Richard Watts: building a legacy.

• Author: Shelley, Barb
• Position: People

IT WAS INEVITABLE that Richard C. Watts would become a general contractor. Alter all, he likes to be in charge, and he loves to tackle complex

challenges. "Being a general contractor is the biggest challenge of all," says Watts, who was introduced to the profession as a child while helping his father in the lumber business. "It's a rewarding and exciting field," he says. "It allows you to leave tangible evidence of your work, a legacy for your children to see."

His pride is evident not only in the facilities he and his 20 employees have built in Utah, Nevada and Arizona, but in his own innovation and pioneering leadership for what was once an unpopular idea in the construction business. "A few years after founding Watts Construction, I was reading a trade magazine and read about an idea to drastically change the delivery method of building construction," he recounts. Watts adopted the radical new method in 1976, streamlined it and perfected it as his company's flagship. "Becoming a Design Build specialist was the smartest thing I ever did," he avers.

With the Design Build method, the budget and construction schedule are set and guaranteed before ground is even broken. It took courage to challenge the traditional method--after all, it was ingrained over decades. But Watts has been vindicated now, because Design Build is taking over the industry.

Two of Watts' five children learned general contracting at their father's knee, and now both help run the St. George-based business. With Watts as CEO, Doug Watts as president and Eric Watts as project manager, the company, which handles from eight to 10 projects each year, is currently constructing the Eastern Utah Surgical Center in Price, a nursing home in Mesquite, Nevada, an office building for the Paiute tribe in Pipe Springs, Arizona, and upgrading a lodge, motel and employee housing in Jacob Lake, Arizona. The firm just completed the Village on the Parkway in Orem.

Among Watts' crowning achievements is his successful relationship with Genpak Corporation, a private company based in New...