One might expect Alcorn Construction to be just like any other general contractor. However, after looking at the company’s website, you can clearly see their focus on their people, processes, and partnerships. Alcorn Construction is an award-winning and partnership-powered general contractor providing a level of service that partners would expect from an in-house construction service. For more than sixteen years, the company has specialized in relationship-based commercial construction, serving the Colorado Front Range and Phoenix metro areas. Alcorn delivers projects for a wide-range of sectors, including office, light industrial, retail, multi-family, low-income housing, and senior living, to name a few. As a woman-owned company, Alcorn Construction has created a culture and workplace in which employees from all walks of life can contribute and thrive. “Our mission is to be a place where great, high-performing people love to work,” says President Derek Simpson, who brings more than 25 years of construction industry experience to the Alcorn management team. “Our people approach their work knowing that they are empowered and encouraged to always do the right thing and create unforgettable experiences for our customers. We invest in services that help with preconstruction, entitlements, safety, and quality – all aimed at providing excellence on projects – from concept to completion. On top of that, our unique blend of being easy to work with, driving excellence, and doing things the Alcorn Way help make the construction process easier for our partners.”
2008 is a year we remember not for booming business and abundant opportunity, but for hard times brought on by economic collapse. At a time when so many companies were bidding farewell to a challenging market, Alcorn Construction was just entering it. “In 2008, Amy and Chris Alcorn started Alcorn Construction, with a vision to operate like an in-house construction company for customers who wanted a high level of service.” While timing may not have been on its side, Amy and Chris’ hard work, dedication, and ability to adapt was. “As a result of starting the company just before the Great Recession, Chris and Amy quickly found that new construction work was drying up. So, they pivoted to become experts at tenant finish work, all while maintaining the vision of behaving like an in-house construction company. In 2011, as the economy began to rebound, Alcorn completed their first successful ground-up project and continued to provide the high level of service that their tenant finish customers had come to expect, by bringing a Design-Build mindset to every project,” says Simpson.
After riding the wave of 2008 and the recession that defined it, Alcorn has grown, largely through customer references, from a $1.5M start-up working out of Amy and Chris’ basement to an award-winning $100M+ general contractor with offices in Colorado and Arizona. Today, Alcorn is led by Simpson as President, with an experienced executive team that includes Jim Roland (Senior Vice President, Arizona), Scott Boal (Vice President of Operations in Colorado), and Matt Newman (Vice President of Finance), that continues to embody Amy and Chris’ vision. “We have kept the vision of adding value like an in-house construction company,” Simpson says. Like any growing company, Alcorn has seen ups and downs throughout its history. Yet, through strong leadership and a dedicated team, the company has seen an overall upward trend in total volume – the most significant of which came between 2019 and 2024. In just five short years and notwithstanding a worldwide pandemic, the company increased its volume by more than 110%. “We’ve done this by focusing on several key areas,” says Simpson. “By implementing the Entrepreneurial Operating System and strategic planning, we’ve grown our volume of work in Colorado, and brought a new office online in Arizona.” Then there’s Alcorn’s team, which has been a significant factor in the company’s growth trajectory from the outset. “We’ve focused on building a team that live and breathe our core values. Alcorn values its people and their development, so we invested in hiring an in-house Talent Manager who has been essential in developing a pipeline to bring on new talent. Finally, we developed structured processes for onboarding new employees, mentoring them, providing an environment that fosters growth and development by giving employees the opportunity to own their work.”
“We’ve focused on building a team that live and breathe our core values. Alcorn values its people and their development, so we invested in hiring an in-house Talent Manager who has been essential in developing a pipeline to bring on new talent.”
The Alcorn Construction team understands that successful companies value time above all else, and in service of this, are not in the business of wasting it. While the process of bidding can result in small gains, early engagement with an experienced general contractor adds significantly more value to complex construction projects. The Alcorn ‘On Board Early Process’ is comprised of four stages – Align, Plan, Execute, and Support – and ultimately saves the client both time and money. “We love to get involved on projects early through Design-Build or Design-Assist methodologies to help customers be confident in their decision making and help get their projects get done faster and at a lower cost,” Simpson says. Alcorn Construction’s entire business model is geared towards simplifying the process for its clients, and this is reflected in its 80% repeat business rate. As a full-service general contractor, Alcorn offers a number of services that others don’t. “We offer in-house preconstruction services to help customers understand the cost of their vision and assist with value engineering projects, so they get what they need at the best price possible. Additionally, we have an in-house Director of Land Use Entitlements to help customers get through the entitlements process faster – a service that is especially helpful to our Colorado customers. We also have an in-house Compliance Manager to oversee all aspects of safety, quality, and environmental compliance on our job sites.” By bringing more of these services in-house, Alcorn was able to develop more processes that provide a higher level of service to all their customers.
Alcorn Construction boasts an impressive portfolio of successful projects that have enhanced its reputation and contribute to the company’s growth. Underlying each of these growth factors was a consistent focus on quality. Some of the company’s standout projects over the last several years include Parc Santa Fe, AMP Robotics, Open Studio Architecture, Evans & Milwaukee Townhomes, SNÖBAHN, and Palm Gateway Logistics Center, all of which demonstrate that Alcorn commitment to quality. A project the company is currently working on in Colorado is also a stand-out. “Our Arista 36 project in Broomfield, Colorado consists of three industrial tilt buildings,” Simpson says. “Our team has made substantial progress on the project, and as of right now, we have all the concrete panels tilted into place with the roof construction well progressed. The project is slated for completion in Q2 of this year. Construction on Arista 36 commenced in the Fall of 2023 with the challenge of rerouting an irrigation ditch that ran through the site. A new box culvert had to be constructed to reroute the irrigation ditch that dissected the site and ran through the location of Building 2. Construction of the box culvert required the excavation of a 55’ deep trench, which had to be completed before the old irrigation ditch could be taken out of service. The timing of design approvals and the construction timeline created a critical path for the construction activities on site. Thankfully, the team pushed hard and were able to get the trench done in time so as not to impact the overall construction schedule. The weather is not always kind to us in Colorado. Thankfully, we have a great team leading the charge, and the project is scheduled to finish on time.” The Alcorn project team, as well as a group of incredible trade partners, have made it possible for Alcorn to deliver on its promise to its customer, LaPour Partners.
Guided by its people, processes, and drive to create incredible partnerships, Alcorn Construction is a company with a clear and integrated future vision. “As we move forward, Alcorn is excited to explore and evaluate new opportunities in various project types and markets,” Simpson says. “With the team we’ve built and the talent pipeline we’re developing, we can go anywhere. As a company, we’re dedicated to nurturing our relationships with existing customers, ensuring that we deliver the very best of what Alcorn has to offer. We will continue to explore, offer, and implement new services and technologies to ensure we’re helping customers get exactly what they need. And, by staying true to our core values and fundamentals, which have shaped Alcorn into what it is today, we are confident that our team will continue to provide exceptional care to our customers.”
