Steve Norton Enterprises Biography
Courtesy of: Winter 2005 Alaska Contractor Magazine
By Susan Harrington

Steve Norton Enterprises LLC

The powerful blend of attention to detail, hands-on training and diversified projects has worked to make Steve Norton Enterprises LLC survive and flourish in the highly competitive world of the construction industry. Steve Norton, owner and team leader of the company, ventured north right out of high school in the summer of 1972 with a little construction experience – washing and driving concrete trucks.

Learning to Build a Company

He worked that first summer in construction and went home to Oregon, determined to return, which he did in October 1973. He found work as a hotel porter in downtown Anchorage and worked some other non-construction jobs. After spending a couple of winters in Anchorage Norton returned to Oregon in 1975 for a few months.

While there, he learned more about the construction industry and began his education in the carpenter craft by building five houses. He returned once again to Alaska – after getting a call to work in construction.

Norton’s early work for Woods & Woods in Palmer led to his first construction license in 1978, and he continued to work for the company as a concrete and framing subcontractor. The general contractor license came in 1980 and the newly formed company was called Norton Construction.

Norton learned the craft end from the contractors he worked for, doing all phases of construction except plumbing and electrical. The other side of being a contractor, the business end, he learned from retired contractor Aaron Downing, whose company, Alaska Utility Construction Inc., focused on building and overhauling power distribution.

At first, the newly formed Norton Construction focused mostly on residential building including single family and multiplex housing, even a condo in Anchorage’s Bootleggers Cove.

The company got started in commercial construction by building a hangar for Woods Air Fuel. The 125 foot by 120 foot steel building would be the first of many commercial buildings Norton and his company would construct.

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Diversifying to Survive

When the Alaska economy went south in the mid-1980s Norton diversified by working at remote sites and moving away from residential into commercial construction.

He worked in Shemya for the military, then spent a few years subcontracting to UIC in the Bush. After the schools and clinics were completed in Rural Alaska, Norton moved on with more military work for Brown & Root. "I’ve worked on about every military base in the state," Norton said.

Each project the company completed resulted in a more diversified experience base and a broader reach into Alaska’s construction industry. Most of the military work the company did was remodeling. This led to commercial remodeling projects and requests from companies specifically seeking out Norton to do their work.

An enduring relationship with Tesoro was formed that has resulted in half a dozen new buildings and 35 remodel jobs being completed. For years the company did primarily commercial construction except for a couple of residential projects for friends and colleagues each year.

No stranger to Rural Alaska, the company has worked all over the state – from the Aleutians to Prudhoe Bay and many points in between – they have also worked across the ocean. A joint venture in 1995 found Norton and his company doing international construction in Anadyr, Russia. The renovation of a retail store brought an infusion of United States style and quality to the Russian Far East community of about 14,000 people.

Another partnership led the company to property development in Valdez. Now they have clients they do residential development for. They employ methods other than fixed price bidding to get some of the work they do.

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Government Contracting Not Easy

Negotiated pricing and sole sourcing are not new to Steve Norton Enterprises. While not an 8(a) disadvantaged or minority-owned small business eligible for set asides, the company’s experience includes private, sole-source projects awarded because of high customer satisfaction.

Norton says it’s a challenge to get projects with the US Army Corps of Engineers and the military these days, because of the way government contracting is structured. "If you’re a smaller company you can’t do the $10-$20-$40 million jobs – Congress funds the projects out as one job, so you need to be a very large company."

The company does quite a bit of design-construct/design-build jobs. "We do the preliminary design for clients to get funding, then bring in the architects," Norton said. Many of these projects are the result of being on a select bidders list through successful past projects.

Another method of winning contracts was discovered when the company joined the Associated General Contractors of Alaska in 1996. Norton has found being a member of AGC helps in the bidding process. He said the AGC of Alaska gets involved in legislative issues that affect contractors and acts as a voice for the industry. "The AGC looks out for our general well-being and puts on safety classes and training classes."

Some of the other industry-related organizations the company belongs to include the Mat-Su Home Builders Board, Mat-Su Property Owners and National Federation of Independent Contractors.

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A Considerate Company

Steve Norton Enterprises supports the community – they build churches. They have helped several congregations with limited budgets by discounting the work, like the Valley Harvest Church and others.

The cost of doing construction increased significantly in 2004 and Norton expects housing prices to catch up. "Metal studs went up 75 percent," he said. "There is always a residential lag behind construction costs, and prices are already higher in the Valley."

The company recently completed a condominium project in Wasilla. "There seems to be a need for more of that type of housing – mobile younger people, single women and other couples who don’t want to spend the whole year here or take care of yards," Norton said.

Site work began in November on an affordable housing project, another growing need. The development is situated on five acres between Palmer and Wasilla where the company will build 11 duplexes this winter.

Norton’s company has worked year-round for years. "You have to plan for the weather," he said. "Use foam concrete forms for foundations and tent with brutal weather. We built a 7,000 square foot house after the Millers Reach fire – it took a 10,000 square foot tent."

Steve Norton Enterprises, with 17 employees, includes a central team that has worked together to develop the company’s reputation for excellence and high quality to the point where they are continuously selected for the construction needs of many industries. Project Manager and Estimator Jassen Michael, Designer Greg Atkin, Account Manager Khris Norton and Office, Marketing and Project Manager Lesli Norton are all integral to the team led by Steve Norton.

While working through the winter is the norm, the company wants to be busier in the future. "We’re trying to get fully-utilized all year round," Norton said. "We have a period of time where we could do more work – we’re using diversity to build teamwork with other contractors to fill in those spots."

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