Just to warn you, I love talking about Alterman. I could go on forever. So, if I start running on and on, please feel free to cut me off and I will make sure I stop!\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n As President & CEO of Alterman, it\u2019s part of Greg Padalecki\u2019s job to sing the company\u2019s praises. Immediately, though, it becomes apparent this isn\u2019t just a PR exercise.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Sure, he\u2019s at the top of the pyramid. But that wasn\u2019t always the case.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Indeed, a young Greg joined the firm in 1999 as an apprentice. He slowly worked his way up through the company ranks: driving service trucks, estimating, and managing projects of increasing size before eventually taking the helm as President in 2019 and CEO in 2020.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Nearly two-and-a-half decades on from joining Alterman\u2019s apprenticeship scheme, Greg remains as enthusiastic now about the electrical construction company as he was then \u2013 fresh-faced and a newcomer in the construction game.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Right away, he\u2019s taking this opportunity to point out how Alterman\u2019s people-focused structure works to set the company apart from its competitors.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThough I\u2019m the CEO, I don\u2019t own the company; rather, I own about <\/span>this<\/span><\/i> much,\u201d he says, displaying a tiny gap \u2013 no more than half an inch \u2013 between his thumb and forefinger. \u201cJust a tiny bit!\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n As he goes on to explain, Alterman operates with an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), meaning that, like everyone else, Greg is part-employee, part-owner. His interests in the firm mirror those on-site, on the shop floor, and in the office alike.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s our secret sauce,\u201d he asserts. \u201cAs a result of the ESOP framework, we proudly take ownership of our company-wide actions and attitudes, which in turn shapes how we present ourselves to customers.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIn fact, I would go as far as to say that sharing stock ownership across our employee network is the main reason behind our incredible growth. Undoubtedly, ESOP has helped bring Alterman to where it is today.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Humble beginnings<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n To understand just how far the Texas-based business has come, it\u2019s worth going right back to the beginning. \u201cWhen you think about what the world looked like in 1923,\u201d says Greg, \u201cit\u2019s almost like a different world, especially in terms of its electrical network.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Lightbulbs were being slowly integrated into new builds, but they were not as commonplace as they are today. Naturally, there wasn\u2019t a huge amount of work in the field.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n But that didn\u2019t stop a young Nathan Alterman. As Greg tells it, Nathan began the company as a one-man band when he was just 24 years old, plying his trade by painstakingly pushing a shopping cart up and down Houston Street in downtown San Antonio.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n If someone needed their lightbulb changed, then he was there to do it. He just pushed his cart to the job site and started working.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Dependable and reputable<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n During the pre-war era, remodeling became the mainstay of the business, but the key project of that time was a beautification development for the San Antonio River. By the time of completion, Nathan and his small team had placed conduit and wiring along the banks and under bridges, facilitating the lighting of the Arneson River Theater and various walkways along the route.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cSince our founding, we have\u00a0 grown an awful lot,\u201d says Greg. \u201cIn fact, we\u2019re so big now that often people think the company has experienced one long period of steady, even progress; however, in reality, it\u2019s been one long string of challenges!<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIn the early 1950s, for instance, when Nathan handed the company over to his son, Richard, there were just three others working for the company. So, it\u2019s not like Alterman has always been hugely successful \u2013 it has seen tough times, too.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Things started to change in the late 1960s when the World\u2019s Fair came to San Antonio. HemisFair \u201968, as it was known, attracted over six million visitors and cost an estimated $156 million to put on, with the aim of uniting the different cultures of San Antonio and solidify the city as a cultural and historic hotspot.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n But, as Greg details, it also served to put Alterman on the map. \u201cHemisFair \u201968 was a significant moment in the company\u2019s history,\u201d he notes. \u201cIt acted as the perfect backdrop to display our abilities as a large contractor.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In total, Alterman completed 30 projects at the fair, bringing recognition to the brand. From then on, it was perceived by Texans as a dependable and reputable electrical contractor, resulting in an explosion of work over the next couple of decades.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Hospitals, manufacturing plants, hotels, regional shopping malls, high-rise office buildings. There was very little that Alterman didn\u2019t work on.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cToday,\u201d Greg circles back, \u201cwe have 1300 employees, with roughly 250 in the office and the remaining figure is made up of our field electricians who operate throughout Dallas, San Antonio, Austin, and El Paso.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Future focus<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s an impressive story of growth \u2013 and this year, that story turns 100. With a century of history behind it, Alterman is set on celebrating in style. \u201cWe are in the process of building our new headquarters, a new home for our workforce,\u201d reveals Greg.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Located northeast of San Antonio in a city called Live Oak, the building will come in at an impressive 90,000 square feet. In total, though, the site covers 20 acres, allowing the company to also incorporate an integrated 108,000-square-foot manufacturing facility.<\/span> \u201cThe latter means we can enhance our off-site prefabrication processes,\u201d says Greg. \u201cIt\u2019s simply a kitting strategy: we create packages for the field that includes the tools, materials, prefabricated assemblies, and all the information needed.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThese will be delivered at the right time to the right job,\u201d he goes on. \u201cSo it\u2019s much more efficient in terms of productivity. We\u2019re calling it PACK, short for Packaged Alterman Construction Kit. It\u2019s catchy! We\u2019ve even given out t-shirts and bumper stickers to promote the development. We want to get everyone rallied behind it.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n However, the new centennial development would\u2019ve never made it past the initial planning stage if it wasn\u2019t for a certain criterion. \u201cIf we weren\u2019t an ESOP-based business, then we simply would not have been able to accommodate the significant cost of our new headquarters and PACK facility,\u201d says Greg.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cFortunately, because we are all part-employees and part-owners, we can justify the investment back into our business and ourselves,\u201d he continues. \u201cThat philosophy of self-improvement has a knock-on impact when it comes to our culture.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cEvery year, we want to get better, continuing on our path of continuous development. Therefore, we look at the money we make from this point of view.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAt the same time, each of our employee-owners see the investment as part of their future. It signals there will be a solid foundation for their future retirements since that prospect is inextricably tied to the success that Alterman has today.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In that vein, argues Greg, the company is built to live forever. Employee-owners are dubbed Altermanians, and they will each receive a generous retirement package in recognition of their status.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe want to continue to create and celebrate special moments for Altermanians,\u201d say Greg. \u201cIf they retire in three, five, or ten years from now, we want to remain consistent in our appreciation. ESOP makes this possible.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Talking of years to come, as our conversation with Greg winds to a close, we\u2019re keen to uncover what Alterman has in its pipeline. \u201cThere is a ton of mission critical data center work across Texas, and currently we\u2019re focusing on that,\u201d he details.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cOn top of that, we\u2019re seeing an increase in demand for waste water treatment upgrades and utilities as well as outdoor substation work across state,\u201d Greg adds. \u201cI\u2019d say we\u2019re hyper-focused on these as we look towards the future.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cTo upscale operations and make the most of these opportunities, we\u2019re intent on developing internal processes, which will inevitably be essential to facilitate our expansion plans.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Despite these growth ambitions, Greg assures us that Alterman will remain the people-focused company it always has been. \u201cWe like to think of ourselves as a big, small company,\u201d he concludes.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cOur processes and policies are always tied to the company\u2019s family-feel, which again goes back to the advantages of the ESOP model. Yet, at the same time, we need to create processes and policies that can scale to what we are going to become in the future.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAs it stands, we find ourselves in this stage of metamorphosis, transitioning from a small family to a big family \u2013 all without losing the feeling of the former.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been that way for a century, and we don\u2019t see it fading any time soon. Here\u2019s to another hundred years!\u201d\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n![\"-\"](\"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2023\/08\/Alterman-2.jpg\")
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