Summer Sprint for School Construction is On for Erickson-Hall

ESCONDIDO – Erickson-Hall Construction Company is in the midst of what company President Mat Gates calls a summer sprint of school construction projects in Southern California, including two in San Diego County.

“We’re pushing upwards of about $100 million of work,” Gates said.

Since its founding in 1998 with a staff of four, the employee-owned company has grown to have 212 employees and has become a powerhouse in school construction from new buildings to renovations.

“Doing schools is a niche industry. The requirements in California are extensive, and we’ve been a school builder since the very beginning and we were building schools with other companies as we were coming up through the trades,” Gates said.

Of the $3.5 billion in construction projects that Erickson-Hall has completed, $3 billion has been for K-12 and higher education projects.

Gates said that 30% to 35% of the company’s annual revenue comes from school projects that it does during the summer.

This summer, the company has seven school projects under way, including nearly $30 million of work at Albert Einstein Academy Charter School for San Diego Unified School District and a $9 million library modernization project at Eastlake High School for the Sweetwater Union High School District.

The Eastlake work is particularly challenging because it has to be done quickly, Gates said.

“We’ve got about six, seven weeks to get it done,” Gates said. “We’re basically stripping the library and rebuilding it, leaving the frame intact, (adding) new technology, new infrastructure, and redoing the shelving and putting it back together.”

At Albert Einstein Academy, Erickson-Hall plans to complete about $8 million to $9 million of work on the overall $30 million project that Gates said would take a year to complete.

“Basically, we’re prepping for a new building,” Gates said, “putting in the site work while the kids are gone.”

Erickson-Hall also is working on projects for the Long Beach Unified School District, the Anaheim Union High School District, the Hesperia Unified School District, the Victor Elementary School District in Victorville, and the Murrieta School District.

“Typically, we’re doing six days a week, 10 hours a day, so we’re working Saturdays and with full crews,” Gates said.

A Push to Summer Work Schedule

Since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, school districts have been pushing to do more work during summer.

“It used to be, you’d be doing ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) work, or bathrooms, the restroom renovations, things like that. Now, it’s while you’re doing the restrooms, let’s do the technology and the doors, let’s add in the front entrance and the security system, so they’re doing a lot more,” Gates said. “They’re expanding the scope.”

Gates said that building schools is more challenging than building office or residential projects.

“They are challenging just because they’re a very important part of our community,” Gates said. “Schools are essential buildings. They’re the rallying point in natural disasters. That’s where they tell you to go, so those buildings are built at a higher level of structural components, a higher level of communications.”

At the same time, Gates said that school projects are especially rewarding because of the reaction that students have when they see the new classrooms, labs, libraries and the like.

“When we’re cutting ribbons, they’re arguing with their friends about who’s got their class in the new classroom building and who’s got the old portable (classrooms), Gates said. “It’s hilarious listening to those guys and the enthusiasm they have.”

Erickson-Hall Construction Company
FOUNDED: 1998
HEADQUARTERS: Escondido
PRESIDENT: Mat Gates
BUSINESS: General Contractor
EMPLOYEES: 212
WEBSITE: www.ericksonhall.com
CONTACT: 760-796-7700
NOTABLE: Erickson-Hall has completed more than $3.5 billion in construction projects.