By ALISSA KLINE
akline@bizjournals.com | 716-541-1612

Michael Washington has one goal for all of his company's residential construction and remodeling projects: establish lifelong relationships with homeowners.

So far, the goal is paying off. The president of Ivy Lea Construction Inc. said 80 percent of his business stems from repeat customers and referrals.

"We want to have clients for life," Washington said. "We want to do a great job every single day because we want to be back there doing more work in the future."

He heads the 23-year-old home improvement firm in Tonawanda. It bills itself as a one-stop shop, offering everything from door and window replacements to roofing and siding services to full-scale home additions. Offering so many services makes sense for meeting clients' needs through the years, Washington said.

"As our client base grew, so did their needs," he said. "So we cross-train our staff so they can do more than one job."

What's going on: A glance at Ivy Lea's Web site shows it truly does offer a full range of residential home-improvement services. In addition to kitchen and bathroom remodels, the company builds porches, decks and garages. It installs new roofs and siding, insulation upgrades and basement drain tile. The crew handles between 50 and 60 projects each month, which range from quick to-dos to full-scale ventures, Washington said.

Who's who: Ivy Lea is a family-run business. Michael Washington's father, John, is founder and CEO. He mainly handles sales. Sister Kate Washington is administrative assistant.

Territory: The company for years did business within a five-mile radius centered in Tonawanda. But the radius has been expanding in recent years as the company takes on more projects in places such as Amherst, Hamburg and Cheektowaga. Part of the expansion stems from the fact that longtime clients have moved to other towns but still want to hire Ivy Lea for construction projects, Washington said.

Company history: John Washington worked as a mechanic when he began renovating homes in the early 1970s to make extra money. He quit his day job in 1987 and began working full-time as a sole general contractor. That same year, he incorporated the new business as Ivy Lea Construction Inc., named after the Town of Tonawanda street on which he lives and did lots of remodeling work, and located his office at 440 Northwood Drive.

The project pipeline initially consisted of lots of home additions, and the employee count grew from single to double digits.

Washington's son, meanwhile, grew up in the business, working odd jobs as a teenager. Michael Washington worked full time for his father's company starting in 1993 when he began college.

"Going into college, I knew I wanted to be part of this," he said. "I had a lot of different options, but I'm glad I did what I did."

Ownership transition: Michael said he became sole owner of the company in the early 2000s after his father was diagnosed with lung cancer. Unsure of John Washington's prognosis, the pair formalized a succession plan.

"My dad didn't push it, but he was happy to keep the (Ivy Lea) name going," Washington said about the transfer of ownership.

Employees: The company employs 25 people whose jobs deal with sales, office management and supervisor, foremen and crew positions.

Revenue: Between $3 million and $5 million in a given year. This year, revenues should range between $3.2 million and $3.5 million, Washington said.

Impact of the recession: Like many construction companies, the economic downturn has created challenges for Ivy Lea. The crews are no longer doing as many home additions as they did previously, and the number of kitchen/bathroom renovations also dipped a bit, he said. "We're doing more needs than wants," he said. "Last year was a hard year for us. It was a successful year, but the margins were thinner. The biggest thing is the loss of jobs, but we are seeing some recovery to where we were in 2008."

The recession was also evident by the number of customers who were unable to get financing, he said. About 25 percent of projects in 2008 were financed, while between 5 percent and 7 percent were financed in 2009, he said.

New work category: Energy Star-related projects picked up dramatically in recent years, so the company now trains employees in proper Energy Star installation. Washington said that type of work is crucial for the future of the business. "We do a lot of that work today and that part of our business is growing because it's a push today," he said. "I think going forward it's going to be even bigger."