From Schools to Readiness Centers

Paramount Builders
Written by Robert Hoshowsky

For over a decade, Paramount Builders LLC has proudly served the construction needs of clients in the state of West Virginia and beyond. Its over $100 million of bonding capacity allows it to take on large-scale projects other construction companies cannot handle, such as armories, readiness centers, school headquarters, community and technical colleges, university buildings and other state-supported works.
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Since 2006, Paramount Builders has completed over $200 million worth of work. It has a staff of approximately fifty employees – including office support staff, field superintendents, and other field personnel. Numbers vary, depending on project phases and whether work is self-performed or subcontracted out.

From its headquarters in St. Albans, Paramount takes on works across West Virginia, including projects in nearby Charleston, the capital and largest city in the state. For the company, this proximity to Charleston, a former hub for the coal industry, provides a host of advantages. Charleston is home to many government, industrial, commercial, educational and military institutions.

“One advantage of being here is our location because we travel throughout the entire state of West Virginia to complete our projects,” says Kyle Captain, senior project manager with Paramount Builders for the past six years.

As well as serving its home state, it works in other areas including Maryland, Kentucky, and Ohio and is working toward extending its operations into other surrounding states to the east and west.

This highly-qualified general contractor meets clients’ specific construction needs from design/build to construction management services and general contracting as it strives to live up to the motto ‘Building Excellence.’

The company is also a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) accredited building contractor. It has completed a number of LEED Green and LEED Silver works for customers and was, in fact, the first general contractor in the state to attain prestigious LEED Gold for one of its public school projects.

Captain says a considerable amount of West Virginia state money – which was historically generated from coal mining related activities – has been “turned over time into construction projects.” Although the decline in coal has affected the state’s economy, Paramount Builders continues to acquire work, including some outstanding large-scale projects.

“The biggest part of our business is publicly bid work,” comments Captain. “In that market, 2016 was the best year in the history of the company.” It performs especially well in the eight million dollar to thirty million dollar project range.

The company’s professionalism and large bonding capacity enables it to complete larger jobs. It typically works on two large projects at a time with numerous other smaller works for private customers going on simultaneously.

The massive works can take many months or even years to complete. One such project was the two-year refurbishment of Building 3 at the Charleston State Capitol Complex. The structure is known to many as the Division of Motor Vehicles and was initially constructed in 1951, and painstakingly restored by the talented craftsmen at Paramount.

The company worked with designers from Perfido Weiskopf Wagstaff and Goettel (PWWG) on what became “the biggest project the company has ever completed.” It required considerable attention to historic oversight and preservation from floors originally crafted with terrazzo marble to striking, bronze-glazed windows.

The $38 million project was started in July of 2015 and required a complete renovation with interior demolition and all-new mechanical, engineering and plumbing (MEP). The limestone façade, bronze windows and some of the vintage marble interior was restored to its original condition. The manufacturers who provided the original clay roof tile almost seventy years ago, Ohio-based Ludowici Roof Tile, provided tiles to match the original roof. And although the historic renovation project has provided Paramount with its share of challenges, it is finishing up.

Among the company’s many recent successful projects, one which is particularly notable is the Logan-Mingo Readiness Center, located near Holden, WV. The official ground-breaking ceremony for the center took place in late April of 2014, with the structure opening just over a year and a half later, on November 6, 2015.

The enormous 50,000-square-foot centre cost $16 million and is home to members of the military and police. It is used for state-wide training and disaster preparation. The centre’s location near both Logan and Mingo County airports, allows troops to have speedy response times in case of disasters such as flooding, which is not uncommon in the region.

It was constructed on an abandoned strip mine site. Since half of the building is in Logan County, and the other half is in Mingo County, it also serves to represent a collaborative effort.

The visually striking centre combines brick and stone and boasts twenty-five-foot-high ceilings in the main lobby area.

A few of its other successful projects include the Gassaway Armory, the West Virginia Lottery Renovations, the White Sulphur Welcome Center, Huntington East Middle School, the Girl Scouts of Black Diamond Council Headquarters, the West Virginia University – Tech Campus and works for the Buckhannon National Guard, to name just a few.

Paramount Builders works with repeat customers and attracts new business owing to a high degree of client satisfaction and professionally-delivered construction services. It has a stellar safety record and decades of combined experience. All of this means that it is frequently entrusted to handle key facets of projects.

Paramount’s services often start with design/build. The company sits down with clients to determine their exact needs, including budgeting and timelines. Paramount works in collaboration with customers, partners, and carefully-chosen suppliers and contractors to ensure accountability, professionalism, and safety from project start to finish.

“We have very good relationships with the architectural and engineering community here, so depending on the type of projects the customer comes to us with would dictate what architect and/or engineering firm we would partner with on the project,” says Captain.

From there, Paramount takes care of MEP and all aspects of construction management from retaining vendors and qualified subcontractors to scheduling, providing consulting services and general contracting.

The company is currently working on several large projects including the renovation to Concord University’s 160,000 square foot dormitory tower in Athens, WV.

“Paramount has steadily grown, and our goal on every project is to meet the customer’s expectations. That’s our goal,” comments Captain. “When we go in on a publicly bid job and bid against four other contractors, the reality of the situation is with state work, we have to have the best price on bid day – second-place pays nothing. It is a challenge to acquire publicly bid work, but once we do the focus swiftly changes to delivering that project exactly as the customer wants.”

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