Smart Partnerships: where your money goes.

We estimate that one A1 project can financially affect up to 756 people in Whatcom County.

Building smart partnerships

Building smart partnerships between our team and subcontractors is foundational to delivering a successful project. A good relationship has the power to make a project and the opposite can break one.

Forging strong relationships with our team and subcontractors is an essential A1 differentiator— and is even more valuable in today’s highly competitive market. Building and maintaining relationships with subcontractors improves job performance, increasing the probability that the project will be delivered as designed, within the schedule and budget limits established at the outset.

Construction is one of the most heavily regulated industries. Beyond the contractual agreements with clients and subcontractors we need to keep tabs on building codes, insurance, bonding requirements, credit, and background checks, wage and payroll requirements, lien requirements, and a plethora of safety regulations.

The complexity of construction projects creates an imperative for streamlining workflows, making communication more efficient, and increasing real-time access to critical documents and transactions, all factors that underpin a successful partnership between our team, our clients, and our subcontractors.

As a general contractor, one of the most critical keys to our success is maintaining collaborative, fruitful working relationships with local subcontractors. They are the fuel powering your projects, wielding the carpentry hammer, plumbing the pipework, or wiring the electrical fixtures.

We have a six-step vetting and on-boarding process for subcontractors and vendors that helps assure excellence from the start. For example, we confirm their capabilities, make sure they are using modern technology and up to date software, and review quality metrics. We also write all roles and performance expectations into the contract, walk them through each project and close out each project with a debrief.

Where does your money go?

Local businesses strengthen our economy, by recirculating a greater share of every dollar generated; we contribute to local supply chains and invest in our employees. For example, A1 pays $1.2 million annually to a staff of 20 in direct wages.

When you hire a local contractor, you know that your money is staying within your community; we work in the communities we live in and are interested in the community’s financial and economical wellness– just as you are.

Consider one of our current projects which is using 14 local subcontractors and nearly 20 local vendors, as an example of local impact. The subcontractors alone represent 309 employees. If those employees are comparable to ours, direct wages to these 309 employees would represent $18,540,000.00 paid to local families. If each represents one average household in our community, this one project is potentially impacting ~756 people. This doesn’t even include the vendors. The vendors would add 427 employees and a potential 1068 additional people.

Working with local companies is critical to the success of our community. Working and buying local increases community wellbeing, promotes widespread financial health, reduces the use of fossil fuels, and builds community resilience by strengthening connections.

Whatcom Talk recently interviewed a few members of our team to understand further why smart partnerships are important of us at A1.

Our local team

Thank you to the following companies for their continued efforts and professionalism.

Bellingham Millworks

Landmark Enterprises

Creative Stoneworks

Corwin Electrical Services

Dirt Devil Construction

Environmental Insulation

Greggerson Painting

Hardware Sales 

Nolan’s Roofing

Rain Guard Gutters

Rob Rocks Tile & Stone

Rice Insurance

Spectrum Plumbing

Storm Drywall

SVC Interiors

West Coast Windows

Windsor Plywood