Q: What about this business and working with Peris excites you?

A: The wide variety of work is challenging and exciting—it gets me going every work day. Every day is different. We usually have a day’s work scheduled out, but I like it and am ready when a call comes in and changes things completely. The service end of our business is different than the construction end. We make sure we’re available at the client’s whim. If they have a need, we try to fulfill that need, quickly and with as little disturbance as possible to the routine.

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

A: I feel Peris cares about the people who work for the company, more so than other companies. Jeff’s a big family person and that resonates down though the ranks. I think that’s a big difference: he cares about his employees. Peris does a great job of taking care of its people, and that translates out into the field, where customers are going to see good quality work being performed by quality professionals who believe in their company.

Q: Is that verified by the feedback you get from your clients?

A: All the time. On many occasions we’ve been contacted by customers who have used Peris before and they will ask us to send back a specific service carpenter or crew. That’s because those carpenters did a great job, and the clients know they’ll be getting quality people who will treat them in a thoughtful and professional manner.

Q: Of the three principals interviewed here, you’re the newest. Why did you choose to further your career with Peris?

A: Previously I worked for a large commercial real estate developer. I was a property manager for eighteen years, so I was more at the client end of the spectrum and saw a lot of the other side of the construction business. That was always my favorite part of the job, to do the project work—anything that dealt with construction, where you were making a difference every day, so it was an easy transition for me. I knew that I was going to be working in the service end for Peris—that I would be doing a lot smaller, short-term projects and it was perfect for what I wanted to do.

Q: Steve, you’re the new guy, but give us your view of the evolution of Peris’ scope of work since it began in 1991.

A: I think that when Jeff founded Peris, he envisioned a company that could do construction better than others and ventured into creating Peris. He formed relationships with clients early on, Quadrangle being one of them, and that kind of evolution grew. Gary Starr, who is now the Director of Construction Services at Peris, was a Quadrangle employee before coming on board. I was also a Quadrangle employee, and I think that the company knew we had to get the right people in this company in order for it to succeed the way we wanted, and Peris has grown that way. Jeff directed the focus toward putting the right people in place and he’s been successful in that.

Q: Why is your area such an important part of Peris’ total service capabilities?

A: Clients like to avoid headaches for obvious reasons. They are looking for a complete turnkey solution for a job. If the company they hire can take care of all the details from beginning to end without any lingering issues, then the client will be one hundred percent satisfied. It’s our job to come in and make sure that we keep that client for the long run. It’s always our goal to make sure that clients are completely happy.

Q: How would you describe your team’s responsiveness?

A: Though our service division isn’t able to provide 24-hour service, we always do our best to schedule work as soon as possible. When clients call, we’re always able to tell them when we will be able to satisfy their request. The added valued Peris offers is that we will do everything we can to meet the client’s schedule, perform the necessary work, and do it when it best suits them. Sometimes this means scheduling work at night or over weekends.

Q: Your crews meet the client face-to-face in their own workplace. You’re representing the firm, close-up and personal. When your crew cleans up and leaves the customer’s office space, what sort of impression do you leave with them that makes them call Peris again?

A: It’s a point of pride that our service carpenters meet with the client up front, go over the scope of work with them, and perform that work to their complete satisfaction. The majority of the work is done while the space is occupied, so our people have been trained to not be disruptive, to take care of each task, and to make sure that things are left clean and in place. At the end of the job, they meet with the client and review the work, ensuring that it was a thorough turnkey operation—that they dealt with a Peris service carpenter who was courteous and professional, who went over the scope of work with them, and make sure that every aspect of the job was taken care of one hundred percent. That’s the Peris way of doing things.