JCP Construction is excited to be celebrating ten years in business. To celebrate ten years of helping build a quality Milwaukee, we hosted a party on May 2nd at Venue 42. Check out the photos of the event below!
JCP Contruction was recently selected as Best MBE/DBE in the Daily Reporter’s 2019 Reader Rankings. The Daily Reporter describes this publication as an opportunity for their readers to pick the best of the best in many construction-related categories. Unlike other award events, this honor is selected by clients, colleagues and customers based on the voters’ experience and a company’s reputation in its market.
The Daily Reporter sent questionnaires to their print, digital and eBlast readers who then picked the winners in each category. This year they received 1,107 responses to the survey. These awards are a reflection of their readers and who they think are the best of the best.
We are thankful to all who voted for JCP Construction and grateful for this honor. We’d also like to congratulate all of the other winners!
JCP Construction was proud to help support the Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin Cancer Program by participating in the 25th Annual Desert Classic as a Tee Sponsor. James Phelps of JCP Construction was glad to escape Wisconsin’s winter weather for a short time as he traveled to Scottsdale, Arizona for the event and finally get some much needed warmth and sunlight.
Proceeds from the Desert Classic help support patient care, clinical research and patient and staff educational programs in the Clinical Cancer Center at Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin. Since its inception, nearly $2.2 million has been raised for the Cancer Center through the Desert Classic.
BizTimes recently featured a project that JCP Construction is proud to be involved with. A segment of the article is below.
Hub is targeted to African-American entrepreneurs
The African American Chamber of Commerce of Wisconsin plans to open a new innovation and co-working space designed for African-American entrepreneurs, which it has named Legacy.
General contractor JCP Construction is currently constructing Legacy in a 4,212-square-foot building at 1920 N. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive in Milwaukee. Galbraith Carnahan Architects designed the project.
In addition to co-working space for entrepreneurs, the building will house the AACCW’s offices and SHARED, a community commercial kitchen for food entrepreneurs. It is expected to open in July.
“The main focus for having this co-working space, this Legacy, it’s specifically designed as a place for minority entrepreneurs. But you don’t have to be a minority to participate in the co-working space,” said Ossie Kendrix, president of AACCW.
Earlier this month, JCP Construction staff members participated in the Read With Me program. This event pairs community members and children for some quality one-on-one reading time. Our staff had a great time picking out the books and reading them to the students. And the students were able to take the books home with them to keep. We look forward to participating in this event in the future.
To learn more about this event, you can visit the Next Door Milwaukee website.
JCP Construction is excited to join Mortenson Construction for the new Bucks Arena project. The new arena will help Downtown Milwaukee thrive and continue to change the city’s skyline.
JCP Construction is proud of the work completed at Pilgrim Rest Church and the City of Milwaukee’s Building Boom.
Boosts Milwaukee area construction industry
In 2008, James Phelps was faced with two choices: either hope to not get laid off from the construction firm he worked for, or start his own business.
In the middle of the Great Recession, he chose the latter.
Phelps, now 40, left his job at KBS Construction Inc., which is now part of C.D. Smith Construction Inc., and started JCP Construction LLC with his brothers, Jalin and Clifton.
The company’s first job was installing solid surface tops at Cambridge Commons residence hall at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Phelps alma mater. The job paid $80,000.
There were some months of steady work and several months of drought for the new business.
Phelps, who completed the 26-week Associates in Commercial Real Estate program run by Marquette University and the Milwaukee School of Engineering in 2005, kept bidding on projects.
“We were able to get into Century City – Talgo was coming to town and we did a lot of the carpentry work there,” Phelps said. “It was tough. We had to get our name out there and show people we were nimble and capable.”
And then the bottom fell out of the industry.
The Great Recession hit the construction industry especially hard. The Wisconsin construction sector lost nearly 44,000 jobs between 2006 and 2012, according to the most recent report from the Associated General Contractors of America.
The Phelps brothers were among the lucky ones. From 2008 to 2015, JCP has seen annual double-digit revenue growth—with the exception of 2013.
Once a three-man firm, JCP Construction now consists of a steady team of 25 people working in the field and another five working in the office on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive in Milwaukee.
JCP has been named the general contractor for the 13,700-square-foot Pete’s Fruit Market grocery store that will be built on the city’s north side.
Read the rest of the article here.
The SBA is a great way to help local, small businesses grow.
It has been a big year for JCP Construction. The minority-owned business started by brothers James, Clifton and Jalin Phelps moved into a new building at the end of November and was named Subcontractor of the Year by The Daily Reporter as part of its 2015 Newsmakers of the Year awards. The Daily Reporter covers Wisconsin’s construction and design industry.
A little more than a year ago, JCP began work on its largest project, the Northwestern Mutual Tower at 720 E. Wisconsin Ave., where it is the prime contractor for waterproofing. The company also is working on the drywall and framing of the building.
Jalin graduated in October from the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Emerging Leaders Initiative. The 26-week course helps participants develop a three-year growth plan for their businesses. The course is composed of classroom sessions taught by Gene Wright, director and lecturer of graduate management programs at Milwaukee School of Engineering, guest lectures and peer group meetings, where participants network and discuss plans.
Read the rest of the article here.
JCP Construction has won Subcontractor of the Year. Major thanks to the Daily Reporter for the honor.
Clifton, Jalin and James Phelps were recently featured in the the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Sitting on metal folding chairs in an empty upstairs room of a two-story office building just north of downtown Milwaukee, the Phelps brothers offered their vision for how their new offices will look.
Starting later this month, the space will begin to become the new home of JCP Construction, a growing, African-American, family-owned business headed by James, Jalin and Clifton Phelps. Renderings show a plain 20th-century office transformed into a sleek 21st-century design hub.
“It’s all going to be opened up and have glass coming in here and a nice feature wall, so it’s going to be nice,” said Jalin, JCP’s 32-year-old vice president of field operation and the youngest of the brothers.
The Phelps brothers said it took years to grow JCP from a small construction firm operating out of their parents’ home to one that’s working on large projects around the state, including the Northwestern Mutual tower downtown. The company has 37 employees and annual revenue of $5 million to $7 million.
Read the rest of the article found here.
