Coil celebrates 35th anniversary: Company relies on resilience, relationship-building

After graduating from MU with a psychology degree, Randy Coil shifted his career path to follow a passion for building that ran deep in his family. His father and grandfathers, he said, “were always working on their homes and equipment.”
Coil decided to start a construction company. And during the next 35 years, Coil continued to show his willingness to take advantage of opportunities and adapt to change.
One of his earliest projects was a residential renovation on Providence Road. But Coil soon learned some hard lessons about renovating and flipping houses during an economic downturn, so he migrated to commercial construction, where he’s focused ever since.
Now, Providence Road could serve as a four-decade timeline for Coil Construction.
At the south end are two of the company’s most renowned projects, State Farm’s regional headquarters and The Insurance Group office building across the road. On the north end is the elegant Joe Machens Nissan dealership. In between on Providence are the Greek housing renovations that are keeping Coil busy during the commercial construction drought.
On Oct. 7, at its office just northwest of the Providence-Broadway intersection, Coil Construction hosted an open house marking its 35-year anniversary. The company gathered to celebrate not only its brick and mortar accomplishments, but also its relationships built during the years with employees, clients, customers, subcontractors and vendors.
Gary Drewing, owner and president of the Columbia Joe Machens dealerships, said he’s known Coil for more than 30 years, and the company has done several projects for Joe Machens.
“He’s always done a good job for us,” Drewing said.
Coil said longstanding relationships are what set them apart from other companies.
“If there’s anything I’ve learned over the years, it’s how important those relationships are and how much we value them,” Coil said.
Construction employees have been with Coil for an average of more than 14 years and office employees for 12.

Kevin Buckler has been with the company for 31 years, the longest of any employee. In 1979, he spent his first day shoveling a pile of rock at the Boone Clinic project site. Now, he’s the executive vice president of operations.
Karin Martin, the accounting manager, started with Coil 25 years ago, when she typed out payroll checks on a wide-carriage typewriter. The company said it was the first construction firm in Columbia to buy a computer. Its current website allows clients to view proprietary information about their projects after typing in passwords.
“And of course now we do direct deposit,” Martin said with a laugh.
The company uses modeling software, GPS grading in the field and 3-D imaging, which Coil said makes its operations more efficient and economical.
Martin said Coil is more than a resourceful boss.
“He’s a great guy,” she said. “You don’t quite find such an honest, Christian man to work for. His integrity and everything is phenomenal.”
When asked about top executives of the company, Coil began reeling off the names of project managers, engineers, support staff and others.
“They’re all important,” Coil said. “It’s hard for me just to talk about one.”
Coil was raised in Independence, Mo., where he became an Eagle Scout, and then he went to MU.

In 1975, Coil founded his construction company and focused on buying and renovating old homes for resale. High interests rates during the late ’70s and early ’80s hindered that venture.
“That didn’t work out well, but the remodeling part did, so from there we just moved into another market,” Coil said. “The rest of it is probably history.”
That ability to adapt to current needs of the market is the kind of resilience that has helped Coil Construction thrive during the years, and employment has remained steady at about 25 through the past few economic downturns.
The company began renovating retail and restaurant space, from clothing stores to the restrooms at Bullwinkle’s, a club that used to be on Broadway. Major commercial renovation was the next step, and Truckstops of America in Concordia was the company’s first job to break $1 million.
“As I started my business, it was without ego,” Coil said. “I hired many folks that had years of experience building, I managed the business and learned field skills from them, and I am still learning new techniques from our field guys today.”
Eventually the company moved to ground-up construction of buildings and started with projects such as Office Plaza 1 off Bernadette. Today, Coil Construction has built more than 200 projects from the ground up, but because the economic slowdown has damaged the industry, it is back to doing a larger percentage of renovations.

Coil said the construction industry has been down about 40 percent overall nationally, and the local market isn’t much better.
“Commercial construction is down considerably, which is a big part of what we did in the early part of the 2000s, but there are things that are still moving forward,” Coil said. “Greek housing has been strong for us, and now we’re seeing more and more professional construction (such as medical clinics) come up. We’re seeing more renovation work and additions than we are ground-up new construction.”
Coil Construction crews spent the summer renovating fraternities and sororities, which are required by the city to install sprinklers by 2014. Renovations included improvements in fire protection, lighting, exits and disability act compliance issues, as well as sprinklers and bathroom reconstruction.
“We had four different frats and sororities under construction, and all of them had to be completed on the same day,” Coil said.
The company also did a full renovation of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity and received a building permit last month for Delta Sigma Phi. Greek housing, Coil said, requires its own type of construction.
“Often you will hear some of the alumni board referring to it as prison grade installations,” Coil said. “It’s certainly a different type of construction than you would use in your house. It gets more wear and tear.”

Coil said due to such projects, the company has weathered the economic slowdown well.
“We’re pleased with where we are,” Coil said. “We’ve been able to keep going and keep everyone employed.”
The company was even able to hire two employees recently.
Coil Construction also prides itself on safety. Departmental safety meetings are held every Monday, group safety meetings are held quarterly, and all field employees are required to have 30 hours of OSHA training, Coil said.
“We have a terrific safety program for our field guys,” Coil said.
The company, which has gone more than eight years without any “lost days” caused by construction site accidents, won two safety awards in 2007. They included one from the Builders’ Association for excellence in field safety, claims management and loss prevention. The company offers safety bonuses to field employees who have no lost days and calls itself the first non-union construction company to offer health care benefits to employees.
The company’s focus on relationships and safety helps distinguish it during the bidding process. Coil said different projects present different challenges in terms of safety and working around a client’s schedule.
“[Industrial work] has its own challenges,” Coil said. “Most of these industry plants need to stay open, so you have to work around their product line. They may be changing out equipment or something in their line, and yet they have to stay in business.”
Coil said the company’s most challenging project of late was building the Anheuser-Busch Clydesdale Breeding Facility outside Boonville.
“This is kind of a one-of-a-kind project that required special equestrian architecture and some specific facility uses,” Coil said.
The job, which took approximately 11 months, includes areas for veterinarians to stay overnight, specialized reinforcement and 12 miles of fencing around the entire facility.
Coil called it a “once-in-a-lifetime type
of project.”
David Coil, Randy’s son, made his debut as site administrator for this job. David Coil started out working at his father’s company during summers in high school and joined the company full time in 2007. He is now certified as a LEED Green Associate by Green Building Certification Institute.
Randy Coil said his crews have been doing a growing number of jobs with energy-
efficient features.
“It’s become increasingly a way of doing business for us,” Randy Coil said. “It’s something we are actively working for and truly the way of the future for our industry.”

Coil Construction’s
Top 35 Projects
•  Barnes & Nobles Booksellers
•  Williams-Keepers LLC
•  Broadway Market Place/Sam’s Club
•  Broadway Shops
•  Anheuser-Busch Clydesdale Breeding Facility
•  The Insurance Group
•  Boone County Health Department
•  Boonville Police Station
•  Boone County Justice Center
•  Stadium Grill
•  House of Brokers
•  Pi Kappa Alpha
•  Providence Urgent Care
•  Panera Bread
•  Boone County National Bank
•  Broadway Christian Church
•  Pi Beta Phi
•  National Biodiesel Board
•  The Food Bank for Central & Northeast Missouri
•  Smith Industrial Building
•  Joe Machens    Automotive Group
•  Walgreens
•  Goodwill
•  Midway USA
•  Alpha Phi
•  State Farm Auto Mutual Insurance
•  Boone Internal Medicine Associates
•  Central Methodist University Student Center
•  MC Sports
•  OCCI Inc. Engineering Contractors
•  Columbia Endoscopy Center
•  Houlihans’s
•  Broadfield Center
•  Flat Branch Pub & Brewing
•  Bank of Missouri