L. Keeley Construction Moves Back “Home”

Date Posted: January 3, 2016

Posted In: News, Organizations,

by Tom Finan, Executive Director, Construction Forum STL

“WE’RE HOME: L. Keeley Construction,” reads a temporary banner mounted on the wall of the new headquarters of L. Keeley Construction Co. The new offices are located at  500 S. Ewing Ave., within sight of I-40/64 and its intersection with Jefferson Ave.

The permanent sign was scheduled to be put in place on Tuesday (Jan. 5) and an open house is planned for Thursday.

The interior by M+H Architects maintains the lofted openness of the former television studio that occupied the site. At the same time it features some uniquely construction-industry touches, such as the #14 rebar handrail in the foreground of this photo, taken from the second-level executive offices. 

Even construction industry veterans may not grasp the significance of the message on the sign. L. Keeley is generally perceived within the industry to be an Illinois-based firm. Its offices have been located in Sauget, in sight of the Gateway Arch and near some of the company’s large industrial clients,  since shortly after Larry Keeley, who today is chairman, founded the company in 1976. Even with the opening of the new St. Louis office the company will maintain its Sauget, IL office.

L. Keeley Construction began in Larry Keeley’s Des Peres home.  With his brother he had been part of Modern Asphalt, a company started by their father. It was one of a score of construction companies founded by various members of the Keeley clan in the Metro East.

Today the Keeley Companies — consisting of three companies operating in construction, infrastructure, and technology— have about 750 employees and $235 million in sales.

A Practical Decision

Repurposed wood, concrete counters and a high-tech look — with open cable trays and duct work, and computer servers prominently on display in the lobby — are part of the new building’s look. Photo murals of the company’s divisions and their customers will soon be intalled. 

The decision to move  to St. Louis in 1976 was a practical one for Larry Keeley. “I decided I wanted to work both sides of the river. You would have thought the bridge ended before it got to St. Louis,” he said. Larry decided to set up shop in the St. Louis side of the region. He and his brother amicably parted company in 1976. He called his new company L. Keeley, to differentiate it from the other firms bearing that surname.

Relationships with customers that have continued to this day include Monsanto, Afton Chemical, Eastman Chemical Company, and Boeing Co.

A “Family” Culture

From the beginning, L. Keeley Construction’s management focused on the people employed there. The company’s values form the acronym PRIDE: People, Respect, Integrity, Discipline, and Empowerment.  The L. Keeley mission statement reads: “We are a customer-centric partner, providing innovative solutions. The safety, well-being, and career growth of our team members are the benchmarks of our success.”

“Family culture” is a repeated theme among L. Keeley employees.  One employee said, “It’s a family atmosphere where you have the opportunity to be anything you want to be. For me working here has made me a better person.”

Another stated, “Our culture is shaped by strategic planning where everyone has a roadmap for the future and a feeling of empowerment.”

The company takes about 700 employees and family members to a Cardinals game each year and provides $12 for each person in attendance. “A lot of families can’t afford to go to the ballgame because of the concession fees on top of the ticket cost,” Rusty Keeley said. The company also takes employees and their families to Six Flags each September. While there, employee children compete in an artwork contest for the coming year’s safety calendar.

Keeley Companies was voted one of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch “Top Places to Work from 2012-2015” and won the same honor from the St. Louis Business Journal from 2012-2015.

Making Diversity a Metric

From the beginning, diversity was a cornerstone of the company.The company’s location adjacent to East St. Louis led Larry Keeley to look there for team members. Today the third generation of some of those families work at L. Keeley.  Some of the first workers from East St. Louis were former farm workers from Mississippi who had never learned to read. When Larry Keeley discovered that, he enlisted his sister, a Columbia, IL teacher to teach reading, and his daughter, who headed HR, to help the workers through the company’s safety procedures.

Now, L. Keeley managers’ monthly “scorecards” include a rating for their efforts to promote inclusion. “We started by failing,” CEO Rusty Keeley, son of Larry, said. “Picking up the Yellow Pages – you have to do it the old fashioned way, by building relationships.” The Keeley Companies’ total diverse spend was approximately $11 million in 2015.

Doing it Safely, Community Involvement

Having everyone come home safely from work is embedded in the L. Keeley culture. The company posted a .78 EMR in 2015. January 1st that number dropped to .67. On a recent visit, all vehicles in the parking lot of the new headquarters were backed into parking spaces to maximize safety.

“People tell us we’re too safe. That’s when you know you have arrived,” Rusty Keeley said.

Keeley Companies’ executives are all expected to serve on the boards of charitable boards and be a part of the community. The Keeley Companies foundation contributes to many different charities annually, with a focus on children, health, women and the homeless. 

About 50 employees  will work in the headquarters, including a dozen engineers and an equal number of project managers. The building includes a large training area for “Keeley University” classes. 

Rusty Keely joined the organization in 1992, and began the diversification effort into the general contracting, industrial, and civil arenas. Diversification continued with the acquisition of ADB in 1995.

As customers asked ADB to pull cable, and branch into fiber optics and cell towers, ADB’s book of services grew. Worldwide Technologies began using ADB to pull cable. Worldwide executives told Rusty Keeley, “you need to start a network engineering group.”

Keeley Companies acquired a Cincinnati firm with 10 engineers and began doing network engineering, Citrix applications, and cybersecurity. Technology was spun off into a  separate company, ZeroDay Technology Solutions, in 2014. With $20 million in sales and growing, ZeroDay is currently working with Worldwide to provide wifi services for the St. Louis Blues at the Scottrade Center.

Working the Plan

In his book, Everybody Matters: The Extraordinary Power of Caring for Your People Like Family, Barry Wehmiller CEO Bob Chapman wrote about the extraordinary success of his company’s people-focused  visioning process. “Drafting a vision statement is relatively easy. What’s critical is what you do with it once the document is written. It’s essential to rapidly spread it through the organization and embed it deeply in people’s heads and hearts,” Chapman wrote.

Rusty  Keeley is an adherent to Chapman’s approach and a believer in the power of a strong vision, driven by committed people. He believes that the L. Keeley culture leads its employees to complete the company’s vision into a process that allows them to succeed in the field. “Vision is taking the dreams and turning them into goals and action plans,” he said.

In 2010 Keeley Companies — which at that time had annual sales of $65 million — set a goal of reaching $200 million in revenue by 2015. The company hit that goal in 2014. That same year (2014) McCarthy veteran Tom Birkemeier became L. Keeley Construction president; Chad Johnson became president at ADB; and Mike Rupinski became president at ZeroDay Technology Solutions.

Keeley Companies today has offices in Missouri, Illinois, Texas, Ohio, and Colorado. The company recently opened a Phoenix, AZ branch.  The company’s goal is to hit $500 million in sales by 2020.

“We have really great alignment with one another. That’s worked out really well for us,” said Al Dreste, vice president of business development. “We have the culture and the community,” Rusty Keeley said. “It’s easier to grow a business than to start one. The real vision was to start a company in 1976 in a trailer with three kids at home. We have fun with our memories, but we focus on our dreams.”

“The move into our incredible new 25,000 square-foot space is nearly double the size of our previous home in Sauget and also provides much needed conference room space including a state of the art training room,” L. Keeley, President Tom Birkemeier said.  “This is part of our plan to continue our investment in the growth of our people, as well as the growth in the capacity and quality of services we’re able to provide for our customers.  With this move we are poised to expand our brand in the St. Louis and National Markets.”