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REAL ESTATE

Catoosa's Fleming builds on multimillion-dollar backlog

by Kirby Lee Davis
The Journal Record January 11, 2008

TULSA - Parking in front of Fleming Building Co.'s modest metal headquarters doesn't drum up visions of workers assembling lofty steel skeletons or spreading distribution centers.

Ray Miller, president of Fleming Building Co., stands by one of more than 30 facilities his company built at the Port of Catoosa.
(Photo by Rip Stell)

Perhaps that's because driving to that 5,000-square-foot, dusty tan structure takes visitors past dozens of mammoth Port of Catoosa industrial facilities, more than 30 of them demonstrating Fleming's handiwork.

Owner Ray Miller likes it that way, having guided the design and build firm over 34 years to stand among the nation's six largest metal builders, as ranked by Metal Construction News.

"If you came out here and looked at this, you'd say, 'You don't do what you say you're doing,'" Miller admitted of his offices. "But I'm not interested in showing the pomp and ceremony. This is a blue-collar area of the port. We fit in well with it."

Customers say that image captures Miller's strengths.

"Ray is a crusty old buzzard and he's just as good as they get," said Bob Peterson, the president of Melton Truck Lines of Tulsa.

"They are honest, they get things done in what I would call a prompt and efficient manner, they watch our money, pleasant to deal with, always responsive," said Peterson, who has used Fleming to complete several structures for Melton. "Ray's a no BS guy. He says, 'Here's the way it is,' and that's it."

Scattered across 40 states, Fleming projects have ranged from bowling alleys and indoor tennis courts to schools, churches, and aircraft hangars. Its crew of 100 has completed offices for Skycam, the Mathis Brothers store in Tulsa and more than 13 automotive dealerships, many in the Tulsa area.

Its industrial and warehouse clients include such high-profile names as Kansas City Life, Kimberly-Clark, Amazon.com, the Nordam Group, Webco, and Zebco. Highlighting the list, since 1985 Fleming has raised 54.3 million square feet of Wal-Mart Distribution Centers and almost 2 million more in Wal-Mart warehouses, stores or damage repair sites.

Three times named Butler Manufacturing's top volume builder, Miller said Fleming ended 2007 with revenue of about $50 million, "right at or slightly below 2006." He projects similar results this year despite Wal-Mart's throttling back on its expansion plans, or Fleming's losing about a sixth of his work force due to spreading fears from Oklahoma's new immigration law.

"It's kind of hard to grow your business if the amount of people you've got is shrinking," he grumbled.

With a backlog of multimillion-dollar projects, and many more potentially available by expanding port businesses, Miller remains optimistic.

"We've got so many projects on the horizon, and almost every one of them is from word-of-mouth or a repeat customer," said Gyda Lane, Miller's assistant. "Everybody wants Ray to build the buildings."

Contractor and developer Tim Remy appreciated the hands-on approach Miller used as Fleming erected the three levels of steel required for Remy Cos.' 165,000-square-foot SpiritBank Event Center in Bixby.

"A lot of times when you get to that caliber of size, you're dealing with a foreman or someone," said Remy. "But with Fleming, if you're talking about the owner, he's right there."

That eye to detail helps Fleming adapt as projects evolve.

"During the projects, you have change orders or new ideas come to light, and whenever I did those, Fleming was open-minded," said Andre Van't Westeinde, president of Amestein LP of Dallas, who has used the Catoosa builder twice.

Miller credited Fleming's self-sufficiency and wide range of services for allowing it to keep pace with such changes, aided by a staff of longtime employees offering almost 500 years of experience. For 2008, Miller expects Fleming to augment that with LEED certification, helping it compete for more environmental projects.

"They're sticklers for details," said Peterson. "They really have got much of their own crew, but when they're bringing in dry-wall guys, plumbing guys, they send their own crew to oversee those guys. They're quality's terrific."

Although he'll turn 73 in May, Miller has no plans to retire. Since he and his wife Chris acquired Fleming in 1974, they've overcome near-bankruptcy, and the difficulties of Oklahoma's depression through the 1980s, to see four of his children come to work with the firm.

He also continues to develop spec buildings on the side, with a 63,000-square-foot structure now available at the port.

"I've been married 50 years in August," he said with a smile. "I think, if I were home all the time, that would end."