Core Tech Int. is spending $6 million to set up a concrete company.
"We are going to make the concrete here. We have to secure the quarry "" we are in the process of that. We had to get all the equipment "¦ a screen plant crusher batch plant and mixer trucks concrete pump truck all kinds of heavy equipment dozers dump trucks and pay-loaders "" in total 11 vehicles." Ho S. Eun vice president and chief executive officer of Sun Woo doing business as Core Tech International. told the Journal.
According to Eun the project has been a long-term possibility because of his interest in the asphalt business. "I have been thinking about it since 1999. I have studied asphalt plants very seriously but IBC entered into the market about the same time and I didn’t want to create bad competition. I studied Korea and looked at all the factories. I stopped because three companies are too many."
"At this moment we are handling a $100 million worth of projects. The concrete will be for our own projects "¦ new buildings. I am not going to make money I am just trying to meet our own needs " Eun said. However he said he does anticipate some savings. "I expect to see some savings since we are going to use our pretest product. We will be able to save on delivery costs and more " he said.
Eun said some construction materials are purchased off island but he said the cement will be purchased locally. "I prefer to support the local suppliers we’ve been doing that for a long time because that’s how I would want to be treated. We are a licensed contractor with a performance and payment bond. We want to be given a chance to prove that we can do good or even better."
In 2007 he anticipates more than doubling Core Tech’s revenues from $45 million to $100 million.
Eun told the Journal he doesn’t anticipate supplying concrete to other companies "At this moment our volume itself will keep us pretty busy.
"We have some projects that we are programming right now including a high rise building. I don’t have a figure but it will be worth more than a couple of hundred million [dollars]. We will probably start September of next year "¦ it’s a high-rise condo with about 700 units " Eun said. "This year we have generated $45 million in revenue but we have a backlog of more than $100 million in remaining work "¦ that includes the cost to complete the project overhead and profit " he said.
Core Tech also has the task of building 100 single dwelling units and a public school. Eun said Core Tech is scheduled to build a total of four schools at a cost of $60 million.
According to Eun he will rotate current employees in an effort to operate some of the equipment but he will need three to five management employees to oversee the batch plant’s operations and possibly 11 additional equipment operators.
Core Tech began in 1991 as Sun Woo at a time when the Asian economic crisis was just beginning. "Everybody called me crazy. A lot of people were wrapping up their businesses because of the Asian market’s bubble bursting. When we started we built a 30-unit townhouse development the former HongKong and Shanghai Bank building the Eva Building in Tamuning and the Harmon Loop Hotel and extension."
In 1993 Eun had to reinvent the company. "We started building single family dwellings. I remember a Department of Public Works inspector laughing and saying "˜Are you building houses now?’ back then we were Sun Woo. Many people know us because we did so many houses and small projects. When we concentrated on single family dwellings we built about a thousand homes." Eun said "We were dealing with 50 different projects and 50 different owners from Yigo to Malojoloj."
Ten years ago in 1996 Core Tech went back to bigger projects with the construction of the $8 million As Tumbo Elementary School. "It was very successful and very fast. It has good quality about 40 classrooms 10 different buildings and a total area of 45 000 square feet. We really enjoyed that project."
In 1998 Core Tech was formed as a separate entity but when trying to secure military projects Eun said the federal government was looking for information regarding past performance. "I combined the companies but I didn’t want to drop the name Sun Woo so it became Sun Woo doing business as Core Tech International."
He has decided to operate solely as Core Tech International. "On Dec. 5 we filed for a name change." Eun told the Journal "We have been planning this for quite some time but there is a lot to do "¦ you can’t just change your name. You have to notify a lot of people."
On Nov. 30 the affordable rental housing units known as the Ironwood Estates held a ribbon cutting ceremony. The homes were built by Core Tech. "We’ve completed 52 homes for Ironwood Estates. We started in September the Ironwood Manor and we’ve already completed the housing pads and all the earthwork " he said. "Since we are using a pretest system we are able to handle a lot of housing needs "¦ if we are given the chance." MBJ
