Up a dirt driveway in Deer Park, theres a split-level house with a double front-door entry. On the left door hangs a plaque that reads private, and through that entry is the long-time family home of the Knights, who own Knight Construction & Supply Inc. The right doors plaque reads office, and down the stairs behind it is a 3,000-square-foot space that houses that companys headquarters.


The barrier between those two worlds dissolves, though, the more you know about the Knight family and its business.


Jim Knight began Knight Construction in 1968, at the location, doing basic commercial and residential projects. Since then, the company has evolved into a sizable business, employing between 60 and 100 workers, and Jim Knight has handed over the companys reins to his sons, Doug, Ken, and Dave. Jim Knight, whos still chairman of the company, and his wife, Fern, still live in the family home, and she sometimes sits in on planning meetings.


The bulk of Knight Constructions work is for government agencies now, forcing the company to broaden its skills and develop new strategies to accomplish those jobs under tight federal and state constraints, says Doug Knight, the companys president.


We get ourselves into some real complex, hard logistical places to work, he says. For many projects, were working over water, in water, and were hauling stuff through water to get a job done.


In recent years, the company has completed several dam, fish-hatchery, and other jobs for agencies such as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.


Early last winter, Knight Construction completed one such joba $1 million project at McNary Dam on the Columbia River, near Umatilla, Ore., to improve fish passageways. The work involved installing underwater what are called PIT-tag receptors on the dams fish ladders. The PIT, or passive integrated transponder, tag receptors electronically count fish, which scientists track with an implanted microchip, as they pass through the dam.


Knight Construction employees worked from a 35-foot-wide platform 80 feet above the water using heavy equipment to install the receptors. During some of the work, large cranes suspended workers in baskets along the dams edge.


One of that jobs most challenging aspects, though, was completing it within the first 10 weeks of the year, the time frame allotted for the project because it would be least disruptive then to the salmon.


There are a lot of times when were hanging from dams New Years Day to get work done on schedule, says Dorothy King, the companys project coordinator.


Knight Construction completed that project close to its deadline, but in several cases it has finished days, weeks, and even a year ahead of schedule.


Building recognition


The company says its ability to complete work early, under budget, and at reduced risk to employees, is earning it some recognition. For example, the Army Corps of Engineers gave the company a 14-day window to complete a $500,000 valve-installation project last August at Hills Creek Dam, in Willamette Valley, Ore. For every day over deadline, Knight Construction would have had to pay an $8,000 penalty. Instead, it finished in half the allotted time, earning the company a $35,000 bonus, Doug Knight says. In 2001, Knight Construction trimmed a $2.2 million two-year project at McNary Dam down to one year.


Partly because of its efficiency, the Army Corps of Engineers named Knight Construction its Civil Works Construction Contractor of the Year in 2001, singling it out among about 5,000 other contractors in the U.S. that complete such government projects, Knight says.


The companys work isnt just about speed, though; its about finding safe and pioneering ways to complete projects, he says.


Before embarking on a new project, the owners brainstorm with employees about how to do the job best.


King says, When you start getting enough good thinkers together, you get some great ideas.


On a recent Thursday, workers were welding a 75-foot-tall scaffolding in the companys 20,000-square-foot shop. Knight Construction will use the scaffolding to hoist workers under the Red Wolf Bridge on the Snake River between Clarkston, Wash. and Lewiston, Idaho, later this month to install a fiber-optic carrier line and a water-transmission line. The workers will be able to adjust the scaffolding so that it extends under the bridge and around piers. That will enable them to move around continuously during the project without delays while a 120,000-pound crane picks up the scaffolding from the bridges roadway and moves it so the lines can be extended further.


Its a safety issue, Knight says. A crane could overload a bridge.


Knight Construction typically recovers about $50,000 a year in Washington state Labor and Industries safety incentives, and puts most of that money into employees 401(k) retirement accounts, creating an incentive for them to work with caution, he says.


It makes them accountable for the daily moves that they make, Knight says.


The company says its employee turnover is low compared with others in the construction industry.


Usually, once they start working here, they very seldom go to another company, Doug Knight says. One guy has been here about 29 years. I cut my teeth with him when I first started.


The key to employee loyalty is treating them like humans, using their ideas, and including their buy-in on safety, he says.


The company claims its willing to take on any project.


Its rare that we do the same thing twice, King says. Its not the same thingroofs, and walls, and housesover and over again.


Jim Knight says that that makes for a stimulating work environment for employees, whom he refers to as family.


It keeps a higher quality of people, he says. It keeps the guys interested.


More government work


Before the economy slowed, about half of the companys work was for the government, and the other half was for companies with Eastern Washington operations such as Kaiser Aluminum Corp., Alcoa Inc., Potlatch Corp., and Boise Cascade Corp., Doug Knight says.


During the energy crisis of 2001, though, capital projects from industrial concerns fell off, and that work hasnt returned to its previous levels yet, he says. Knight Construction shifted its focus to landing more government contracts, and now that work makes up about 75 percent of the companys business.


Despite the sluggish economy, Knight Constructions revenues have been up, Doug Knight says. The company is projecting record overall revenues of about $10 million for 2003, which would be up about $3.8 million from last year. The bulk of Knight Constructions contracts range in value from $250,000 to $1 million, and its biggest job was worth $5 million.


In a side venture, the company bought a small, Clarkston-based boat-parts business nine months ago and now manufactures lightweight welded-aluminum parts for four Lewiston, Idaho-area jet-boat manufacturers, in a venture that Knight says is going well.


Although Knight Constructions Deer Park location at times makes the company feel isolated, it has advantages, he says. Along with the house and the shop, the company has 70 acres of land there, where it houses its numerous pieces of heavy machinery, including several forklifts, and flatbed and trailer trucks.


Being this far north allows us to pull from the work force out north, Knight says. He adds that about 60 percent of the companys employees live in Stevens and Pend Oreille counties, qualifying Knight Construction for incentives under the federal governments Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) program.


Under HUBZone legislation, small businesses located in and employing people from designated areas are granted preference on federal contracts to create new jobs and stimulate depressed economies. Knight Construction has won three HUBZone contracts in as many years.


Besides that incentive, Jim Knight says, staff members, which now include one of his grandchildren, prefer Deer Parks rural setting, complete with wild deer, wild turkeys, and an occasional moose sharing the grounds with Knight Constructionand the Knight family.