Partners: network

Francis E. Huggard, George Schuchart, Howard H. Wright, Howard Sprague Wright, Howard S. Wright

Active 1885-2011

Building Notes

This firm began its operations in Port Townsend, WA, in 1885; it moved its headquarters to Everett, WA, in 1893, and to Seattle, WA, in 1929, when Howard H. Wright operated the business with his brother-in-law, George Schuchart. In 1956, the company had its administrative offices at 414 Pontius Avenue North in Seattle. (See Seattle, Washington, City Directory, 1956, p. 228.)

In 1996, employees took over ownership of the company.

By 2010, the company had its headquarters in Portland, OR, with offices in Bend, OR, Seattle, WA, and the Bay Area.

In 2011, the Dallas-based subsidiary of the Balfour Beatty PLC, a building construction firm headquartered in London, purchased the Howard S. Wright Construction Company for approximately $93 million, according to The Oregonian newspaper. The firm would be known as "Howard S. Wright – a Balfour Beatty company." Balfour, which had revenues of $16 billion in 2010, requested that CEO Brad Nydahl and Executive Vice-President Mitch Hornecker remain with the firm for the next five years. At this time, The Oregonian observed: "The deal means that three of the top 10 commercial contractors in Portland will be foreign owned. Skanska USA, which acquired the former Baugh Construction in 2000 is owned by a Swedish firm. And Turner Construction has a German parent." In 2011, there were 85 employee-owners of Howard S. Wright that were to split the Balfour purchase price. (See Jeff Manning, The Oregonian.com, "Portland's Howard S. Wright sells itself to construction titan Balfour Beatty Construction in deal worth up to $93 million," published 06/30/2011, accessed 06/01/2018.)

PCAD id: 1451