Persimmon is enjoying the fruits of its hard labor. One of the UK's largest homebuilders, the company designs and constructs homes, bungalows, and apartments; its Charles Church division builds larger luxury homes. Working with the UK government, Persimmon also undertakes social housing projects through its Westbury Partnerships business and its Space4 timber-frame housing operations. Persimmon's land bank is one of the largest in the country, with some 76,000 plots. The company constructs more than 15,000 homes annually, with an average selling price of around 185,000.

Structural Group has overseen more facelifts than a plastic surgeon. The group consists of five companies that serve industrial, commercial, and public sectors. Specialty contractors Structural Preservation Systems and SPS Infrastructure offers structural repair, strengthening, waterproofing, and geotechnical construction on everything from bridges to historic buildings. Another unit, VSL, provides heavy lifting and post-tensioning services (a method of reinforcing concrete with high-strength steel bars). Its Pullman Power arm repairs chimneys, stacks, and silos. UK-based Electro Tech provides corrosion control and water intrusion services worldwide. The group was founded in 1976 by owner and CEO Peter Emmons.

Perkins + Will (or modernly known as Perkins+Will) adds to skylines from Atlanta to Shanghai. The architectural firm designs edifices for corporate and civic clients, as well as schools, universities, and hospitals. Its projects run the gamut from office buildings and high-rise condominiums to hotels and convention centers to laboratories and elementary schools. The company also offers interior design, branding, planning, and urban design. Clients of the firm have included Chicago O'Hare, Duke University, Pfizer, and Time Warner. Perkins+Will operates from about 20 offices in North America, Europe, and Asia. Lawrence Perkins and Philip Will Jr. founded the firm in 1935.

Jacobsen Construction Company helps to build a strong foundation. The company performs design/build services and general contracting for medical and medical research, commercial, hospitality, institutional, residential, manufacturing, and industrial construction projects mainly in the western US and Mexico. Jacobsen Construction performs earthwork, concrete work, structural steel and metals erection, carpentry, and the setting of industrial equipment. The company, which is employee-owned, makes most of its revenue from negotiated work and from work awarded in negotiated selection processes. Soren Jacobsen founded the enterprise in Salt Lake City in 1922.

Am-Mex Products helps companies set up maquiladora operations in the McAllen, Texas, and Reynosa, Mexico, border region. The maquiladora program allows US firms and other foreign companies to import raw materials into Mexico duty-free for assembly there by lower-wage Mexican workers. The program also offers faster startup, lower shipping costs, and central distribution. Its services include contract manufacturing, engineering factory management, warehousing and distribution, cross-border trucking, training, and other services required for international trade. Am-Mex has been in business since 1990 and has around 1 million sq. ft. of manufacturing and warehouse space in Mexico, in addition to its US operation.

Weekes Forest Products include lumber and plywood, decking, engineered woods, fasteners, house wrap, pine products, railing, and stains. Weekes Forest Products also provides such services as timber sawing and sizing, custom milling and cutting, factory finishing, and fire-retardant treating. It operates through locations in Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, and Wisconsin. The company's North Star Forest Materials division sells lumber to truss manufacturers and lumber retailers throughout the Midwest, while Logan Lumber operates in Florida. Weekes Forest Products was founded in 1978.

HNTB knows the ABCs of A/E. The company ranks among the pack of pure designers, or firms that derive most of their revenues from architecture, engineering, or environmental design operations. It specializes in transportation infrastructure projects and government contracts. HNTB is best-known for its highway and transit system design (its portfolio includes the New Jersey Turnpike) as well as airports (Chicago's Midway) and sports arenas (Invesco Field in Denver). The company operates some 60 locations across the US. The employee-owned HNTB (its name once stood for Howard Needles Tammen & Berendoff) traces its roots to 1914.

Tulikivi might not be able to warm a cold heart, but it can warm a cold hearth. Branding itself as the largest soapstone processor in the world, this Finnish company manufactures heat-retaining fireplaces and processes architectural stone for indoor and outdoor landscaping. Tulikivi builds and sells soapstone fireplaces, bakeovens, and stoves that can be custom-made to client specifications. Its architectural stone segment produces sinks, countertops, tiles, and flooring made of soapstone, granite, marble, and limestone.

Truland Systems takes current events seriously. The US electrical contractor is a privately-held group made up of about 10 companies that design, build, test, and maintain electrical systems in offices, condominiums, hospitals, hotels, sports stadiums, and mass transit facilities. Its services focus on building automated systems that increase speed and decrease energy consumption. As a specialty contractor, it is hired by general contractors, as well as commercial and public facility owners and developers. Clients have included Turner Construction, AOL, and the US Department of Homeland Security. Founded in 1913, the company is in its second generation of being family run, led by CEO Robert Truland.

Boran Craig Barber Engel (BCBE) is a general contractor operating on commercial construction projects in South Florida. The company is active in a wide variety of sectors ranging from civic, health care, and corporate to resort, multifamily residential, and mixed-use developments; it has built more than 100 mid-rise and high-rise condominiums. Services include preconstruction consultation, residential owner upgrades during construction, and interior renovation. BCBE was established in 1996, but the company's roots reach back to the early 1970s.

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