Spilker Masonry Co., of Spokane, has stacked up a number of jobs that will amount to a sizable improvement over last year, and it hopes to continue to build on that momentum, says Mike Spilker, the company's president.

The company, which specializes in government and school brick-and-mortar projects, currently is working at about 10 job sites, says Spilker, who co-owns Spilker Masonry with his brother, Matt.

The work includes the Westview Elementary replacement project on Spokane's North Side, where Spilker Masonry is handling the masonry work for Lydig Construction Inc. Spilker Masonry also is erecting a noise-abatement wall as part of a freeway-widening project in Spokane Valley for general contractor Acme Concrete & Paving Co.

Garco Construction Inc., the general contractor for the big Ferris High School modernization and renovation project on the South Hill, also recently selected Spilker Masonry for masonry work there.

Revenues are down from 2008, but up considerably from last year, says Matt Spilker, the company's vice president. Including bricklayers working at its job sites, the company currently employs about 75 people, he says. That's up from about 35 at the low point of last year.

"We're very fortunate," Matt Spilker says. "We've been doing some aggressive bidding just to keep things going."

Spilker Masonry occupies 3,000 square feet of floor space and 13,000 square feet of shop and warehouse space in three buildings in the east 3900 block of Columbia Avenue, in the Hillyard neighborhood.

Masonry is a family affair for the Spilkers.

"We have a lot of family and a good core of people working for us," Mike Spilker says.

Their grandfather founded William F. Spilker & Sons, a construction company, and their father, Ken Spilker, handled the masonry portion of that business until forming his own company in 1954 that today is Spilker Masonry Co. Ken Spilker retired in 1983.

"Dad had five sons, all bricklayers," Mike Spilker says. "We started at the bottom and worked our way up."

One brother, John, is an estimator for the company. Another brother, Tim, former Spilker Masonry president, left the company a few years ago and later formed Spilker Precast LLC, which also is based in the Hillyard neighborhood, at 4231 E. Queen.

Their oldest brother, Kip, died in a truck accident while traveling to a Spilker Masonry job at Priest Lake, Idaho.

The company's owners say they spend about two days a week in the field, depending on how busy they are preparing bids for upcoming jobs.

"We're hands-on in the field," Mike Spilker says. "We don't have project managers."

The brothers say they don't want the company to grow to be too big for them to remain active at job sites.

"We always pride ourselves on quality," Matt Spilker says. "We want to keep control of quality and safety."

The company competes for work regularly with about seven other Inland Northwest masonry concerns, although some of the more recent larger jobs have drawn more than a dozen bidders.

Despite the company's reliance on public-sector projects, Spilker Masonry has left its mark on a number of privately developed structures.

Such projects include the Northpointe Plaza, NorthTown Mall, and Northtown Square, among others.

"Spokane is a masonry town," Mike Spilker says, adding that many architects here prefer to design brick buildings. Other areas have a higher proportion of tilt-up concrete construction than Spokane.

"You can do so much more with masonry," he says.

Some employees have worked for Spilker Masonry for well over 20 years. "We've watched guys retire who started out with my dad," Mike Spilker says.

The brothers say Spilker Masonry strives to keep younger people on track to learn skills attained by experienced masons.

"Masonry has a four-year training process," Matt Spilker says. "We do a lot of training ourselves too."

As part of the training process, the company's goal is to assign each apprentice to a mentor.

That balance, though, is a challenge to maintain in a weak economy.

"Employment has bounced around quite a bit," he says. "When it slowed down, we lost a lot of guys."

The brothers have a mixed prognosis for the coming year.

"The private portion is hard to tell," Mike Spilker says. "I don't see anything happening."

Matt Spilker adds, "It's a little better for us than a year ago, but some of our competitors don't have any work."

Spilker Masonry hopes to land a portion of the 159,400-square-foot Walmart store project that's planned in Spokane Valley.

"It will be tough," Matt Spilker says. "Masonry companies from back East are following those jobs."

Spilker Masonry, though, does have considerable experience on Walmart projects, having handled masonry work for Walmart outlets in the Wandermere area and in Airway Heights, as well as others throughout Eastern Washington.

Late summer generally is peak time of year for Spilker Masonry Co.

"Everybody wants to get things started before the snow flies," Mike Spilker says. "We got a small retail job last Friday (Sept. 9) and started work there on Monday."