Building new jobs

Erickson Construction held a groundbreaking ceremony last week for their new 11-acre High Desert Truss and Lumberyard. The development will allow the company to serve more construction companies in northern Nevada as well as create new jobs in the Reno area.

The company is working to turn the paved land into a truss facility with the most state-of-the-art equipment, technology and software. According to Reed Graham, COO of Erickson Construction, trusses, which are wooden framing used to support roofs on houses, are way under served in the Reno area.

“There are a lot of contractors who are not going to be able to meet the housing industry’s needs,” Graham said.

He explained that the Reno and Sacramento markets have already experienced construction delays due to the lack of labor and trusses. The company is hoping that the new truss and lumberyard will allow them to be proactive and solve the problem before it escalates.

“We are trying to get in front of the trajectory of the housing industry,” Graham said.

The company signed a long-term lease about a month ago and will be breaking up the current pavement on the property and then pouring new pavement for the truss and lumberyard.

Located at 500 E. Parr Blvd., it is Erickson Construction’s first truss and lumberyard in the Reno area. They expect it to be fully operational within the next three months.

The company has been doing business in the Reno area since December 1994. Up till now, the company had to truck their manufactured goods from their location in Roseville, Calif., to Reno. The new lumberyard will allow them to more effectively use their drivers and to better serve the growing Reno and Sacramento markets.

“With the growing housing industry we are already running into constraints,” Graham said.

According to Rich Gallagher, CEO of Erickson Construction, it will employ up to 60 people locally between two shifts and approximately another hundred in the field.

“We are very optimistic and bullish about the (Reno) market,” Gallagher said.

With the addition of the new truss and lumberyard, they will have the capability to serve bigger builders in the northern Nevada area.

Gallagher explained that there are several other competitors in the Reno area who provide framing systems and wall and floor panels. However, they are unique in that they are involved in the entire process from the manufacturing, to the on site delivery and installation.

“No one else is doing what we do,” Gallagher said.

Gallagher and Graham along with Lane Fitzmorris, general manager of Reno Framing Division, Gary Mason, purchasing manager, and Dan Shaw, High Desert Truss manager, represented the company at the groundbreaking ceremony Tuesday, April 5.

Shaw will be managing the new operation site and is working on hiring people to fill the newly created jobs. He has been with Erickson Construction for 20 years and is relocating from the company’s Roseville location.

Erickson Construction was founded in 1975 in Phoenix, Ariz. The framing company provides pre-fabricated building components for single and multi-family builders in Arizona, northern California and northern Nevada. According to Gallagher, the size of the company doubled in the past three years and currently employs around 800 employees. The company is continuing to grow and expand as the housing demand increases.

“We are hiring by the handful daily,” Gallagher said.

The company is currently hiring in Reno. For more information about open positions, email inforenoframing@ericksoncompanies.com.