CNY Business Journal (1996+): Hayner Hoyt builds on success

SYRACUSE - Hayner Hoyt Corp., Inc. builds for Central New York's businesses. The commercial and industrial builder has erected structures ranging from churches to hotels. Next year, Hayner Hoyt will celebrate its 40th year in business.

In 1966, partners Donald Hayner and Richard Hoyt joined to create a commercial construction company. Current owner Gary Thurston joined the company in 1978, after working in Rochester's construction market. Hayner retired in 1979 and Hoyt followed in 1993. Thurston acquired the company in 1993.

The Hayner Hoyt Corporation has three subsidiaries, Thurston explains. Doyner, Inc. does masonry work, LeMoyne Interiors does inside structural work such as the placement of metal studs, and Harmatuk Custom Millwork, Inc. provides woodworking. Hayner Hoyt employs a total of 130.

Each year, Hayner Hoyt completes approximately 50 building projects, says Thurston. The company uses hundreds of subcontractors throughout the year. Thurston estimates that Hayner Hoyt keeps about 500 employed through its subcontracting. Most of the company's projects are within 100 miles of Syracuse. Hayner Hoyt concentrates on private-sector business.

"Whatever you need built," says Thurston, "We can build."

Hayner Hoyt is seeking projects outside its usual 100-mile radius, he adds. The builder doesn't plan on generally soliciting work in distant markets, but rather by expanding with customers that are building in adjacent markets.

Building a variety of structures for different markets, Thurston explains, helps keep Hayner Hoyt building when certain economic sectors are not active.

Over the past four decades, Hayner Hoyt has completed building projects large And small across Central New York. The company built the original Turning Stone Casino and hotel buildings for the Oneida Indian Nation. Hayner Hoyt worked with the Nation on several projects from 1992 through 2000, says Thurston. Recent projects include a 10,000 square-foot expansion to the emergency department at Syracuse Veteran's Administration Hospital. The project tripled the VA's emergency department space and Hayner Hoyt was able to complete the project three months ahead of schedule.

Much of the company's building work, says Thurston, comes from past customers or through referrals from past clients. Hayner Hoyt can assist clients with site-selection and other preliminary work.

Hayner Hoyt has built many hotels. Last year, the company completed a new Hampton Inn property in Ithaca. The Holiday Inn on Electronics Parkway, near the village of Liverpool, is a Hayner Hoytbuilt hotel.

Greg Limpert, business-development director for Hayner Hoyt, says the company's reputation helps him every day.

Limpert joined the company earlier this year. He has previously worked for other construction companies in the area.

"When I call people and say I'm from Hayner Hoyt, they call right back," he adds Thurston's company faces competition from several companies in the Syracuse market as well as from competitors in neighboring markets. Construction companies from Rochester, Buffalo, and Albany, as well as companies from outside New York, bid on area projects, he explains.

Hayner Hoyt has built more than 125 churches across Central New York, says Thurston. The religious construction market makes up approximately five percent of the company's work. Church construction, he explains, involves more detailed planning than working with a single business owner. Church committees and the congregation typically approve each step, from initial planning through the final design details. Hayner Hoyt received an award for its work on the pyramid-shaped roof of Cicero's Abundant Life Christian Center. Hundreds of commuters see the church each day as they travel on Route 481 as it crosses over Taft Road.

Some projects progress more rapidly than others. Thurston recalls a time in the early 1980s when Hayner Hoyt was building several fastfood restaurants. Though the typical building time was about 120 days, Hayner Hoyt was able to reduce that to less than one month.

"They were selling hamburgers 28 days later," says Thurston.