WPC celebrates three decades in Gig Harbor

Company credits versatility, quality and employee value

Susan Schell

of the Gateway

Wade Perrow Construction will celebrate its 30th anniversary on Oct. 1. The company will invite colleagues, clients, subcontractors and employees to join the commemoration of the milestone.

“We’ll be holding this event and ask them to share that moment of achievement and recognize their contributions,” project executive Bill Ecker III said.

WPC has forged a name for itself both locally and in other states by establishing lasting relationships and performing quality work.

Since 1987, the company has earned 21 awards from the Associated General Contractors of Washington for excellence in construction and customer service.

One of those projects was the refurbishing of the Pantages Theater in downtown Tacoma. The company has long-term contracts with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and local repeat clients like Rainier Pacific Bank, Puget Sound Energy and the University of Puget Sound.

The most visible WPC projects in Gig Harbor are the original Russell Family Foundation building and the Harbor History Museum, both on Harborview Drive.

The company’s success is due largely to the man behind the wheel, CEO Wade Perrow, who began as a carpenter and knows the ins and outs of the industry.

Ecker said Perrow’s understanding and attention to employees contributes to the company’s longevity, as one-third of its employees have been with the firm for more than 10 years.

“He started as a craftsman in the union and came up through the ranks and founded the company in 1979,” Ecker said. “He has genuine knowledge of their issues. He can communicate with them and stay involved. He speaks their own language.”

As the company took off over the years, Perrow managed to keep his feet firmly planted in the community.

“Being actively involved in the community has always been a major focus of the company,” Ecker said. “We had a company-wide food drive and asked what they needed for the doggie drive. We also get involved in the parks appreciation stuff. Wade and Beth are very involved in that.”

Beth Perrow, Wade’s wife, acts as treasurer for WPC.

Ecker said Perrow’s creativity and “out-of-the-box thinking” provides the foundation underneath WPC’s decades-long success.

“He likes oddball jobs,” Ecker said. “The secret to his success is the ability to be adaptable. He creates opportunities that others overlook, that others thought couldn’t be done. He goes places others won’t go.”

One example Ecker gives is building a bathhouse on the face of the dam across Ross Lake in the north Cascades.

“He likes unique, quirky projects like that,” Ecker said.

“The bottom line is diversity,” marketing coordinator Carol Vose said. “He’s a brilliant businessman. He’s a visionary who always stays one step ahead of the game. He built a research station for scientists that nobody else wanted to do.”

Vose recalled the company handled the project like an adventure. The station was built in the “middle of nowhere” off the Aleutian Island chain near Alaska. A group of contractors moved to the area and lived on houseboats to complete the project.

“This is gratifying to employees,” Vose said. “Not everybody is about the flagship.”

Through the recession, WPC has survived by rolling with the punches.

“A lot of contractors drink from the same well, but then the well dried up,” Ecker said. “Companies that drink from different wells and have versatility are the ones that survive.

“Wade is exceptionally resourceful. He always has another stone to turn over.”

Reach Lifestyles Coordinator and reporter Susan Schell at 253-853-9240 or by e-mail at susan.schell@gateline.com.