Specialty Construction Systems Ltd., of Post Falls, has benefited for many years from its close working relationship with Spokane developer Walt Worthyand its owners say they expect to do the stud and drywall work on Worthys proposed 19-story Tower of the Davenport Hotel, in downtown Spokane.


Dan Mattern, an owner of the company along with partner Bob Borgwardt, says that work on the tower, to be built cater-corner across First Avenue and Post Street from the Davenport Hotel, should begin between March and May. He and Borgwardt say that Specialty Construction will do extensive work on the tower project, which Worthy estimates will cost about $18 million to build.


Walt Worthy is our biggest customer, by far, says Mattern, adding that Specialty Construction, which normally has 25 to 30 projects going at one time, always reserves time when one of Worthys projects comes up.


With the millions of dollars of work weve done for Walt Worthy, weve never signed a contract, Borgwardt says. Our part (on the tower project) could be $1 million, or it could be $10 million. We dont know.


$10 million in revenue


After launching Specialty Construction in 1995, Mattern and Borgwardt have seen their company generate as much as $10 million of revenue in one year. For now, though, they anticipate keeping the company at about that volume level until the Spokane areas population grows significantly.


There comes a point where its not efficient to do the type of metal stud and drywall work we do above the $10 million level here, says Mattern. For one company, theres not enough quality personnel to cover more work.


Still, Specialty Construction is building a $1.2 million, 17,000-square-foot facility on Innovation Way, in Post Falls, that it hopes to have ready to occupy by the end of this week. It will include about 9,000 square feet of office space and an 8,000-square-foot warehouse, Mattern says.


Though the company regularly bids against three major competitors here for the type of work it does, its close rapport with Worthy has resulted in a steady supply of work, says Mattern.


Specialty Construction regularly employs more than 100 workers, although its work force peaked at 176 employees in 1999 when it was working on Worthys big Rock Pointe III and Rock Pointe East projects, in Spokane. The company now has about 120 people on its payroll, Mattern says.


While the regional construction industry took a major hit following the September 2001 terrorist attacks, Specialty Construction remained busy for another year, completing about $4.5 million worth of work on Worthys renovation of the Davenport Hotel. On that job, Specialty Construction installed metal studs, did drywall and plaster work, supplied fireproofing, built an acoustical ceiling in the Peacock Room, did some ornate patching and repair work, and added high-end accommodations to the buildings 14th floor, which previously had been half guest rooms and half garden space, says Mattern.


For 24 months, the construction company had about 100 people working daily at the hotel, but when that job was completed, Specialty Construction dropped off to about 60 employees.


Its only in the last year that things have gotten good again, says Mattern.


Borgwardt says that the company, from its inception, has worked to reduce the number of subcontractors it needs to complete a job by offering a myriad of services itself, including interior metal framing, drywall, wall coverings, fireproofing, acoustical ceilings and wall panels, and exterior insulation and finish systems. Two years ago, it added a paint division.


Some history


Although Mattern and Borgwardt both have been involved in the construction industry for many years, they took different vocational paths before working together in 1994 at the Spokane branch office of Bellevue, Wash.-based Pacific Construction Systems. Mattern was the general manager of the branch, while Borgwardt was its purchasing agent.


In 1980, Mattern launched a business called Western Applications, in Idaho Falls, Idaho, which he says was very similar to Specialty Construction. He later opened a second business in Idaho Falls, called Mattern Interiors Inc., which sold products such as metal studs, drywall, and acoustical panels to Western Applications and other construction companies. In 1990, he sold those businesses, moved to Coeur dAlene to work for a Hayden Lake, Idaho, drywall company named Antler Drywall Inc. thats since ceased operations, and later worked for Pacific Construction.


Borgwardt has worked in many phases of residential and commercial construction for more than 20 years, developing a specialty as a safety director. He says he worked for many different companies during his career, including some of Specialty Constructions main competitors.


Specialty Construction opened its doors in leased space on Third Avenue, in Post Falls, where it remained for three years before buying its current 5,000-square-foot headquarters in what was previously the Empire Square Business Center, at 2289 W. Seltice Way. With its pending move to 991 N. Innovation Way, Specialty Construction has sold the building it will vacate to North Country Chapel, which plans to open a Christian school there.


Mattern claims that about half of Specialty Constructions original work force still works for the company, and says the company is unique in that one of its two owners, Borgwardt, is also its safety director and field superintendent.


Specialty Construction normally does jobs in Washington, Idaho, and Montana. The company has completed about $4 million worth of work on a series of Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints churches and temples as far away as Oklahoma City, Okla. It also did $1.3 million worth of work on the CenterPlace community center, at Mirabeau Point, in Spokane Valley, and has done projects worth about $1 million at miscellaneous sites for Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Mattern says.


Sizable projects on which the company currently is working include a medical office building in Kalispell, Mont.; the North Idaho Rehabilitation Center, in Post Falls; the Lincoln Heights Elementary School, in Spokane; and a Panhandle Health District building, in Hayden, Idaho.


SCS Properties LLC


In 1998, Mattern and Borgwardt formed a second company, called SCS Properties LLC, to develop or sell their real estate holdings in the Post Falls-Coeur dAlene area. That company now owns Ridgewood Gardens, a Post Falls home for senior citizens, is developing property it owns along Innovation Way, and also owns about 10 other lots in Post Falls and Coeur dAlene that it could sell or on which Specialty Construction could build structures in the future, says Mattern.


SCS Properties has hired Innovation Construction & Design, of Liberty Lake, as the contractor to build a 5,000-square-foot building along Innovation Way in Post Falls, near Specialty Constructions new headquarters. That building also will be ready for occupancy by the end of this week, with equal space provided for Innovation Constructions relocated Post Falls office, and a new, larger home for a Sprint Communication Engineering office that will move there from another Post Falls location, Mattern says. SCS Properties plans to build two additional 5,000-square-foot buildings nearby, probably later this year, says Mattern.


We are not really risky in our properties company, Mattern says. We pretty much have to secure a tenant before we build.