Leadership Corner: Denny Watts
Interviewed by Catherine E. Toth
Advertiser Staff Writer
Name: Denny Watts
Age: 57
Title: Chief Executive Officer/Chief Operating Officer
Organization: Miller/Watts Constructors Inc.
High school: Topinish High School in Washington State
College: Coursework at Oscar Rose Junior College in Oklahoma
Breakthrough job: Serving as head of Fletcher Pacific Construction Co. Ltd. in Guam for four years. "Anything we didn't have, we made," Watts said. "The greatest thing was the chance to work with so many different ethnic groups and cultures. There were 13 languages spoken on our job sites. For me, that was nirvana."
Little-known fact: "I'm a closet karaoke singer," Watt said with a laugh.
Major challenge: Growing a business in Hawai'i. "It's not only a major challenge, but it's the highest reward," Watts said.
Q. Your company, which has been around for 10 years on the Mainland, has just started its first Hawai'i project. What is it?
A. We're working on a $30 million project with the Navy for upgrades to the K10 and K11 wharfs at Pearl Harbor. We just started a few weeks ago ... It's a major upgrade.
Q. Miller/Watts is currently working on projects for the National Park Service and the U.S. Corps of Engineers on the Mainland. You've even completed upgrades to Alcatraz prison off San Francisco. How much of your jobs are government-based?
A. Right now 100 percent. Here in Hawai'i, though, we expect to get a more even split between government and private work.
Q. Why is your company so focused on government contracts?
A. First off, the certainty of payment. The customer has been extremely beneficial to us not only because of its contracts but also all the things that go along with doing our work ... They're probably one of the best customers in the world, by far. We like working with the military a lot.
Q. Has winning contracts with the government, in particular the military, been difficult?
A. It's the kind of thing (where) you have to learn how to compete fairly quickly or it becomes very difficult to do so. Once you learn and you win, you get better at it. A lot of government work is called "best value," so if you get a lot of work and you do it well, your opportunity to get more work is greatly enhanced over someone who hadn't done it before ... It's a huge area of opportunity. One of the things we mentor small businesses about here and in the other places where we work is that the U.S. government, especially the military, is a wonderful customer. If you're patient and learn the process, you'll get the world's largest customer. And the world's largest customer can be your best customer if you just learn, understand the process and compete exactly like they tell you to compete. And they pay fast.
Q. You were CEO of Dick Pacific Construction Co. Ltd. from 1995 to 2002. Then you left Hawai'i to head the parent company, Dick Corp., in Pittsburgh. Why did you decide to come back to the Islands and open an office in Honolulu for your California-based company?
A. From a practical standpoint, I know the marketplace very well. With the growth in Hawai'i, there's definitely room for another contractor of consequence to step in and deliver quality products for people.
Q. You said you expect half of your business in Hawai'i to come from the private sector. In what areas do you see this potential?
A. Tourism and hospitality. These will always be the primary drivers in Hawai'i and I don't expect that to change. But I do expect the products will change with regard to upgrades, the things that need to be brought in here to enhance (the experience) for that second or third visitor. We're going to see a lot more competition in hotels and the products they deliver, the quality, upgrades, entertainment cycles. People will develop more entertainment-based business here and feed the business to attract more people and get them to come back that second or third time. More people come to O'ahu, the next time to Maui.
Q. What are the challenges facing businesses in Hawai'i?
A. While I was here (as CEO of Dick Pacific), I had the opportunity to be part of the Hawai'i Business Roundtable for a number of years as well as being part of Enterprise Honolulu. Part of that job was to see how we could encourage new businesses to come to the Islands and also how to help existing businesses grow. And (we had to look at) how we could bring in new businesses without hurting the old businesses. That's pretty tough.
Q. You're back in Hawai'i as essentially a small-business owner, with about 150 employees nationwide and about 30 in Honolulu. How, in your opinion, has the business climate in Hawai'i changed?
A. The biggest thing I've seen over the years is that the attitude toward business has really changed. We went through a hard cycle (economically) and now we're seeing people are much more, in my opinion, thinking more strategically and not taking things for granted. There's a lot of other places around the world that have beds and beaches, for example, so now you have to have a quality product that can go up against other places who have (the same thing) ... People are recognizing that they have to go outside Hawai'i and go out and market the Islands. Business has become much more aggressive. It was interesting to watch people all of a sudden grasping onto the concept of a world economy and really reaching out in a hundred different ways, not only in tourism, but in a lot of different industries. You see a lot of different service corporations coming here, retail has changed dramatically. You look at the different things that are changing and competing on a global basis now. That's a change from a local mentality to a global mentality, and that's a big, big change.
Interviewed by Catherine E. Toth, Advertiser staff writer
