Cameron-Reilly LLC, a concrete contractor, is trying to stay ahead of the competition by avoiding it, says one of the partners in the Airway Heights company.

The partner, Jim Cameron, says Cameron-Reilly is focusing on atypical projects that draw less bid competition among contractors than the normal roadwork the company and its predecessor have relied on for nearly three decades.

Cameron founded Cameron-Reilly's predecessor, Cameron Co., here in 1982 and since then had relied on road construction for most of the company's revenues.

He and Mike Reilly formed a partnership in 2006 and renamed the company Cameron-Reilly.

Reilly started his career in the concrete industry about 20 years ago as an apprentice under Cameron, who says Reilly became one of his most skilled concrete finishers. In the 1990s, Reilly formed his own company, Reilly Concrete LLC, which specialized in the residential market, small commercial jobs, driveways, and decorative concrete, until he and Cameron formed the partnership.

Cameron says he and Reilly have worked on just about every arterial in Spokane, and Cameron-Reilly has stamped its name on plenty of sidewalks around town, but this is the first year that the company hasn't done any street work for the city.

"We decided we didn't need to fight for work that everyone else was bidding for," Cameron says.

Cameron-Reilly, which occupies a 4,400-square-foot office and equipment building at 11201 W. 21st, also has become more lean because of the economy, he says. The company currently employs 25 to 30 people, about half the number of people it employed a couple of years ago.

The company's 2009 revenues were about 30 percent below its 2008 revenues, and revenues this year likely will be another 30 percent below 2009's, Cameron says.

"That's not such a bad thing," he adds.

At the height of the construction upswing three to four years ago, one of the company's greatest management challenges was in finding enough qualified workers for it to handle all the work that was available, Cameron says. Because of the economic downturn, the company can be more selective when it needs workers, he says.

"Now we can keep the people we want working for us, and revenue becomes good revenue rather than just money coming in," he says.

Due to belt tightening, Cameron and Reilly have more time to spend outside of the office managing projects, he says.

"My partner and I can go out on jobs in the field," Cameron says. "It allows us to reduce our operating costs and maintain margins and be profitable."

One such project that Cameron managed this year was the 20,000-square-foot skate park that opened last week just north of Joe Albi Stadium, in the Spokane Parks and Recreation's Dwight Merkel Sports Complex.

Under a $625,000 contract funded by a park bond and the city's sale of land to Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Cameron-Reilly built all concrete improvements, which include beginner and advanced skateboarding areas, a deep bowl, ramps, rails, banks, stairs, and ledges. The 10-week project involved pouring 700 cubic yards of concrete, Cameron says.

He admits he didn't know a lot about skate parks before landing the job, and the company brought in a consultant who had some experience with such parks. "We had to convince the parks department that we had done enough similar work to allow us to bid," he says.

Cameron says the company also is promoting its residential concrete division.

"We have a backlog now of 20 driveways," he says.

Most of that backlog is for work at older homes rather than new homes.

"People aren't moving up," Cameron says. "They are fixing up."

The company also is establishing a niche in preserving decorative concrete.

"Decorative concrete needs regular maintenance, including sealing," he says. "We have done the training and invested in equipment to do that work."

More traditional commercial work Cameron-Reilly has under way includes:

•A $1 million contract with the Washington state Department of Transportation for work on Division Street between Euclid and Francis Avenues, including a concrete intersection at Division and Wellesley, 120 wheelchair ramps, drainage, and traffic islands.

•A $750,000 contract to install curbs and walkways at the Coeur d'Alene Casino & Resort, in Worley, Idaho.

•A $650,000 contract for concrete and asphalt work at the Spokane County Regional Water Reclamation Facility.

•A $600,000 contract to install curbs, sidewalks, and steps at the new Deer Park High School.

•A $500,000 contract to install curbs, walkways, walls, and concrete paving on Grand Avenue, in Pullman, Wash.