Dolan Construction takes first place in GRCA’s 2024 Business Excellence Awards

by keith dmochowski

Work ethic is a choice — a choice that workers at Dolan Construction Inc. make consistently, according to Maureen Dolan, company treasurer.

Dolan Construction’s values of hard work and integrity coupled with an innovative approach, a focus on quality workmanship, and a dedication to client success, have produced impressive results for the second-generation family-owned company.

Those results include climbing to the top of the list of the Greater Reading Chamber Alliance’s 2024 Business Excellence Awards.

The design-build construction firm was number one on the GRCA’s list this year, edging out the Pennsylvania Anesthesia Coalition and Diamond Credit Union, which took second and third, respectively.

Qualifying GRCA member companies are ranked according to revenue growth.

With a 2023 growth rate of 56%, Dolan, of Reading, ascended to the top spot after taking eighth place last year.

“The growth has been really organic — starting with a great team in place,” said Patrick Dolan, company president. “We look to become a part of the team working hand in hand with the project owners…These efforts combined with a strong, relationship-driven client base has created unique opportunities.”

Maureen Dolan said the firm has benefitted from the lessons learned from her father, Joseph Dolan, a creative engineer who founded the company in 1977.

“Our Dad taught us a lot of valuable business lessons,” Maureen Dolan said. “For instance, the most important thing in hitting a baseball is getting a good pitch. We try to run our business the same way, by identifying the best client and the best projects…Maintaining relationships is not one person’s job here. It’s everybody’s job.”

Dolan’s portfolio demonstrates the company’s sweeping range of clientele, and features everything from private home additions to church renovations, to multiple high-profile contracts.

The company’s projects have included the conversion of the Abraham Lincoln hotel in Reading into the Lincoln Tower Apartments, interior renovations for Judy’s on Cherry, building a 200,000-square-foot manufacturing facility for Cambridge-Lee Industries, and a project to restore and upgrade the exterior of the Pagoda.

One of Dolan's projects involved coordinating the design and construction of a 200,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Ontelaunee Township. (Courtesy of Dolan Construction). — One of Dolan’s projects involved coordinating the design and construction of a 200,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Ontelaunee Township. (Courtesy of Dolan Construction).

Dolan’s work earned the company multiple Excellence in Construction awards from Associated Builders and Contractors, a trade organization representing more than 22,000 commercial contractors and construction firms nationwide.

Success hasn’t come without challenges, Patrick and Maureen Dolan noted.

They said the construction industry has had issues with a diminishing skilled trade workforce.

Patrick Dolan said the company aims to grow at a pace that won’t diminish its ability to provide quality work and innovative methods of project delivery.

“One of the most important issues facing the construction industry is finding skilled labor,” said Maureen Dolan. “We believe in reasonable growth, but our goal is to be the best, not the biggest. And you need good people to be the best. If we’re going to grow, our subcontractors need to be able to handle that growth as well.”

Dolan Construction employs 25 people and has one location, 401 S. 13th Street in Reading.

About the GRCA Business Excellence Awards

The awards recognize for-profit companies headquartered in Berks County or generating 50% of their revenue from Berks.

“It’s just another way the GRCA likes to recognize our great business community,” Leah Fassnacht, GRCA director of communications and marketing, said of the awards. “It’s not every day (companies) get recognized for something like this…It’s always exciting, competitive.”

The awards are a collaboration between the GRCA and KPMG LLP, which takes in revenue statements and tallies the growth totals using an algorithm, Fassnacht noted.

Businesses in two categories were recognized this year: The top 45 business category applies to companies with over $1 million in annual revenue for the past three years, while the second category highlights the top 11 businesses with an annual revenue over $250,000 over the last three years.

GRCA members can submit nominations to be considered for the list based on their annual revenue, which is considered as a total value and more heavily as a percentage of growth over the past three years.

“I think that’s the only fair way to do it,” Fassnacht said. “It’s not necessarily the company that has made the most revenue, it’s about showing growth year over year.”

Fassnacht noted that the top three positions often experience a large amount of turnover, as it can be difficult for companies to maintain such a high growth rate.

She said the Pennsylvania Anesthesia Coalition showed particularly notable growth, as it was last year’s top winner in the $250,000 plus revenue category, and this year came in second in the over $1 million in revenue block.

Pennsylvania Anesthesia Coalition

Pennsylvania Anesthesia Coalition, based in Wyomissing, is a private healthcare company specializing in anesthesia.

“We also have a component to the business that is comprehensive practice management,” Nicholas Lambros, chief executive officer and managing partner, said in a GRCA interview. “We’re able to analyze and track metrics that save time and money through looking at supplies, turnover with the ORs from case to case, and efficiency day-to-day.”

The company employs professionals with decades of experience in private practice, as well as level one trauma and surgery centers, Lambros said.

“You try to imagine, how do you want your family member to be cared for,” Jonathan Weaver, chief executive officer and managing partner, said of his company’s approach to administering anesthesia. “It’s a scary situation, you’re going into something unknown and trusting somebody…kind of just take them through and let (patients) know you’re gonna be there.”

Lambros said the results of his company’s approach speak for themselves, with the company growing roughly 400% from 2021 to 2022.

Weaver told the GRCA that his goal wasn’t to turn the company into a giant national venture.

“I just want to have something that I like working, and I can bring people in who I know want the same thing as me, and they bring a positivity,” Weaver said.