From start to finish, from planning and design through to post-construction, Harrington and Associates aims for hands-on involvement, with professional and highly skilled employees at the heart of everything, getting each job done efficiently and safely.
It’s been said that teamwork is “less me and more we,” and that’s a statement Harrington and Associates takes to heart.
Started in 2008 with an eye to shaping its construction management services to create quality client care, over the years the Richmond Hill-based company has stayed true to its original goal: developing protocols in a partnership manner, making a supreme effort to know their clients and understand their clients’ businesses, and always embracing a true team attitude.
“We spend a lot of time learning from our clients, how they operate today and how they plan to in the future,” says Vice President Chris Flanagan. “Once we have an understanding of their goals, we build a project team to help them grow and complete their projects, always keeping in mind the end goal, so we correctly make the right steps together. We take pride in understanding their business and growth plan, and build their project to fit.”
The company’s impressive work across the GTA and surrounding areas has been diverse, and covers a wide range of industries, including heritage reconstruction, new construction, interior renovation and pharmaceutical production.
“We’re strategic, experienced and ready to take on complex projects,” says Flanagan. “As a team, we’re focused on the fine details, the big picture and everything in between.”
This focus is due in large part to the company’s ongoing collaborative relationships with sub-contractors, and the ongoing effort to build strong, confident relationships with clients.
“Our company would not be the success it is today without our quality contractors who make the clients’ spaces possible,” says Principal Paul Harrington. “Our Harrington team are specialists in managing the many layers of a construction project and supervising it to ensure it meets our high standards.” Harrington stresses that the level of quality and reliability from the company’s sub-trades have been built over the years on repeat projects together.
That level of trust and reliability is one that Harrington and Associates is proud to maintain, with reliability leading to satisfied clients.
“We have developed a culture of yes, everything is possible for our clients,” says Harrington. “We are faced with many challenges with our clients, whether it’s a tough schedule, difficult builds, or value engineering, but we always find a way to work together and succeed.”
Again, it’s that capacity for collaboration and working together that is at the forefront of every one of the company’s projects. Both Harrington and Flanagan express their appreciation for the team at large, and how that culture of cooperation, appreciation and teamwork is at the heart of the company’s core values and beliefs, and ultimately carries the company to success.
“Our company has always done business in a collaborative manner,” says Flanagan self. “Our office is a high-energy, family-style operation where teams work together and have access and support from the senior staff whenever needed.”
With core values built on a foundation of honesty, Harrington and Associates fundamentally cares about the growth of the company scaling the right way, says Flanagan.
“Our leaders pave the road and lead by example for when new staff come on board,” he says. “They follow the program and immediately strengthen the team.”
It’s obvious the company takes great pride in maintaining a healthy and supportive relationship with its team, aiming to foster the passion that keeps employees ready and eager to do their jobs well.
“Doing the right thing — company first, team second and self last — is key,” says Flanagan. “Our staff are addicted to improving each other’s skills, making our clients’ experiences better each time on our repeat projects, and simply being kind to each other. It really makes our work environment fun to be part of each day as we treat everyone like family.”
That “family feeling” stems in part from hiring practices that embrace those core values that Harrington and Associates prides itself on fostering.
“We hire for the right attitude and personality,” says Flanagan, adding, “We can teach the skills of construction, so we look for solution-oriented people. As problem solvers, we have to make sure they are a good host. We’re often the centre of the show, organizing all the members. The company and staff are constantly evolving and improving technology, but remain consistent on all projects and teams.”
That impressive consistency includes a hard and fast dedication to safety in the workplace — the company boasts an above-average safety record — which is another one of the company’s important core values.
“We make every decision with the highest regard to the safety and well-being of our families, partners and clients,” says Flanagan.
Integrity is another value the company works steadily to embrace and practice on a daily basis, striving for the highest standards of ethics in everything they do. “You can always count on us to be honest and transparent, and consistently exhibit the highest level of integrity,” says Flanagan.
The ongoing client-first approach means clients are present and appreciated at all stages of every project, big or small.
“We put the focus on you: anticipating needs, solving problems and helping you to make the right decisions,” says Flanagan. All of this, of course, involves developing excellent communication skills, which the company works tirelessly to maintain. “We are a diverse and connected group of professionals,” he adds. “We create efficiencies for you by leveraging our deep pool of expertise and knowledge.”
Finally, implementing engagement as a key core value means social awareness, respect, and showing appreciation for the community where they work and live. “We strive to be good neighbours,” says Flanagan. “We’re interested in understanding other cultures, sharing our culture, and engaging in community outreach.”
Challenges are met head on, and always as a team. Of course, this past year-and-a-half has presented truly unique difficulties to Harrington and Associates along with many other businesses around the globe, but the company has worked hard, through positivity and team spirit, to make the best of a challenging situation.
“The majority of our business was deemed essential through the pandemic, and our team had to rise to the challenge for increased safety measures,” says Harrington.
Weathering a change in communication and managing the very volatile supply chain, the cost increases and delays, was a test to the company’s resources, but in some ways brought everyone even closer together.
“We successfully grew our business in this tough time and strengthened our relationships with our staff and clients,” says Harrington. “We stayed extremely focused on the challenge at hand and delivered our projects as promised to our valuable clients.”
That dedication to creating and maintaining quality client care has been a longstanding mainstay for Harrington and Associates, and will be a key part of its future plans and growth. The company has accumulated numerous achievements over the years, but its team and client relationships remain at the forefront always.
“Since the company started, we always had a plan that we would partner with our clients on a construction management/design build style of business,” says Harrington, adding that they wanted to continuously grow the company’s size sufficiently and effectively serve its repeat clientele.
“We have had to annually increase staff to keep up with the on-going repeat business and referral work from our valuable clients and relationships our staff have developed,” he says.
That initiative has been a success: Not only has the company’s business volume significantly increased annually, the dedicated team has maintained Harrington and Associates’ high level of quality throughout.
“Staff on-board training ensures all of our new members successfully represent our brand as intended,” adds Flanagan. “Having our clients compliment our staff and let them feel part of the team and original partnership is very rewarding.”
With the company’s employees being such a vital part of Harrington and Associates, it’s easy to see why this message is so important to impart. “If anyone knows us, they know we like to compliment our employees first,” says Flanagan. “There’s a team vibe here, and we want our employees to get a big pat on the back.”
Whether it’s “making the old new again” through restoration, building from the ground up with new construction, or renovating an existing space, Harrington and Associates takes the time and care to ensure every client receives the attention they deserve from start to finish, and again, they stress: the team is the heart of the company.
“We have always lived by the expression that we are only as good as our last project,” says Flanagan. “This has always been driven into the teams’ brains – that we ensure that we finish our projects on time, on budget and with first-class professionalism. We have built the company with a goal to grow the company by quality first and volume second.”
