Page 33 - Flathead Beacon // 12.30.15

ECONOMIC INDICATORS 34 FINANCIAL CORNER 37 BUSINESS IS PERSONAL 37 BUILDING PERMITS 39 Business Monthly
Je Claridge, vice
president of LHC Inc.
GREG LINDSTROM FLATHEAD BEACON
BUSINESS OF THE YEAR: LHC
Building the rst and nal phases of the Kalispell bypass has vaulted a long-time locally owned company to the top tier of the construction industry, where it is now involved in some of the most prominent local developments
Sitting in his o ce in mid-December, Je Clar- idge was surrounded by an uncommon amount of activity. Trucks were loading gravel, work- ers were mixing concrete and crews were trav-
eling back and forth from LHC’s headquarters o Still- water Road in Kalispell to the major project just down the road.
The winter months are typically quieter times for construction companies, but not for LHC. Not right now. The locally owned and operated business, founded in 1968 by Claridge’s father, Roger, is involved in an
unprecedented project at the moment.
LHC is building the nal phase of the U.S. Highway
93 Alternate Route, or bypass, which broke ground in October and is slated for completion next fall.
It’s a tting bookend for a transformative project and local company that has risen to the top of the ranks in a robust and revitalized construction industry. Nearly 10 years ago, LHC was involved in the rst phase of the bypass. In total, LHC has worked on ve phases since then, including this nal stretch, which features the construction of nearly ve miles of road, new bridges
BY DILLON TABISH
and overpasses and a lengthy pedestrian path.
Over $100 million has been poured into the entire project, and the nal contract, awarded to LHC at nearly $34 million, is the largest single contract in the state’s
history.
The sizeable job is allowing LHC to keep nearly 50
workers on payroll during winter, which is typically when construction slows to a halt. Another 25 local workers are subcontracting, creating a boon to the local economy that will continue for the next 12 months.
“We’re really fortunate in the Flathead Valley to have several homegrown contractors right there, like LHC,” said Robert Vosen, district construction engineer with the Montana Department of Transportation.
“These companies are part of the community and they’re providing good work and have a sense of pride in what they’re doing. I know Je (Claridge) personally, and he’s very supportive of the community, not just in the construction industry but he’s always helping out with fundraisers and other groups. He really supports and cares about the community.”
The Claridge family has deeps roots in the Flathead
Valley. Je Claridge’s great grandfather moved here in the early 1900s. His father, Roger, founded LHC in the late 1960s as a timber-hauling company. By the early 1980s it evolved into a construction business and purchased a large gravel pit. By the 1990s, it was a go-to company for water and sewer projects and again evolved into asphalt and concrete work as the valley’s economy began to boom.
After graduating with a master’s degree at the Univer- sity of Montana, Je Claridge moved back home looking for work. As it happened, he joined his father’s company.
The two envisioned a company that could tackle big- ger projects, but the opportunity wasn’t there. Not until an historic opportunity emerged in 2006.
In the fall of that year, after decades of debating and planning, Montana’s Department of Transportation made a watershed announcement. The state was prior- itizing the development of an eight-mile alternate route in Kalispell that would relieve increasing congestion along the combined thoroughfare of Main Street and U.S. Highway 93.
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DECEMBER 30, 2015 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM
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