“Overcoming Challenges for Success”

Brock Dennings, President, and Owner of FED Design/Builders, structures his company around three core values: customer service, integrity, and quality. His staff emulates these core values in their everyday interaction with customers.“We lead all our decisions based on our core values, and the results are nothing short of amazing. We are equally invested in our client's success, and our clients see that.”

These values were instilled in Brock by his role models. He mainly thanks his parents, both entrepreneurs, for the invaluable knowledge he gained just sitting at the dinner table. “I truly learned all the things that you can't learn at school or from textbooks. I can't thank them enough for the values instilled throughout my life. My parents taught me that getting different perspectives in life is essential, so I hired coaches to push me out of my comfort zone.” These coaches have been continuously pushing Brock to reach his goals for FED and himself. George Hedley is a construction coach who helped Brock’s company develop systems, strong communication, and the structure to scale and grow his team.

Brandon Dawson and Grant Cardone lead Cardone Ventures and are two more great role models whom Brock hired to launch the company into the next level.

Brock learned years ago that the industry was changing, and technology had to be embraced. They were fortunate that they took on the challenge when March 2020 hit, and the COVID-19 pandemic began; they were already fully digital and could work remotely and did not skip a beat. “Our primary tool is Procore, and we utilize that platform for all our project management. All our staff is trained when they are hired to understand and utilize Procore for all projects at FED . It has proven to be a fantastic tool for our team.”

According to the steadfast leader, the industry's most significant need and the trend is using technology for all aspects of construction, specifically, to give visibility and instant communication with clients. The construction industry has been slow to adopt technology, and customers are looking for information and updates in real-time. “When decisions need to be made, we must make sure that we provide information quickly and precisely. We utilize Procore for all our change order management. We plan to continue introducing and experimenting with more management systems to help us provide the expected responses and results for our customers.”

For FED, people make the difference. There is no doubt that the competitors can build structures, but Brock’s team is exceptional at building relationships. Building quality structures for clients is just part of their deliverable, and FED delivers a strong relationship and customer experience that they are proud of. “We build great relationships and work with our clients repeatedly because of the focus on our clients' needs and exceptional customer service,” he says

“We have several clients that have done over 14 major projects with FED. We have been part of some outstanding projects. in 42 years, we have completed over 600 jobs throughout Michigan and the surrounding states. They are all amazing, but a few have stood out as unique and large in scale.”

FED worked on Northwood University's practice stadium, a sizeable clear-span structure housing a football field and indoor track. They have also built some airplane hangars, specifically at MBS airport spanning over 200 feet. “We were able to build a Maserati, Alfa Romeo, and Fiat dealership that required coordination to bring in goods from Italy and many other special materials and finishes from the automotive brand” elucidates Brock. “All the jobs were unique, and in the end, we had an overwhelming sense of achievement. Since finishing these jobs, we have taken on similar large and unique jobs with confidence.”

FED continues to grow each year, and they recognized that if they invest in perfecting their work culture and processes in the office and field now, the "growing pains" will be mild, and they can put more focus on their future and returning clients. “We are currently investing more time into improving our operations, procedures, and communication with each other and our customers.”