Q: What about this business excites you the most? Why did you get into it?

A: I started out working in property management, and what really excited me about the business was just helping bring clients into their new office space. The more I worked at Peris, the more interested I became in creating good deals, meeting clients and fostering relationships with them that would last not just two or three months, but maybe five or ten years.

Q: Where does Peris succeed and other leading firms fall short?

A: I think our customer service far exceeds that of our competitors. I think we care about our clients; we are concerned with building a relationship, maintaining a partnership with our clients, and I think that’s where we differ from our competitors. We don’t bid a lot of work; we’re out trying to create relationships with companies that as they grow we can grow with them.

Q: You’ve been at Peris since 1996. How would you describe the changes at Peris since its founding?

A: When I heard about Peris, I was property manager in downtown D.C and they were a fairly small firm at that time, doing small renovations—carpet and paint, adding a wall here, moving a door there, that sort of thing. When I came to Peris we basically did a million dollars a year in revenue—we were a very small company with only a couple of project managers. Over the years we’ve grown to where we are today, which is doing Class-A, D.C.-law-firm type work.

Q: Describe the uniqueness of Peris’ business approach as you see it.

A: Our approach is based on the fact that there is always someone who you can turn to at Peris, and that’s unique. There’s always someone other than your project manager you can speak to such as a principal who’s involved in your project. Whether it’s Steve, Jeff, or myself, there’s always someone who the client can turn to if they have problems. There generally aren’t problems, but there is that knowledge that there’s a person who you can reach out and grab if you need them.

Q: What sets Peris’ construction management apart from the competition?

A: Again, it starts at the top where we’re always involved. I’m involved with every project we bring in the door. We also have full-tine project managers who are responsible, which is fairly common in the industry, but we make sure that those project managers are not overworked, they’re not running fifteen projects at a time—they’re running two or three projects at a time. And then we have full-time supervision of the project; we have a superintendent who is always on site, and that’s really one of the main focuses of our business. This system makes sure there is somebody in the field all the time to help clients whenever they need something.

Q: Gary, describe Peris’ commitment to project safety.

A: Project safety is very important; it’s also a very difficult task to accomplish. It’s something that is always ongoing, always evolving. We’re constantly striving to work on better safety procedures, better procedures in the field, and better procedures with our subcontractors to make the jobsite a safe place for them and our clients.

Q: What are your day-to-day responsibilities, and your broader responsibilities within the leadership structure at Peris?

A: I wear many hats at Peris and I think that one of the great things about us is that we don’t have a formal hierarchy. We all share responsibilities, doing multiple tasks. I’m responsible for business development, and I do a lot of development work with the company. I’m also responsible for coordinating the project managers and making sure that the projects are working the way they’re supposed to be working, as well as coming in on time and on budget.

Q: How does proactive thinking figure into your role at Peris?

A: Well, the nice thing about working in construction is that your days are never the same, so you’re constantly wrestling with problems, constantly encountering new scenarios. The construction process has set plans, but on the ground it’s a lot like a work in progress; you’re constantly thinking ahead—trying to do things better.

Our business grows as our clients grow. Our goal is to stay with the client after the construction project is completed. We have a Service Group that does smaller projects for us, and their success enables us to maintain that special relationship with the client into the future. As they grow, add partners, and add people to their firm, we can grow as well, and that’s a big part of the way we’ve succeeded and grown over the last fifteen years.