Cramer & Associates

In 1989, Cramer and Associates, Inc. made another shift by moving half the company to Topeka, Kansas for a two-year job of widening and overlaying bridges on I-70. Koss Construction, a concrete paving company, felt they were being locked out of getting major paving jobs in Kansas because they weren't getting the best bridge quotes. George Cramer tells how Koss snuck him down to Topeka in their plane the night before the letting so the competition wouldn't know he was there. Koss was the low bidder and George led the bridge work for the next two years. The Kansas work also introduced the Company to hydrodemolition. Cramer worked closely with subcontractors who would use water blasting robots to remove the deteriorated concrete on the bridge deck. Hydrodemolition is still used today, but limitedly. Hydro has some benefits but also creates quite a mess of cement-water to deal with. The Topeka job was followed by a two year job in Wichita with Koss and then a few smaller projects. Richard Schoene, an engineer Cramer hired from Iowa State, and Dan Cramer, George's son, were emerging as gifted job superintendents during the Kansas work. They would play a key role in the company's future. Also in the early 1990s, Cramer and Associates, Inc. widened and overlayed several bridges on I-80 in Des Moines. At that time, Del Cramer's son, Robert began working full time after graduating from Iowa State in Construction Engineering. As Del looked to the future, he wanted to transition to the next generation. Richard Schoene, Dan Cramer, Robert Cramer and Jerry Marker (the Company Controller since 1964) were all added to the Cramer and Associates, Inc. Board of Directors in 1991 and the four of them became the Management Team. Towards the end of the 1990s, the company needed a plan for the founding Cramer brothers to retire and to empower the Management Team. Several transition plans were proposed and rejected until, in November, 1999, Dan and Robert hired RSM McGladrey, Inc. to facilitate the making of a transition plan. Within 24 hours, the Board had an agreement whereby Del, George and Don would retire from day-to-day duties and then from the Board over the next six years. The Management Team would continue on the Board of Directors as well as adding Mike Cramer, Don's son, who manages the Shop. Each of the three remaining founders' families continue to own about 20% of the company stock and the ESOP owns the remaining 40%. The transition has worked out very well for all parties which, unfortunately, can't be said very often. Most of the time second-generation companies flounder, but Cramer and Associates, Inc. has flourished. Though Cramer's work in the 90s continued to be dominated by rehabilitations and overlays, the floods of '93 in Des Moines meant many new flood walls, gates and pump stations needed to be built to protect the low parts of the city. Then, in the beginning of the 21 st Century, the work was dominated by the replacement of the MacVicar Freeway, I-235 in Des Moines. A total of 77 bridges were to be replaced or rehabilitated from the year 2000 to 2007. Cramer bought a traditional style 100-Ton American Crane and a new Terex-American 110 Crane as they transitioned back to building new bridges. But, more importantly, the workforce had to transition to new construction as well. The Company had some superintendents with 'new bridge' experience but hired more engineers out of Iowa State as supervisors for expansion. Cramer also trained more carpenters and operators. The typical crew was no longer a supervisor with a bunch of laborers who could jackhammer. The 'new bridge' crews needed the same motivation as the 'overlay crews', but needed more skills to get the job built. Some of the bridges Cramer and Associates, Inc. built on I-235 were of traditional construction and a normal schedule. However, many were fast paced, involved a lot of night work (due to lane closure restrictions), and/or had a unique design. For example, Cramer built two out of three of the blue, basket handled arched pedestrian bridges. Cramer replaced the Harding Road and 19 th Street bridges that were originally built by the first generation. During the demolition of the 6 th Avenue overpass, a laborer brought Dan Cramer a tag he had found wrapped around a rebar and cast into the concrete bridge deck. It was a rebar tag stating the size and length of the rebar when it was purchased in 1964 and was made out to Cramer & Bayse Construction! Cramer and Associates, Inc. will have completed about a third of the structures work on I-235 when the work winds down in 2007. Cramer also learned to manage large, complex projects. Cramer was the lead manager of MEGA3, the $43 million project at I-235 and E. University Ave in 2005. Similarly, Cramer led the MEGA1 Downtown project, a $93 million freeway replacement including grading, pcc paving, bridges, MSE walls, storm sewers and other utilities, lighting, and signing. Now, Cramer and Associates, Inc. is ready for the future whether it entails a lot of rehab work, overlay, new structures, or all three. Working in Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri, and Kansas, the Management Team has grown Cramer and Associates, Inc. into a medium sized company employing over 130 people. It has grown from $6.7 million in self-performed work in 1994 to $27.5 million in 2005. When you add in the subcontracted work, Cramer and Associates, Inc.'s volume topped $52 million in 2005 and $82 million in 2006. Cramer and Associates, Inc. has a reputation of building the messier, tougher, more complicated projects in the area. This is a result of Management being intimately involved in the work and of hiring motivated, skilled Superintendents to run the jobs. Although some of our strong Superintendents have risen up through the ranks, we have had a lot of success in hiring Construction Engineers as Superintendents. But Management doesn't just send Superintendents off to do the job. Co-President Dan Cramer, Richard Schoene, P.E., and newly promoted engineers Marty Jorgensen and Mark Leusink each oversee four or five crews. Therefore, whether the job requires extra engineering or extra planning to meet an accelerated schedule, Cramer and Associates, Inc. enjoys the challenge.