americanbuildersquarterly.com

AMERICANBUILDERSQUARTERLY

OCT | NOV | DEC 2014

FROM THE GROUND LEVELIn less than 10 years, HTI Polymer has become a national leader in the industrial-flooring industry, and it continues to attract big names such as Starbucks and Costco by developing deep partnerships with each client

C hris Campton wanted to start a different kind of flooring company. After 21 years in the industry, he had grown tired of the sta-

tus quo and knew there was a better way to serve customers, so he left his employer in 2005 and dedicated himself to creating a business based on building deep partnerships with each client.

Two years later, Campton opened HTI Polymer, which is now anchored by major clients such as Boeing and Coca-Cola. The company uses complex, detailed analysis to approach and understand every customer’s specific performance requirements for floor coatings and coverings. It sources products from world-class manufacturers and selects the best ones for each unique situation, then HTI’s skilled workers install the high-performance materials with best practices that surpass manufacturers’ instruc-tions.

Considering that HTI completes almost 500 jobs per year, with revenues that exceed $23.5 mil-lion, its fresh approach seems to be working. Take a look at its history, its impressive client list, and its proven methods.

BY ZACH BALIVA

INDUSTRIAL FLOORING

IN 2011, HTI COMPLETED its most technically complex job to date: an 80,000-square-foot final-assembly floor for Boeing. Over a period of eight months, HTI designed and installed a chemically resistant, antistatic, flat floor that allows on-site engineers to build aircraft to exacting spec-ifications. The company encountered a challenge when a rail system required the floor elevation to be raised in the large manufacturing space, but it addressed the issue with a complex overlay that interfaces with the existing rails. Since that original project, HTI has completed an additional 150,000 square feet for Boeing.

CASE STUDY: BOEING

OCT | NOV | DEC 2014

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A CHAT WITH CHRIS CAMPTON

What questions should a company ask when selecting a flooring con-tractor?

The installation process is the biggest part of the puzzle. Ask how the floor will be prepared. Are there standard procedures? Is there a schedule? Will the crew operate safely in the facility? Is everyone drug tested? What will customers experience? What equipment will you use? Has the right product been selected? These are the most important questions to raise.

What factors go into picking the right floor?

We analyze traffic conditions, spillage potential, slab structure, joint conditions, operating procedures, heat conditions, sloping, thermal shock, and how the surface interfaces with other materials. We also make sure we work with great vendors such as Chips Unlimited, Sher-win-Williams, Sika, Duraflex, and BASF. Chips Unlimited is a company that pro-vides decorative vinyl chips that go into a lot of our floors. We only use companies that are dependable and deliver excellent, high-quality products on time.

What are some signs that a floor needs attention?

Companies should invest the time and money to make sure floors won’t become major issues down the line. Twenty per- cent of our business is in maintenance or repairs. If floors don’t come clean or they have visible wear, cracks, or impacts, some-thing needs to be done.

THE HTI PROCESS:STEP BY STEP

An HTI project manager meets with a client to understand performance requirements and environmental conditions. Together, they determine how the business will operate during construction.

The project manager and superintendent select appro-priate products. Then, they generate an installation pro-cess, a safety plan, schedules, budgets, and equipment lists prior to delivering a proposal and estimate.

The company presents its plan of attack to the client for approval.

At a preconstruction meeting, the client and HTI personnel communicate about what will happen inside the facility so that each party understands the time line and safety plan.

During each day of the instal-lation, HTI leads the client through a pretask checklist designed to eliminate sched-ule changes and unexpected events. A superintendent directs his personnel on-site to go through goals and objec-tives for the day and to identify hazards before completing work. At the close of the day, HTI generates a formal daily job report that lists work completed, materials used, personnel present, weather conditions, and problems encountered.

After installation is complete, a project manager walks through the facility with the client to ensure quality, gain acceptance, and answer questions.

325% INCREASE 200% INCREASE

GROWTH CHARTS:EMPLOYEES & PRODUCT VENDORS

85 employees 6 product vendors

2 product vendors20 employees

20072007

2013 2013

In Prineville, OR, HTI Polymer constructed flooring that conforms to the complex technical specifications of Facebook’s new, hyperefficient data center. Read more about Facebook’s innovative Prineville data center in our cover story on p. 30.

AFTER

2011 2012 2013

2007Campton founds

HTI and closes year one with revenues

approaching $8 million

2010The company adds

Boeing and Facebook as clients

2012Contracts with Intel,

Coca-Cola, and Raytheon (a major defense contractor)

open entirely new markets for HTI

2013 The company grows to 85 employees

2014 HTI’s reach extends into the food and beverage,

medical, pharmaceutical, data-services, and tech

industries, among others

THROUGH THE YEARS

DURING

1

2

3

4

5

6

Thanks to its range of experience, HTI does specialty flooring for businesses of all kinds. Pictured here is an HTI flooring installation in a hangar for Helicopter Transport Services, a nationwide chopper fleet.

LOCATIONS:AREAS OF OPERATION AND COUNTRIES WITH CONSULTING OPERATIONS

FACTS & FIGURES:REVENUE vs. ANNUAL JOBS

HEADQUARTERS:WOODINVILLE, WA

$0

$5M

$10M

$15M

$20M

$25M

0

100

200

300

400

500

# OF JO

BS

RE

VE

NU

E IN

MIL

LIO

NS

349

$12.7M

$18.3M

394

472

$23.5M

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SINCE DAY ONE, HTI Polymer has been building a rep-utation for designing and installing industrial floors, coatings, and linings for well-known companies with rigorous demands. Campton says he attracts big businesses with his ability to understand the nuances of clients’ operations. “Our approach is to dig into their business and discover how we can really help them,” he explains. “We want to partner with them.”

Whether working in the OR of a hospital or a food- service kitchen, HTI’s employees identify potential hazards before installation and isolate the process to ensure safety and cleanliness. After they put floors in, Campton and his colleagues continue to meet with clients periodically to monitor and evaluate project spaces and determine whether they require mainte-nance. This approach has earned HTI many giants of the business world as clients, including the following:

For a Costco Wholesale warehouse in Covington, WA, HTI installed a food-safe urethane-cement flooring system in the fresh-line areas where meat and rotisserie chickens would be processed.

WORKING WITH TOP CLIENTELE

Aerojet RocketdyneBayer HealthCare PharmaceuticalsBayer MedicalBoeing The Coca-Cola CompanyConAgra Foods, Inc.Costco Wholesale CorporationFacebook Harborview Medical CenterIntel CorporationOregon ZooRaytheon CompanyStarbucks CorporationUniversity of Washington

HTI Polymer, Inc.18702 142nd Avenue NEWoodinville, WA 98072 Toll Free: (866) 930-8911Local: (425) 487-8911Fax: (425) 487-8915info@htipolymer.comwww.htipolymer.com