By Debra Wood, Texas Construction, 04.01.2010

Don Krueger Construction “We had our best year ever,” says Kevin R. Krueger, president of Don Krueger Construction in Victoria. “We got lucky and got most of our work the summer before everything went down, so it was a good time for us.”

Don Krueger reported $84,250,000 in revenue in 2009, all of it in Texas. It ranked No. 67 on the Top Contractors list. The family-owned firm, established in 1962, has focused on work outside urban areas in smaller towns. Repeat clients represent more than half of its business.

School construction dominated Krueger’s 2009 portfolio, with some office and build-out work. Krueger recently signed a contract for an office project for Karnes County and a $1.9 million fire station in Victoria.

E. E. Reed Construction recently completed the 25-story Legacy at Memorial apartment complex in Houston.

“There are a lot of small projects out there, but the big anchor projects over $20 million, $30 million dollars, they’re just not many,” Krueger says. “People are waiting until things are a bit more certain, and the bond issues that were passed are not to the point where they have plans to bid on.”

The company is building a $63-million, 429,000-sq-ft high school and junior high for Victoria Independent School District in Victoria and a $12 million project for San Diego ISD in San Diego.

“About all there is right now is school construction,” Krueger says. “For the last year, there has been about zero in privately funded projects to look at, and it’s normally about 20% to 30% of what we do.”

That forced Krueger to shift more attention on the K-12 market.........read more