Preserving, remodeling and renovating Portland’s oldest homes
Great Kate! owner Kathryn Merritt (center)
Portland, OR— At Celilo Court apartments, you can hear more noises than just the throaty sounds of incoming 727s making their approach path to Portland International Airport. Powered by federal funds, you can hear construction sounds — power saws, nailing and construction workers walking here and there in the 40-year-old apartments.
Directing this rustic ballet of plumbers, electricians, carpenters and painters, you will find Kathryn Merritt. As owner of Great Kate! Construction Company, Merritt’s assignment is to strip the first eight apartments — remove all the sinks and refrigerators, water heaters and furnaces, wiring and fixtures, bathtubs and floor coverings — and have all eight completely rebuilt and ready for families.
“(They) want us in and out in 50 days,” she says, adding, “It’s pretty tight.” After that another block of eight units — and then a third block — will receive face lifts.
Time pressure or not, Merritt seems perfectly calm, fully in control of all the details of managing her own crew, and in supervising — and sometimes training — the crews of her subcontractors.
In one apartment, Ryan Matthews, fully dressed in her carpenter’s tool belt and hardhat, discovers that the studs behind the kitchen sink’s former location are pretty much rotted out. Merritt and team members Matthews and Don Fraly hold a quick session to determine the best way to remove and replace the damaged wood, while eliminating the source of the seepage.
In less than five minutes the trio has agreed on a plan of attack. The team whirls back in action, working as smoothly as a well-rehearsed symphony orchestra.
Constructing a contractor
Merritt speaks in a relaxed fashion, but always on point, about her path from carpenter to contractor.
Office work was not one of her options. “I don’t fit into a place like an office,” she says. Moreover, she says with a hint of mock self-deprecation, “I’m a natural control freak, so (overseeing construction projects) was easy for me.”
Growing up in Virginia and Nebraska, Merritt earned a degree in technical education at the University of Minnesota. “I was going to teach shop,” she recalls, but another possibility caught her eye: the Peace Corps.
Merritt set her course for Sri Lanka, but all the slots had been taken. Not to be denied, she signed up for teaching shop in Swaziland and Zimbabwe from 1985 to 1990.
Upon returning to the United States, Merritt took on a kitchen remodeling project. Another home-owning couple, seeing how well she handled that kitchen job, asked her to build an addition on their house. That job led to another job rehabilitating a 900 square foot house. On that contract, Merritt recalls, she “took it apart — and then put it back together.” This project served as a model for the much bigger Celilo Court project.
A domestic situation spurred Merritt to unfurl her own flag. “I started my business in 1999 because, as a single parent, I needed job flexibility that working construction for someone else couldn’t provide,” she says.
The result: Great Kate! Construction Company.Kathryn Merritt (right) outlines a plan to remove rotten studs from a wall at Celilo Court apartments. After hearing Merritt’s thoughts, Don Fraly (left) and Ryan Matthews agreed.
- Kathryn Merritt assessing the extent of the damage.
How does one make the huge step from working as an individual to becoming a general contractor hiring dozens of people?
Carpenters remain on most projects from start to finish, she explains. That advantage helps them understand the whole operation. Thus, she reasons, “Carpenters traditionally start running jobs” because of their broader scope.
The game plan for Great Kate! called for escalating to “bigger and better” projects. By 2008 Merritt had established her company’s reputation for handling large jobs, but her next leap forward could not have been planned.
In a 2008 contest sponsored by a women’s group — Count Me In for Women’s Economic Independence — Merritt finished in the finalist group. With more than 200 applications, a mere 16 made it to the final competition in Seattle. Described as a cross between “The Apprentice” and “American Idol,” Merritt finished in the top eight.
One section of the competition — “Make Mine a $ Million Business” — called for the contestant to “pitch” their concept to the judges. Merritt recalls, “You had three minutes to sell your (business) package.”
The prize netted Merritt three months of business coaching and some publicity. This success inspired her to expand her business even more.
A helping hand in 2009
- The Great Kate! Construction Company’s van defines the firm’s focus in a few well-chosen words.
“A year ago,” Merritt says, “we had a bookkeeper and three carpenters.”
She looked for avenues to push Great Kate! to the million dollar level. Expansion required capital. Unfortunately, the country was suffering from the Wall Street disaster.
Fortunately, Merritt encountered Albina Opportunities Corporation (AOC), an operation designed to provide gap loans to women, minority, immigrant and disabled owned businesses. She set up a meeting with AOC Executive Director Terry Brandt.
“Terry listened to me and bought my sob story,” Merritt recalls in her understated style. “Terry was a great help.”
How much help? Today, Merritt reports, “We did a million dollars last year.” Her team has grown accordingly. “We have six to 12 carpenters out there (at any given time).”
Unfortunately, expenses — salaries, materials and maintenance — took up most of that.
“I’d like to take that to $2.5 million this year,” she says. Then, adding in her understated manner, Merritt suggests that then she might be able to pay herself something.
2010 and beyond
Landing the contract to upgrade Celilo Court got Great Kate! off to a good start for 2010. “It’s a huge opportunity,” she says. One or two more good contracts could put her in reach of her goal.
Merritt has a broader scope than just her personal success. “I help others who would like to get into the trade,” she says.
In that frame of mind, when some local contractors could not line up contracts during the recession, Merritt hired them to keep them afloat until the market opened up and they could stand on their own again.
In the longer view, Merritt looks at international contracts. “I want to take my company and do work overseas,” she says. Remembering her Peace Corps days, she dreams of building schools in Swaziland.
At the moment Merritt is working to complete the Celilo Court project by Labor Day. That tight deadline leaves little or no time for a summer vacation.
And, in her quest to keep growing, Merritt never overlooks an opportunity to build name recognition for Great Kate! Construction Company. The company van proudly displays the name — and the mission — “Preserving, remodeling and Renovating Portland’s Oldest Homes.”