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Steve Deacon opened Deacon Construction in 1981, with three partners and friends, and acknowledges that a recession is not typically thought of as an ideal time to start a business. He counts a bit of luck and a lot of perseverance with the fledgling company鈥檚 ability to not only win a bid to build an Albertson鈥檚 store as one of its first projects, but continue that relationship and build dozens more over the years.

鈥淭hat really gave us credibility and started us out as a retail-based company, doing lots of grocery stores and retail centers,鈥� he said.
From those days, when a $1 million job was a major accomplishment, Deacon Construction has expanded into many other markets, including hospitality and multi-unit projects such as market-rate senior housing and affordable apartments. It now completes $400 million to $500 million in work each year, and Deacon is proud of the fact that two-thirds of his company鈥檚 business is with repeat customers.

Deacon described his company as entrepreneurial and said the leadership team is calculated about whether and when to open new offices, expand to other states and enter new market sectors. 鈥淕rowth is easy. The hard part is having it be something you鈥檙e glad you did after it鈥檚 done,鈥� he noted.
The company strives to promote from within and has established the next leadership team from long-term employees.

鈥淚 enjoy watching people grow and the creativity of the business,鈥� Deacon said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 important to give people an opportunity and not be afraid to allow them to run with things because it won鈥檛 be long before they鈥檒l be running the whole company.鈥�

He added that the Deacon team is especially proud of the company鈥檚 commitment to giving back to the community. It established its own charitable foundation in 2006 and each year gives 4 percent of its pre-tax profit to the foundation.

Over the years the company has contributed more than $5 million to nonprofit entities. An annual employee survey collects information about which categories are most important to the employees and the Giving Committee 鈥� made up of employees from each office and no senior management 鈥� determines where the money will be contributed each year.

Deacon is grateful for the company鈥檚 success and credits it, in part, to the fact that they started during the depths of a recession. 鈥淚n hindsight, that was really helpful because it taught us to really value each client and project and it didn鈥檛 allow us to grow too fast.鈥�