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Graham Design & Construction A Family Legacy

Four Generations and over 100 years of construction service in Owen Sound have put Graham Design & Construction in a unique group of family businesses that have stood the test of time. Richard Graham's grandfather, William Hicks became a stonemason in the early 1900s and by 1910 was a full-fledged contractor. He built stone buildings, houses, and major retaining walls and had his own local stone quarry. By 1950 he convinced his son-in-law Clarence Graham to follow the family business and become a mason. Clarence quickly excelled at the trade and was soon offered a job as a foreman building the round addition to the old OSCVI high school. When the school was finished he was asked to continue on with the large out-of-town contractor, but Clarence turned down the offer to move. Instead, he saw the opportunity to start his own local general contracting business. In 1956 he founded Graham Construction, which quickly became successful and grew rapidly through the 1960s.
The company started to offer its Design-Build service in 1972 when Clarence's son Richard graduated from college and joined him. With significant growth in the 1970s and 1980s the company scaled back during the downturn of the 1990s but returned to a steady growth pattern in the 2000s. From 2003 to 2010 Graham Construction joined forces with two prominent design-build firms, one in Barrie and one in Alberta, and over that seven-year period had offices in both Owen Sound and Barrie.
Having the desire for less travel, Richard ended the joint ventures in late 2010 to again focus Graham Design & Construction's attention on the Owen Sound and region market. In 2011 Richard's oldest son Todd joined the company bringing to it his engineering and management background and another generation to continue the legacy.
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Over the last 100 years this family business has been successful at developing long-term relationships with owners, developers, and consultants throughout the southern Georgian Bay region and has achieved a reputation for the performance of quality work and fulfilling all commitments on time, and on budget. Today, we stand ready to provide service in a number of capacities from site approvals, building design, estimating, scheduling and construction. We are prepared to see a project through from planning and design concept to final completion or participate in any of the individual steps along the way.
We are confident of our ability to provide only the finest of construction services at a competitive cost and look forward to the opportunity to demonstrate our abilities on your next project, be it large or small. Graham Design & Construction's job experience is varied; and includes many major projects in the following sectors: Institutional, Municipal, Recreational, Commercial, Industrial, Food Services, and Auto Services. Our work has encompassed the extensive code and detail requirements for several nursing homes, from technical complex drive-in freezers and coolers for wholesale food storage facilities to a high profile six-floor office, residential and recreational development.

 

Our Values

Clarence H. Graham Design & Construction Ltd. is committed to creativity, quality and integrity and operates under the influence of following business philosophies:
  • Safety

    To insure that all work is done in a safe manor, consistent with the companies safety policies.

  • Passion

    Find, develop and retain personnel who are passionate about providing a pleasurable, safe and profitable construction experience for everyone involved.

  • Quality

    To produce innovative, attractive, and functional buildings that are on time and on budget.

  • Service

    To meet our client's need for quality, cost and service. We realize that we are only as good as our last project.

  • Social Responsibility

    To dedicate a percentage of pre-tax profits to promote health, education, culture and recreation that contribute to improving the quality of life in our community.

  • Ethics

    To conduct business and treat all relationships with respect, honesty and integrity.