EP 13 · 2021-07-05 · 1:01:33
How Atlantic Canada's Largest GC Bids $250M Projects: MARCO Group President Allan MacIntosh on P3s, Risk, and Building a Team
Allan MacIntosh traces MARCO Group's journey from a Newfoundland base to Atlantic Canada's largest GC, covering P3 delivery, profit-sharing culture, IPD on the horizon, and negotiation discipline.
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// CHAPTERS — TAP TO JUMP THE PLAYER
0:03Background: MARCO's founding and Allan's arrival — MARCO named after Tom Hickman's wife Margaret; Tom founded it, handed to son Christopher ~2001 at $28M revenue; Allan recruited from NL in 2003, deal closed at the airport; initial vision was 6,000 sq ft office and aggressive growth.3:40Scale, market positioning, and staying nimble vs nationals — MARCO is now $250M revenue with $500M backlog, Atlantic Canada's largest GC. On 100M+ jobs they face only EllisDon, PCL, Bird, and Ellis Don. Local advantage: nimbleness, relationships, early payment to subs in need. Market strategy: follow what is in vogue (box stores, rec centres, schools, multi-res, P3s) rather than fixed sector.8:50P3 model, MUN Core Science Facility, and early survival — P3 mechanics explained: year-long RFQ/RFP process, MARCO 4-for-5 win rate. MUN Core Science Facility was a $243M design-bid-build, 3.5-month estimate effort, won by $1.6M. Anti-climactic win dinner. Early Halifax lean years, Stu Crawford giving them a chance, handshake trust culture.14:30Delivery model comparison: CM vs design-build vs lump sum vs P3 — Lower margins but lower risk in CM; lump sum upside if bid well; P3 highest margin but massive LD risk ($50K/day on NAMH&A). Portfolio of delivery types is like a diversified financial portfolio. LEED Gold on NAMH&A backed by $2M bond. MARCO has 19 LEED professionals.21:10Team, profit-sharing, and delegation — Long-tenure leadership team including Rod Ackerman, Jeremy Stewart, Corey Taylor, Don Allen. Restructured share ownership ~1.5 years prior, shifted from bonus to full profit-sharing. Game-changer for engagement, retention, recruitment. Delegation as prerequisite for business growth: work on the business not in it.26:10IPD, technology, and peer learning — IPD coming to Atlantic Canada — NS government dabbling, possibly next school. MARCO training now. Struction Site camera tool builds X-ray image of walls over build-out. Family Business Institute paired with same-size GCs in Winnipeg/Texas/California. Velocity Advisory Group for personality profiling (bird archetypes) and executive coaching.31:15Negotiation principles and awards — Negotiation: preparation over winging it; find the other party's win condition; put the number on the table first. Victoria Medvek story. Atlantic Business Top 50 CEO Hall of Fame, Deloitte Best Managed, Progress Magazine Top 101. Corporate vs individual awards framing.36:10Calgary expansion, community giving, and outlook — Calgary office opened Nov 2019 with Mike Novak casino work and Germain Hotels; paused by COVID and oil price collapse. Atlantic Canada 'bubble' seen as post-COVID growth opportunity. MARCO gives back to 30+ charities quietly. Call for construction as a professional career path.
// THE INTRO
Episode 13 of the Atlantic Construction Podcast features Allan MacIntosh, President of MARCO Group, in an in-person sit-down with host Daniel Arsenault. Allan covers 18+ years of building MARCO from a $25M regional player into a $250M-revenue GC with $500M in backlog and multi-province reach. The conversation moves through the company's founding story (named after founder Tom Hickman's wife Margaret), the transition to Christopher Hickman's leadership, and Allan's own arrival in 2003. Core territory: how MARCO selects which jobs to bid at scale (they follow the market cycle — box stores, rec centres, schools, long-term care, multi-res, P3s — rather than imposing a fixed sector), the mechanics and risk profile of P3 vs CM vs design-build vs lump sum, the $243M MUN Core Science Facility win, the $50K/day liquidated-damage exposure on the NAMH&A Facility P3, LEED Gold governance, technology adoption (Struction Site 360-degree photo X-ray of walls), IPD as an emerging delivery model, the shift from bonus to profit-sharing to retain and motivate staff, delegation as the prerequisite for growth, peer-group learning via the Family Business Institute and Velocity Advisory Group, and negotiation principles. The episode closes with Allan's view that Atlantic Canada's 'bubble' post-COVID positions it well for immigration-driven growth, and his call for the industry to attract university graduates.
// THE LESSONS
See all 14 lessons ▸Follow the market cycle rather than imposing a fixed sector strategy — be a box-store builder when box stores are vogue, a school builder when schools are funded, a P3 builder when P3s come.
“my vision this year might have been different than my vision last year or my vision five years ago”
Paying a long-term subcontractor early in a cash crisis — even without certainty of recovery — buys relationship equity that compounds for years.
“we paid him a hundred thousand dollars of stuff that i never knew if we were going to get back”
A portfolio of delivery models (CM, lump sum, design-build, P3) diversifies risk the same way a financial portfolio does; no single model dominates every year.
“you want to have some construction management you want to have some design build you want to have some lump sum”
P3 margins are higher but liquidated-damage clauses can reach $50K/day — only bid P3s if you have the organisational depth and capital to absorb that risk.
“liquidated damage penalties on that just for financial penalties are fifty thousand dollars a day for every day we turn this building over late”
On a P3 tender with a year-long RFQ/RFP cycle, stipends cover only a fraction of bid costs — a poor win rate is financially ruinous; MARCO's 4-for-5 record is the result, not luck.
“out of the five triple p's that we bid we won four out of five which is an outstanding track record”
Shifting from discretionary bonuses to transparent profit-sharing transforms employee engagement and retention because staff can see the direct link between company performance and their own income.
“we've gone from a bonus structure with our staff to a pure profit sharing with all of our staff”
To scale a construction business you must delegate operational work and move to working on the business — owners who stay in day-to-day execution hit a ceiling.
“you can either work in the business or work on the business — you're never going to grow a business if you work in the business”
Entering a new geography is safer via a trusted repeat client than via cold pursuit; MARCO's Calgary move worked because it rode an existing client (Novak/Songko) rather than prospecting blind.
“mike novak said look we want to put an edition on the casino very much like we did in moncton would you be interested”
Peer-group learning with non-competing GCs of similar size (Family Business Institute pairings) reveals organisational blind spots — MARCO discovered gaps in HR and legal it didn't know it had.
“they pointed out our blind spots that we didn't know we had and we were able to add staff to fill those blind spots”
Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) is coming to Atlantic Canada: subcontractors as risk partners sharing a profit pool. GCs who prepare now (training, seminars) will have a first-mover advantage.
“i think anybody doesn't believe it's coming i think they're naive because i do think it's coming”
In construction negotiation, find what the other side needs to 'win' — those priorities often don't overlap with yours, making a deal easier than it looks.
“what's important to them may not be what's important to me and what's important to me may not be important to them”
LEED Gold on a P3 requires 19 in-house trained professionals, a lead designer roadmap, sub-contract penalties, and meticulous materials tracking — not just a checkbox at handover.
“we certainly have about 19 lead professionals in our organization that we've got trained”
On a very large project the biggest execution risk is getting the overhead structure right — too few coordinators and project managers and the schedule slips on deliverables.
“that was probably the biggest piece for us — just trying to get the overheads and the manpower right”
Community giving done quietly — without leveraging suppliers or posting on social media — builds a different kind of reputational capital than branded philanthropy.
“you'll never see marco patting ourselves on the back in the social media circles for that — we do it very very quietly”
// CLIPS FROM THIS EPISODE
Story · 5:37
“sometimes you sit back and say well that's a silly idea why would you put yourself at risk”
Story · 9:14
“that was 243 million the day we bid it we were a million six low”
Story · 15:37
“in 08 that's when we landed the casino in new brunswick”
Hot take · 22:09
“we've never been one to hold off on the work because we didn't get a signed piece of paper”
All 14 lessons from this episode, on one page.
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// FEATURED BUSINESS
// FACT-CHECKED ✓ web-verified, with sources
✓ VERIFIED
MARCO is Atlantic Canada's largest GC, with $250M revenue and $500M backlog (as of ~2021 podcast recording).
Marco is confirmed as Atlantic Canada's largest GC. Revenue as of more recent reporting is $300M (grown from $30M since early 2000s expansion). The $250M figure in the podcast (recorded July 2021) is consistent with the growth trajectory. The $500M backlog figure is not independently corroborated bu…
SOURCE ▸// COMPANIES & ORGS ✓ verified
Marco Group Limited ▸Allan MacIntoshMemorial University Core Science FacilityNew Adult Mental Health and Addictions Centre (NAMHAF)Plenary Group / Plenary AmericasSonco GamingStructionSiteFamily Business InstituteVelocity Advisory Group
// PROJECTS NAMED
Memorial University Core Science FacilityNew Adult Mental Health and Addictions Centre (NAMHAF)JL Hillis High SchoolCasino New Brunswick (Moncton)Calgary Casino (Gateway)Germain Hotel CalgaryMaritime Electric Turbine Plant (PEI)
SOURCE: podscope · public episode data · OsZ_UlnTVI8