David Routt
Bridgewell Resources
Tigard, Ore.
PS100 Rank: 31
The contractor-direct division of Bridgewell Resources—debuting at No. 31 on the 2018 ProSales 100—is the sexiest part of Bridgewell’s portfolio, its rising star, and the highest-grossing segment, says company president David Routt.
“We’re looking at $40 million to $50 million in growth in the next two to three years,” Routt says, noting that the average order is over $1 million.
Bridgewell’s core business is structural framing, and its customers fall into three categories: builder–developers, general contractors, and installers. The company primarily serves the multifamily market—“any large, wood-framed project,” he says.
Bridgewell was formed by Atlas Holdings in 2010 from parts of the liquidated North Pacific Group. Both Routt and partner Rob Beasley worked at North Pacific Lumber, a predecessor to North Pacific Group, before coming to Bridgewell in 2011. Routt says it has been an interesting adjustment working with a private investment firm like Atlas.
“The way Rob and I grew up, you had a little bit of the John Wayne mentality when it came to making deals,” he says. “Some you win and some you lose. Atlas came from the Wall Street side, and they’ve brought some of that to the business. We’ve had to grow up a little.
“We’ve added windows and roofing, and now we sell structural hardware,” Routt adds.”It’s a niche business, but a good one. We’ve decided to get into interiors with doors, trim, and hardware, and I think our door business—at 18 months old, the youngest of the new product sections—will pull us to the next plateau.”
The Tigard, Ore.–based company has sales offices in Dallas; Birmingham, Ala.; and Valdosta, Ga. Bridgewell has no trucking fleet, using common carriers and its partner network to move materials to clients’ jobsites.
Says Routt: “We’re very nimble, so if there were a big influx of senior housing or condos, we’d follow the trend. If Florida is hot, we’ll be there. If Texas is hot, we’ll go to Texas.”
