Cheryl Osborn, President of Casco Contractors, formed the company in 2000 to specialize in tenant improvement projects both large and small.

Casco Contractors provided design-build services on this project for IHI Power Services Corp., which wanted a unique space but had a limited budget for the build-out.

Cheryl Osborn wryly observes, “Construction is an interesting business.”

The founder and president of Casco Contractors defines “interesting” by saying construction is a business where something always can go wrong.

“We try to manage this as much as possible because we’re largely dependent on others—the supply chain, other contractors and other schedules. So, we have to try to be ready and expect the unexpected,” Cheryl says. “But what I love about the business is that there’s always a problem to solve, an opportunity to make things better.”

One of Cheryl’s favorite examples of how well her company reacts to unexpected hiccups involved a shipment of tile from Italy that was hung up in U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

“To save shipping costs, the tile had been packed into a crate along with some food items, which had become infested with insects. We had to send an agricultural specialist to meet with customs to try to get our tile released,” she recalls. “Fortunately, we got the issue resolved quickly so the tile was delivered on time.”

Most Are Repeat Clients

Casco Contractors, formed in 2000, specializes in tenant improvement projects both large and small. Throughout its history, the company has completed more than 5,000 tenant projects, and Cheryl says approximately 90% of the company’s business comes from repeat clients.

“Our clients are satisfied, but we also strategically target people in companies who have multiple upcoming projects. We want to continue to be a resource for them,” she says. “This way, we can get the biggest bang for our abilities.”

The company differs from others in its field because it also offers a design-build approach to tenant improvement work, meaning both construction and design services are offered in-house.

“With clients having the ability to complete design and build projects within Casco Contractors, they save money and eliminate time wasted on coordinating among separate design and construction companies,” Cheryl says.

A recent design-build example includes Casco Contractors’ work for Inari Medical, a company that makes two minimally invasive, catheter-based treatments for vein disease.

“Just before the impact of COVID-19, we finished the build-out of Inari’s 26,000-square-foot space,” Cheryl says. “When work safety restrictions tightened, they asked us to retrofit their space so they could socially distance and continue to perform their lifesaving work safely.”

She adds, “We pulled in both our contractors and design team so that all of the upgrades complied with new regulations and best practices. The end result also had to be aesthetically pleasing and functional.”

Retrofitting included rearranging workstations, creating directional signage for efficient human traffic flow, modernizing breakrooms to allow for social distancing, installing plexiglass shields in open areas, updating conference rooms to reduce maximum occupancy, and developing a plan for training employees on renewed safety protocols.

Affordable, Cutting-Edge Designs

A unique project for IHI Power Services Corp., which provides operations, maintenance, management and facility support services to the U.S. power generation industry, also exemplifies the company’s design-
build services.

“This was a well-executed project in which the client wanted a unique space, but had a very tight build-out budget. As we designed the space, we knew what all the features would cost. So, we were able to recommend cutting-edge design at the right price,” Cheryl says.

“We made it a win for the client, landlord, contractors and for us,” she adds.

To serve its design-build clients, Casco Contractors formed Casco Design Studio in 2002. The group designs about 20% of the projects the company builds. Over the past 18 years, Cheryl says the group has completed over 360 projects on more than 98,000 square feet of space. Further, 80% of its clients represent repeat business.

Striving for Perfect Projects

In 2008, the company initiated its “Countdown to Zero” program to encourage employees to strive for perfect projects—meaning there can be no uncompleted or incorrectly installed construction items before a finished project is turned over to the client.

According to Cheryl, the prevailing view in the construction industry is, “Oh, we can complete or correctly install anything that’s wrong when we get to the punch list.” She adds, “The need to correct larger punch-list items can often result in delays and frustration.”

“Ours is an incentive-based program to reward project teams for turning over a perfect project with zero items on the final punch list,” she says. “Since we began the program, nearly 70% of our projects have achieved a ‘Zero Punch,’ which allows our clients to get their businesses up and running faster.”

In implementing the program, Casco Contractors’ project managers use software to help them visualize what might be wrong or missing on a project. In addition, employees walk through a project multiple times.

“We try to have more eyes, and especially fresh eyes on each project. We cross-train by even having people from our accounting department walk projects. They’re very detail-oriented people, and you’d be surprised at what they pick up on,” Cheryl says.

“We also have painters and other finishers with us on the punch walk with our clients,” she adds. “That way, we can fix something on the spot.”

The company, which currently has 70 full-time employees, earned about $600,000 in gross revenue its first year of operation. This year, Cheryl anticipates the business will earn between $65 million and $70 million in gross revenue.

New Work Reflects Changing Times

In 2001, Cheryl hit upon the idea of offering to pay a tenant’s rent if her company didn’t complete the build-out on time.

“Though we initially had this guarantee, we never had to pay anyone’s rent because we never missed a deadline. We understand how much a client wants to be in the new space. A company often has a short construction time window so they can return to operations quickly. We know that landlords want to be able to collect rent, too,” she explains.

Change has come to the tenant improvement market, Cheryl notes, especially because so many people are working from home right now. Though Casco Contractors continues to win projects, they’re a bit different from the traditional jobs they normally do.

“We’re consulting with our clients on how to ‘right-size’ their spaces during this time of pandemic. We ask them a lot of questions: Is the company open to office sharing, where two people share the same office but on alternating days? Can we relocate workstations farther apart? Feeling safe is a very personal feeling so we listen closely to their concerns,” she says.

The Orange County Business Journal ranks the Irvine, California-based company as the ninth-largest woman-owned business in Orange County. What’s more, the publication named Cheryl’s company as one of the best places to work in Orange County in 2018 and 2019.

“The best places to work accolade means the most to me because it represents what our people think of our company,” she explains. “Our people put a lot of energy into what they do…that’s a key piece in making this a great company.”

“I get to know everyone, their spouses and children, too. We call this the Casco family; it’s a family-oriented, fun culture,” she adds. “We do lots of team-building exercises. Last year, we hosted a chili cook-off for employees, vendors and contractors and raised $35,000 for Make-A-Wish Orange County & the Inland Empire and also Caterina’s Club, which serves meals to underprivileged children.”

The Orange County Business Journal also recognized Casco Contractors as its “Most Charitable Emerging Company” in 2019.

Taking Care of Subcontractors

Though Cheryl originally studied to be an interior designer, she ended up earning a degree in construction management.

“My father was a millworker who had wanted me to take over his business one day. But I didn’t want to work in just one trade,” she says. “And I saw what it was like for him as a subcontractor who had to wait for his paychecks.”

“My goal has always been to take good care of subcontractors. We value our relationships with them, and they know it,” she adds. “I’m proud of being a woman-founded construction company because they’re not too many of us. This is a male-dominated industry.”

Cheryl concludes, “I love what I do. I like knowing that I can pivot and react on a dime. That’s my natural state, but I know that approach is not for everyone. I truly value my role as a leader, someone who is happy with challenging employees to keep them focused and aligned.”