| TRADE
ASSOCIATE MEMBER UPDATE Since
1978, Edwards Construction has been building commercial structures in a variety
of different styles, geared to a variety of different functions. The company's
portfolio includes warehouse/distribution centers, municipal buildings, colleges
and universities, banks, and amenity centers for residential builders. And in
the past few years, they've been serving Florida fruit and vegetable producers,
packers and shippers among a growing group of food and beverage customers.  | | Edwards
Construction is working on a vegetable processing facility for Roth Farms. |
"Our
business growth in the food industry and more specifically in the vegetable industry
has only been over the last five years," said John Stevenson, the company's
director of business development. He names four or five projects in South and
Central Florida currently under construction including a vegetable processing
facility at Roth Farms. "That's going to be about 71,000 square feet, plus
about 20,000 square feet of canopied areas," he said. Estimated time for
completion is January 2007. Other
projects in the works or in the planning stages are an addition at Pioneer Growers,
another addition at Pero Family Farms, a replacement building for A. Duda &
Sons, and an expansion project at Taylor Farms, Orlando. In the past few years,
the company has completed numerous projects like TKM Farms' cooling and packing
facility across the road from the Roth project.
 | | One
of Edwards Construction's recent projects was this facility built for TKM farms. |
100%
CUSTOMER SATISFACTION Steven
M. Edwards and George D. Edwards founded Edwards Construction Company in Ocala
in 1978 and set its sights on becoming a leader in commercial construction. Over
the years the company changed it's name to Edwards Construction Services to better
reflect it's business approach and added an office in Orlando, but one ingredient
hasn't changed, their mission to deliver "100% Customer Satisfaction" "One
of the ways Edwards stands out in its industry is through a process called "Design.Build."
where the contractor leads both the design and construction teams," said
Stevenson. "The process offers advantages to the owner such as a single source
of responsibility from inception to completion, simplified construction details
to provide a smoother flow of construction, and in general, provides the owner
and design builder with a higher degree of control, preventing unnecessary conflicts
and delays," said Stevenson. The
company also offers a "Construction Management" approach, which provides
early evaluations in the design process to ensure compliance with the owner's
time and budget requirements. "This is the stage of a project's development
where the most money can be saved," said Stevenson." It is similar to
Design/Build in that it incorporates a step-by-step method of controlling time,
cost and quality."
 | | Edwards
Construction's projects also include attractive commercial buildings. |
QUITE
A VARIETY OF PROJECTS In
addition to its projects for the food industry, Edwards is a national, full-service
contractor and has amassed an impressive variety of projects for clients such
as Ginn's Reunion Community, The Villages, and Central Florida Community College.
Other food and beverage clients include Pepsi Cola, Beaver Street Fisheries, Tropicana,
and Domino's Pizza. To
learn more about Edwards Construction, Inc., visit the company's website at www.edwardsconstruction.com
or give them a call at (352) 854-6266.
| For
information on supporting Florida agriculture by becoming an FFVA Trade Associate
Member, call Danny Raulerson at (321) 214-5200. |
|