AREA CONSTRUCTION FIRM BUILDS ON BASICS.

Byline: Jason Takenouchi Staff Writer

For some businesses, bigger is better.

Record-breaking contracts and expanding business lines have propelled Intertex General Contractors Inc. - the Santa Clarita Valley's largest general contractor - into a far wider arena.

The privately owned company is building projects across the Southland, and its work is on display from Fort Lauderdale to Sacramento. The firm employs about 125 workers - it had 45 employees just five years ago - and officials expect its revenues to near $70 million this year, over 200 percent more than in 1994.

Flexibility has been key to the company's success, said founder and President Dale Donohoe.

``We take advantage of where the economy is heading,'' he said.

Once a specialist in government military contracts, Intertex has grown by diversifying.

When the military contracts began to shrink in the mid-1980s, Donohoe said, the company moved into commercial buildings. When the ``build-design'' trend started, and customers began looking for firms that would be both architect and contractor, the company responded by offering more services, including feasibility studies and construction management.

Intertex now designs and builds anything from churches to security booths to medical facilities. Current projects include the First Chinese Baptist Church in Los Angeles and the National Guard armory in Van Nuys.

The company also created three branches besides its main general contracting arm: FedCon General Contractors Inc., a shop dedicated to government projects; Intertex Properties, a property development firm; and Intertex Barriers and Booths.

The properties unit sold its first building - an office in the Valencia Commerce Center - earlier this year, and the barriers and booths subsidiary is now installing security barricades in federal buildings in Tucson and Las Vegas.

But the bulk of Intertex's growth has come from traditional, nuts-and-bolts construction projects, including a recently acquired $13.5 million contract for Princess Cruises' new Valencia headquarters.

That contract - the largest in company history - eclipses a $9.5 million Travis Air Force Base contract that Intertex won just months ago.

Donohoe said the company's success and reputation traces back to the 1994 Northridge Earthquake.

In the hours after the quake, Intertex received calls from scores of distressed businesses seeking emergency repairs. The company also got calls from suppliers and subcontractors whose help was vital to getting repairs done quickly.

``Everybody knew us,'' Donohoe said. ``We were getting calls on both sides of the equation.''

Santa Clarita Mayor Jo Anne Darcy said the company's dedication - including double shifts and seven-day weeks - helped a heavily damaged City Hall get back on its feet.

``They did more than expected, and they did it quickly,'' she said. ``We're very proud of them as a local contractor.''

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3 Photos

PHOTO(1 -- color in SAC only) A Van Nuys National Guard Armory project is one of many by Intertex General Contractors.

(2) From left, are Intertex senior officers Rod Shreckengost, Dale Donohoe, Albert Giacomazzi, Bob Lyon and J.T. Garrett.

(3 -- ran in SAC only) Construction plans lay out as work goes on the National Guard Armory in the San Fernando Valley.

John Lazar/Staff Photographer