It’s no secret that the going’s been tough for the construction industry over the last several years, but the history of the industry also includes more than a few characters from hardscrabble backgrounds who persevered through far more challenging times.
J.P. Cullen & Sons’ own history provides a prime example. Started in 1892 by an Irish descendant named John Patrick Cullen, who learned the building trade by apprenticing with his carpenter father, the company was held together in those early days through sheer determination.
In fact, family lore holds that J.P. once road a bicycle from Janesville to Mount Horeb – 51 miles one way – to inspect a job. And that would have been a less-than-sleek old-fashioned bicycle, mind you, on less-than-modern roadways.
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J.P. Cullen & Sons founder John Patrick Cullen. Advertisement
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“Those stories are very true, and I guess construction as an industry will probably have lots of stories like that, particularly by the entrepreneurs that started the businesses about some of the sacrifices that they made and the passion that they had to keep their businesses thriving and growing,” said David Cullen, president of the Janesville-based general construction company, which was recently honored with a Wisconsin Family Business of the Year Awards special PRIDE Award. “So I’d like to think that that’s been passed along to every generation.”
Of course, the big daddy of all economic downturns was the Great Depression, and that posed its share of challenges to J.P. Cullen & Sons that might have sunk other companies.
“There’s an interesting story about that period in time where my grandfather Mark got a phone call – we were doing a federal office building in Omaha, Neb. – and he got a call from the government that said they didn’t have the money to make payments to the job,” said Cullen. “And so he had to get on a train and go to Nebraska to the job site and gather all the employees and say, ‘I’m sorry, we’re not going to be able to give you your weekly pay because the government can’t afford to pay us, but we’ve dispatched somebody to Washington today to expedite this process.’
“So that’s the kind of thing that was happening back then. You think about today and some of the concerns about recession, but literally our government did not have the money to pay for the work that was going on, not only on our job, but I’m sure lots of other vendors that didn’t get money.”
Surviving and thriving
Because J.P. Cullen & Sons has overcome so many obstacles during its 120 years in business, David Cullen feels a special responsibility to preserve the company’s legacy. While Cullen notes that times are still tough for the construction industry – particularly since construction tends to lag behind other industries when it comes to both entering and exiting recessions – Cullen has lived through it before.
“I remember vividly the early ’80s, which was a very difficult time, very similar to what we’ve been experiencing here,” said Cullen. “A great reduction in the amount of work available, and just kind of scraping to get by, and unfortunately having to go through some layoffs to get your overhead reduced. So we’ve been through it in our careers, and this particular time that we’re still experiencing is quite similar. We’ve had to do some of those same things, really scrape and look out further for work, and reduce our margins, and just try to do what we can to get through.”
Of course, the work ethic that the Cullen family has demonstrated is a large part of the success the company has experienced – in both good times and bad. At 87, Cullen’s father, who also goes by J.P. (for John Paul) is still coming to work. That provides David Cullen (as well as Mark and Richard, who serve as chairman of the board and vice president of field operations, respectively) a boost of inspiration, and also a willing sounding board.
“Just a week or so ago, we had an issue come up in the company that was bothering me quite a bit, and I just went in and sat down with him and talked to him about it,” said Cullen. “And he came back to me a while later, and he said, ‘You know, this reminds me of this event that happened to me in my career, and this is how I handled it.’ So it’s always great to get that perspective of someone who’s been there and done it.”
Sharing the credit
According to Cullen, the family has been working on a succession plan that potentially involves several members of the Cullen family. One of David’s sons is currently working with the company, and another will begin this fall. In addition, three of brother Mark’s kids have expressed interest in working for the family.
Still, Cullen is quick to note that J.P. Cullen & Sons is not simply about his immediate family. In accepting the PRIDE Award, Cullen was reminded of the team effort that goes into the company’s success. That effort includes charitable contributions beyond the company’s funding of the 10-year-old JPC Foundation.
“Really, the award is a credit to our employees,” said Cullen. “The PRIDE Award means that our company and the people that work for us and interact with others on a day-to-day business have distinguished themselves in the eyes of those judges in the pride that they bring to the work that they do, so I want to make sure that that’s the highlight of my comments and that they get the credit, because it’s a lot more than just three Cullens running this thing. Those are the folks that really deserve the award.”
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