Charlie Eglin to Turn Over the Reins of Tri-Ply Construction
Tri-Ply’s Casey Kitt Wes Morris Beth Klingele Brad Shuler and Charlie Eglin
Thirty-three years ago Charlie Eglin founded Tri-Ply Construction in Yakima with two partners. Over the years he became majority owner leading a full-service firm with a broad portfolio of projects and two divisions Apex Plumbing (headed by Ryan McNett) and Cabinet Tech (headed by Rick Stilley). In October 2011 Charlie will turn the reins over to his senior leadership team.
In 15 months Charlie will retire (sort of) when Wes Morris Beth Klingele Brad Shuler and Casey Kitt increase their ownership shares. A smooth transition is expected as all four are long-time employees of the firm. Each has been at Tri-Ply for at least 12 years. With 28 years at Tri-Ply Wes has been with the company longer than anyone other than Charlie himself.
“It’ll be thirty-plus years for me and I wanted this to be a great opportunity for these four” Charlie said. “I have no plans but I’d still like to show up at the office and I have some commercial properties to take care of.”
Plus as plugged-into the community as Charlie is he’ll be plenty busy. Charlie is president of Yakima’s Downtown Rotary one of the largest Rotary clubs in the world. In addition he chairs the United Way of Central Washington’s Board of Directors and served on the Advisory Board for alternative high school Stanton Academy.
Active community involvement is something that Charlie values and he sets an example that permeates throughout the company. In fact it would be tough to find a community organization in the Yakima area that doesn’t boast the involvement of Tri-Ply Construction or one of its employees: Comprehensive Mental Health Foundation Yakima Greenway Foundation Kiwanis Club of Yakima Children’s Wishes and Dreams Camp Prime Time Southwest Rotary Sunrise Rotary to name a few.
If Tri-Ply’s philanthropic touch is found throughout Central Washington so too is its construction expertise. With a combination of negotiated design-build work and public works Tri-Ply has constructed a wide variety of projects particularly financial (Yakima Valley Credit Union Baker Boyer Bank Banner Bank HAPO Community Credit Union Catholic Credit Union etc.); medical (Cornerstone Medical Clinic Apple Valley Dental Clinic Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic etc.); religious (Christ the King Catholic Church Westside Baptist Church LaSalle Catholic High School etc.); industrial (Stratford Bottling Co. Graham Packaging Noel Corp. etc.); retail (Chalet Shopping Center University Auto Center Valley Mall etc.) and agriculture (Roy Farms Matson Fruit Cowiche Growers etc.).
The Yakima area wasn’t hit as badly as some by the economic downturn since the agriculture industry remains relatively strong and Yakima didn’t experience a dramatic big-boom-then-bust housing cycle. Still the private market isn’t as robust as it had been and Tri-Ply has expanded a bit more into public construction. For example the firm recently was awarded a contract to build a public works maintenance facility in Moxee. And as LEED-certified buildings continue to grow in popularity Tri-Ply is increasing its LEED experience serving as general contractor for the new Junior Achievement building and as subcontractor for the Capital Theater and Kittitas Fire Station projects all seeking LEED certification.
Tri-Ply Construction has been an AGC of Washington member since 2000 and it is part of AGC’s Group Retro and Safety Team programs. Also Tri-Ply is an annual sponsor of AGC’s Central District Golf Tournament.
Speaking of golf…the links is another spot where you’ll be more likely to find Charlie Eglin in the coming years!