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Tidewater Construction Corp. has come a long way since its debut during the depths of the Great Depression. With $120 million in annual contracts, the company has become an attractive acquisition for foreign investors. British-based conglomerate Hanson PLC purchased the company in 1990 and sold it last year to Skanska AB of Sweden.

"There is a substantial portion of U.S. construction being purchased by foreign companies," says David Eastwood, president and CEO of Tidewater Skanska, Tidewater Construction's new parent company. "It is part of the overall trend toward global marketing, which has been going on for some years. We see the same trend in construction materials, and it is likely to continue."

According to Paul Rose, vice president of human resources for Tidewater Construction, the purchase by Skanska expanded the company's territory. "Our tradition has been East Coast, but our range is nationwide since the purchase," he says. Although this is an exciting venture for the company, it requires them to hire more workers and subcontractors at a time when there is a nationwide shortage of skilled construction workers.

The lack of skilled workers has increased Tidewater Construction's use of subcontractors in other areas of the country, but it is still able to find enough people in Virginia. The company pays higher wages than other construction companies, which helps to attract quality employees. However, at times the company is forced to hire people who don't have the necessary skills. "We're having to add a lot more supervision to our projects and put more emphasis on training," Rose says. "It takes a lot more effort now to find and maintain staff than it used to."

And the demand for Tidewater Construction's transportation expertise is increasing. "Perhaps the most interesting development in the market ... is a very much increased source of federal funding for transportation. I see that going forth for at least four years," predicts Eastwood. Since much of Tidewater Construction's work comes from the Virginia Department of Transportation, the company is poised to take advantage of this trend.

"Tidewater Construction played a large part in building the infrastructure of this area," says Eastwood. "We constructed a high proportion of the bridges and port facilities, and we are just completing a large project at the Norfolk International Terminal." Tidewater Construction worked on the Coleman Bridge and is involved in the hurricane protection project that the Army Corps of Engineers is building in Virginia Beach.

One of its recent projects for the Virginia Department of Transportation was the installation of HOV lanes on Interstate 264, which was completed in November 1998. "They were chosen because they were the lowest bidder, but I do enjoy working with Tidewater Construction because they are becoming one of the rare companies that believe in giving a quality product and getting it done on time," says Jane Wimbush, Suffolk District construction engineer for the state. "We paid an incentive to have the project completed early because of the traffic problems we were having, and Tidewater Construction was successful in meeting that early completion date."

The company also is taking advantage of the U.S. trend toward design/build -- when a firm takes a project all the way from drawing board to ribbon-cutting. Companies are increasingly looking for turnkey contractors who can handle every aspect of a project.

Another priority for the company is to become ISO 14000 certified, which is an environmental standard common in some manufacturing industries. "It is our intention to be certified by the end of 1999," says Eastwood. When this happens, he says, Tidewater Construction probably will be the only construction company in the United States with this designation.