New Member Profile: Lease Crutcher Lewis

Lease Crutcher Lewis is an employee-owned company providing construction services. To welcome them as a new member of the Springfield Chamber of Commerce, we recently spoke with them to find out more about the organization.

Tell us a little about Lease Crutcher Lewis.
Lease Crutcher Lewis (“Lewis,” for short) is a local general contractor founded in 1886, only a year after Springfield was incorporated as a city. Since its inception, Lewis has held the title of the longest operating locally owned construction company in the Pacific Northwest. In 1992, the company expanded its operation to Oregon, and since then, Lewis has continued to expand into markets like South Valley Lane County and Springfield. At Lewis, where every employee is an owner, our people are empowered to make decisions – big and small – to meet the goals of our clients. Our promise, “Every Decision. Every Detail. Every Day,” means we are tenacious about getting it right, day in and day out, and driven to deliver projects and build quality buildings that stand the test of time.

While we are local to the Eugene/Springfield area, we have regional support through abundant resources throughout the Pacific Northwest. More than a third of our Lewis employees reside in neighboring counties including Lane County, Douglas County, Marion County and Linn County. As residents, our families interact with the buildings we help create. Our children attend the schools we complete, our loved ones benefit from the research performed in labs we construct, and our friends get medical treatment from the hospitals we build.

“We build communities in more ways than one. Constructing schools, health clinics, research labs, zoo habitats, opera buildings, etc., we deliver buildings that matter to our communities.”

– Lease Crutcher Lewis

As owners and inhabitants of Springfield, Eugene, and neighboring counties, we are committed to making a positive impact on our clients, this community, and the people who inhabit it, including our team. Our strong reputation in the industry and local area has provided the opportunity to build some of the most impactful projects in the region, including numerous academic projects that support and lead our future society. A few examples of those projects include Lane Community College’s Downtown Campus and Health and Wellness Building, the University of Oregon’s PK Park, and Eugene’s new Farmers Market and Pavilion.

Today, after 137 years in business, the firm is in its fifth generation of builders. Most recently, at the end of 2018, the firm became 100% employee-owned, an achievement that reinforces our entrepreneurial culture and sustains our autonomy as an independently owned general contractor.

What do you like most about the work you do?
We build communities in more ways than one. Constructing schools, health clinics, research labs, zoo habitats, opera buildings, etc., we deliver buildings that matter to our communities. These projects serve the local community and attract visitors, which improves the economy. New buildings mean new job opportunities and access to a wider variety of goods or services. Improvements to buildings mean historical preservation, increased safety or enhanced capabilities. As we have witnessed in the communities we work in, development and economic growth are critical to the health of a community.

Besides materially building communities through our various projects, we also take pride in giving back to the communities we help build. At Lewis, social responsibility is at the heart of everything we do. Since the company’s establishment, community engagement has been foundational to who we are. To name a few causes: Lewis employees collect food and donations for hungry families and children; raise funds for families with children with autism; clean up our local parks; mentor students; and gather contributions for veterans in need. Our corporate giving, sponsorships and employee volunteer efforts show that we don’t only build to grow the bottom line, but we build to make our communities better, healthier, and stronger for their people. Our firm is committed to delivering every project successfully, and we use our work as an opportunity to infuse dollars directly back into the community.

Over the last decade, Lewis has volunteered with several local nonprofits including:  

• Meals on Wheels Lane County: Lewis’ team volunteers weekly to deliver food to those in need.

• FOOD For Lane County: Lewis participates in multiple food drives per year.

• City Park Clean-Up: Lewis volunteers yearly to clean up local parks, which involves weeding, clearing brush, painting, etc.

• Bags of Love: Lewis helps fund this organization, which provides essential bags for children in crisis.

• Little Libraries: Lewis designed, built, and installed two local libraries.

• Bridgeway House: Lewis helps raise funds for families of children with autism. 

• VA Donations: Lewis regularly gathers food, clothing, supplies, etc. for veterans in need. 

• Connected Lane County School Volunteering: Lewis participates in mentorship and career days, speaker meetings, class presentations, job site tours, etc.

• Various Lane County School Districts: Lewis participates in mentorship and career days, speaker meetings, class presentations, job site tours, etc.

What makes Lease Crutcher Lewis unique?
Our culture is what makes us uniquely Lewis. It makes us a great workplace and the builder of choice for our clients. Our values are the foundation of our culture and include safety, value, profitability, trust and respect and fulfillment. We are employee-owned, with every member of our proposed team a shareholder. Our entrepreneurial spirit supports a culture where teams are empowered to act independently on each client’s behalf. Likewise, our company leadership is local, with no added layer of direction from afar.

Lewis is the builder of choice with the best talent in the industry. This vision statement defines our company’s purpose – we are a builder, not just a construction manager. We recruit, train, and retain the best talent in the industry to meet and exceed our client’s expectations and build lasting relationships. We recognize that every job and each client is different, so we focus on understanding our client’s unique needs to provide value accordingly.

What are some of your areas of expertise?
Lewis provides preconstruction, construction management, design-build, and general contracting services for clients in the office, civic, hospitality, biotech/research, education, healthcare, and industrial markets. Lewis is a leader in sustainable construction. We’ve been focused on sustainability for decades, long before LEED became common industry practice. Lewis diverts 95-97% of construction waste on our job sites from landfills and is one of the first salmon-safe accredited contractors in the region.

Our teams have built some of the most sustainable buildings in the Pacific Northwest and implemented some of the most advanced green building technologies engineered to date. The result is unparalleled expertise when it comes to evaluating, estimating, installing, and commissioning sustainable systems.

Lease Crutcher Lewis is a local general contractor founded in 1886, holding the title as the longest operating locally-owned construction company in the Pacific Northwest.