay competitive? The greatest challenge in this business is finding the right opportunities that fit our business model and allow us to make fair fees. With a pandemic that has stopped traditional business practices, it has been challenging to qualify for new work, even with company credentials in order. To overcome these challenges, we focus on three ways to partner with firms that have strong ties within the industry: design-build, JV partnerships, and minority participation.
Your company has over 60 years of combined experience that makes you qualified, so talk about some of the combined experience/leadership behind the company that is a component of CDM7’s strong foundation. Prior to founding CDM7, I held various operational roles throughout the construction industry. Rising from the ranks of office engineer to general manager and completing over 2.6 million sq. ft. of space at over $625 million dollars, it really gave me great understanding of how to successfully run a construction business. Knowing that I wanted to grow the company at a rapid pace, I focused on finding individuals who had similar experiences at their previous companies as well. This has allowed me to trust in their knowledge of the foundational practices and procedures that are required to run a sound construction project. Skilled and committed people are the key to growth and producing exceptional work. Without great people, we would be stagnant in growth.
This is a veteran-owned company. What efforts do you/your company practice to hire veterans for your company or to help veterans receive work in this industry? Being that this is a veteran-owned construction company, we always look to invest in the growth of individuals, especially veterans, who demonstrate an interest and passion for this field. Being afforded the opportunity to coach and mentor those who have served this country is always a plus. They especially deserve an opportunity to not only work in this business, but gain the expertise to be qualified for promotion as industry leaders.
What are your efforts to mentor the next generation of minority-owners in this industry? Mentoring the next generation is something that I am truly honored to do, and I enjoy it as well. I’m constantly sharing my insights with minority subcontractor owners to help them understand the thoughts of top-tier general contractors (GCs). The minority contractor ecosystem was truly created for subcontractors and not for the general contractor, so there are very few minority GCs. As we go from being minority GCs to just a GC, it will be important to help the future generation of construction industry leaders who intend to follow our path.
Tell us about the significance of the reference to the number 7 in the company name. The number seven represents completion and the supernatural power of God. We want to be a company that finishes what we start. CDM7 believes that if we do the natural, God will do the super; together, we will produce a supernatural result that our clients will love.
Please tell us about your company and the $15 million dollar bonding. If you can bond in this business, that speaks volumes to how your company operates. In addition, if you can bond up to $15 million dollars, this means you have capital and a stellar company on your hands. Bonding for some companies is challenging because of how they keep their books and a lack of training in financial construction management. Bonding is like a credit card, and everyone has a limit. Your success rate on each project helps to increase your limit, which in turn, provides the company with more opportunities.
Talk about how your company stands on its core values to deliver on every project. These values are profoundly important to any business, but especially to a construction business. Every day on the jobsite, you face obstacles and challenges that can be tough to overcome; having a strong value system is important. Honor is big to me because the construction industry is filled with vultures who have demolished the construction culture with dishonesty. Innovation and technology are key because we are just on the cusp of what is to come. Staying ahead of the technology curve will be paramount in helping us control our overhead and maximize the construction schedule and processes. A clairvoyant person is one who can see the future. And in construction, you must be three steps ahead in every move you make. Partnerships and relationships hold the key to our future. As the adage says, “Show me your friends and I will show you your future!”
What are some goals for the company moving forward? Moving forward, it will be important for us to not simply be known as a minority company, but as a commercial general contracting company that just so happens to be owned by a minority. We want to be able to hire, train, and give opportunities to people that look like us. When contributing my time to speak with construction majors at Prairie View A&M University, I can see how important it is for individuals like myself to spend time with them and share real world stories. In life, everything has to do with exposure. If you never get exposed to things, you’ll never know how to operate in specific situations. I want to make sure that those who want to know, receive the knowledge and opportunity to make a difference in the construction industry.
With OSHA citing so many construction companies for not complying with COVID-19 safety standards, what is CDM7 doing to keep its construction teams safe and productive during this time? We take the safety and health of our employees extremely seriously, thus resulting in the creation of an extension to our already existing safety plan, specifically outlining key pre-screening questions before our employees, and subcontractors are able to begin daily work. If anyone exhibits signs of sickness, they are immediately sent home. A limited number of employees are allowed to be in a confined space at the same time to adhere to social distancing. When applicable, meetings are held virtually to lessen face-to-face contact. Everyone must wear a face covering and wash/disinfect their hands regularly.
CDM7 stays ahead of the curve, remaining competitive in this arena, and aspires to find ways to work with their clients, owners, and partners, adding value to any organizational structure. With vast experience and expertise, CDM7 consistently delivers a cost-effective project in a safe manner through managing their schedule and quality control. The end result is always one their clients take pride in and patrons will love.
For more information on CDM7, please call 281-831-0802 or visit www.cdmseven.com.
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