Agate, Inc. owners Lou Primak, left, and Rick Nichols carry on the Arizona-based company’s strong legacy.

The Dani Dental Studio building constructed by Agate, Inc.

When the previous owner of Agate, Inc. (Agate), Jim Uhl, decided to develop a succession plan for his Arizona-based company in 2017, he wanted to find the type of leadership that could carry on his legacy. His search criteria included seeking visionaries who used technology and process enhancements while securing the company’s solid reputation built through his decades of hard work as owner. He knew Lou Primak and Rick Nichols could do exactly that, and more.

Big Aspirations

As a general contracting company, Agate focuses on the following market segments: commercial construction, industrial and mining infrastructure applications, and government/municipal projects. What sets Agate apart from other contractors is the company’s ability to self-perform structural steel fabrication and steel erection in all these market sectors, which allows significantly more control over a project’s schedule and budget. As Rick puts it, “We have skin in the game through the critical path of all of our 
projects, ensuring certainty of 
gsuccessful outcomes.”

Lou’s 33 years in the commercial and industrial construction industry, teamed with Rick’s decades of experience overseeing multibillion-dollar industrial market sectors, provide a solid foundation for orchestrating and growing a profitable future for Agate. Rick and Lou agree that three cornerstones are essential to Agate’s future: providing a safe work environment, managing growth of the organization, and relentlessly focusing on their clients’ needs and concerns.

Agate’s “North Star,” around which everything revolves, is its corporate safety program, which is driven through the entire organization based on the company’s sincere care for its employees, customers and construction partners. “It all starts and stops with our safety program,” Lou says. “This aspect of our business includes how we execute work on our job sites and how we fabricate steel in our facility, but it also extends beyond Agate to include our construction partners and our customers.”

The second cornerstone involves developing a strong and enthusiastic team. “We believe good people are the backbone of a great company,” Rick says. “This area has been one of the highest priorities with the company, and we have been successful at bringing in both seasoned professionals who know how to build and a great team of young players who want to learn and grow with the business. We want to develop builders within the business, not people that pass paper in and out of cubbyholes. As such, team members cross traditional job descriptions, enabling them to develop more depth of knowledge in the construction business.”

Lou’s reference to construction partners is encapsulated in the third cornerstone of their company focus. He explains, “We approach everyone as either an internal or external partner, beginning with the bidding process through preconstruction, culminating in a successful project outcome. We want everyone to buy into the same approach for completing projects. We want to know how we can be a major component in the growth and success of their company. And we are focused on finding ways to complement their business, which means we must understand what their “North Star” is. If we truly didn’t understand their needs or aspirations, we couldn’t help to create the type of benefits that create that buy-in.”

Core Capabilities Working in Parallel Market Segments

Agate is a full-service general contractor whose unique advantage is their ability to perform a breadth of work across the commercial, industrial and government construction markets. The company has long established customer relationships within the industrial and mining segment and is quickly reaching the same level of quality relationships in the commercial marketplace.

The company’s in-house capabilities include structural engineering, design, fabrication and erection of structural steel, pre-engineered metal buildings and aviation hangars and canopies. “It is this mix of capabilities that provides considerable leverage to promote successful project outcomes,” Lou says.

The Importance of Collaboration

From day one, Rick and Lou wanted to create a new management system that would foster collaboration and embrace the sharing of ideas from employees, customers, construction partners and the community. Agate has been situated on the Salt River Pima–Maricopa Indian Community for 40 years. “We have a preferred hiring practice for local community members,” says manufacturing manager Karl Stone. “Further, approximately 30 percent of our workforce is from the local Native American communities.” Karl also commented directly on the leadership style Rick and Lou bring to the table, saying, “These guys are smart, high energy and very open to improving the process and the work environment for all the team, including the workers responsible for the steel fabrication. Everyone is happy to come to work every morning.”

Associate project manager Jacob Perry adds, “The collaboration feeds up, down and across all levels of hierarchy at Agate, so we benefit in ways that astound my colleagues in other companies. A while back, a college friend was told to create a procurement log/submittal register. It was a huge project given to a young guy working in a cubicle. He’d never seen one, so he called me for advice,” Jacob explains. “I was able to help him because I had been mentored and learned our business hands-on from the ground up, including all facets of operations.”

Laura Nichols and Heather Primak are also significant contributors to the organization. Working in marketing services, team development and coordination of employee celebration events, their presence maintains the family feel that has always been a valuable attribute at Agate.

Beyond Leadership, Skill, Safety and Collaboration

Mark Adams, Vice President and Director of Preconstruction Services, offers insight on the behind-the-scenes characteristics that have allowed Agate to become the kind of company that people sincerely enjoy working for. “Aside from all known, public attributes that make our company successful is the private quality, the heart and heartbeat of Agate.”

Agate is sharing its heart throughout Arizona, Nevada, California, Colorado and Utah, and nationwide through its federal and military construction branch. “Whether its installing ramps at Native American community clinics for the elderly or building shade covers for those who wait at the health center or even for a bus, leadership is there to help,” Adams says. “Agate, for example, donated a building for a library and computer center. It has donated computers and funded baseball teams … the Nicholses and Primaks are keeping their commitment and word to Jim Uhl. They do many things that are an inspiration and let us know that our leaders are as real to the outside world as they are to their employees.”