A minute with Gower Talley of Tradesman International

We caught up with Gower Talley and Laramy Ayers of Tradesmen International on a Zoom call last week. We had a great conversation with Gower in his home office, Laramy in his home office and I in my home office.
Tradesmen International considers itself to be a construction labor management firm. According to Talley, they “look and smell a lot like a staffing company.”  But Tradesmen’s core business model is refer to as “core plus flex.”  When you need skilled craftsmen for a specific component of a project – Tradesmen can provide them.  When that part of your project is over Tradesmen will reassign those people elsewhere.  The ability to have the number of people you need – for only as long as you need them can help contractors avoid “Higher – Fire” strategies that add to unemployment costs or holdover strategies which can have you pay skilled craftsmen when you don’t need them – just so that they stick around.
 
How long have Tradesmen International been in SW Washington?
                Tradesmen has been in Southwest Washington for about 5 years. Overall, the company has been in business for about 25 years. Tradesmen employs about 200 people in the Portland metropolitan region and in total have about 15,000 employees on jobsites every day.
 
What do your customers like about your company? 
                “Our customers appreciate our ability to be responsive to their needs,” Talley said. Craftspeople work for Tradesmen, so if they do not show up for work on any given day at your site, Tradesmen will get a replacement to your site before you realize they were missing. Tradesmen prides itself on providing consistent employment for their people and flexibility for their customers.
                Tradesmen International can help you to bid jobs which might be a bit bigger than your current human resources capacity can handle. They can help you to compete and win on these jobs by providing the skills to allow you win bigger and more lucrative projects. Their tradespeople have the skills you need to perform the job, but you do not need to take them on as a long-term employee in your company.
 
Why did you join SWCA?
                Tradesmen is a relatively new member to SWCA. They joined about 6 months ago when Gower and Laramy were taking a drive down Highway 99 in Hazel Dell, WA. They saw a sign on the road reading “Southwest Washington Contractors Association”. In a flash decision, they pulled into the parking lot, found our office on the second floor of the Larry O. Collins Building and signed up immediately for membership. The rest is history.
Tradesmen had long been a member of OAME (the Oregon Association of Minority Entrepreneurs) and they were looking to make this type of connection north of the river. Never underestimate the value of a sign on the street!  Tradesmen has been very active in their first months, attending a few different events. We are excited to have such an engaged member.
 
What reservations did you have about joining SWCA?
                “We had no reservations about joining SWCA. We like to try things out – throw them against the wall and see what sticks“ said Talley. They had great experiences with OAME and were looking for a local, construction focused trade association and SWCA fits that bill.
 
If SWCA could do one thing for you, what would it be?
                Talley is looking for more, lower cost opportunities to network with SWCA members. They have been to Thirsty Thursday and our Member Open House and felt there was value in the networking and educational opportunities at these events. We talked about the upcoming events like the Contractor Connections, the SWCA Classic Cup and the Construction Executive Summit – all great ways to connect with the rest of our membership.
 
What is your favorite thing about SWCA?
                “You have a good bunch of folks on your team,” Gower mentioned, adding that all his interactions and event experiences have been great.
 
Is there anything else you would like people to know about SWCA?
                Talley wants everyone to know that this is the premier organization for our market – “SWCA is the big dogs on the block.”  He has obviously seen our posts of Tucker and Maddie on our Facebook page…
                Thanks for taking the time to meet with us Gower and Laramy – it was a pleasure.