Fallowfield couple at home with building homes
Jason and Laura Koon are building a business while building homes.
Fifteen months ago, the couple unleashed Steel Dog Construction, a full-service general contracting company, from their residence in Fallowfield Township.
As owners-operators, they typically work 50-plus hours a week remodeling, adding onto and building new throughout Southwestern Pennsylvania. The company’s home office is, literally, a home office – the Koons’ abode off Route 481.
The Koons have only one other employee, a part-time union carpenter, but plan to add more as they grow and are able to offer sufficient benefits.
“We do have to expand. We don’t want to be a 2 1/2-man show forever,” Laura said, added that Steel Dog works with a large builder on new home construction.
Though the first year-plus hasn’t been seamless, Steel Dog is making strides. “We’re not in the red,” Jason said, smiling.
The firm has gotten financial support locally. Last December, just before the holidays, Steel Dog was one of three Mon Valley entities that received a $10,000 grant from the SMAART Business Plan Contest. SMAART is an acronym for Sustainable Marketplace for Arts, Artisans, Recreation and Trending Businesses. The Mon River Valley Coalition sponsored the contest.
That grant helped Steel Dog develop a logo and its website.
Then three weeks ago, the company received a $25,000 Small Business Administration microloan, through the Washington County Council on Economic Development. That will help the Koons function as a licensed contractor for Techno Metal Post, which makes specialized equipment used in the building of foundations. Jason said Steel Dog is the only Pittsburgh area dealer for Techno Metal, a global firm with an estimated 130 dealers, 25 in the U.S.
Starting this enterprise has been a transition for the couple, but they, their two pre-teens (Layla, 12, and Logan, 10) and two canines are accustomed to change.
Laura, 32, and Jason Koon, 34, grew up in suburban Tacoma, Wash. He embarked on a construction career early, learning from an older friend how to install cabinets at age 15.
Jason started a business building high-end homes in the Seattle region. That included work on the island where Bill Gates’ mansion is located. The Koons did that for 10 years, until the housing industry collapsed. Jason took a job as a wire line engineer with an oil and gas company that took him to Montana.
After about four years, Jason’s employer transferred him to Washington County in January 2015. It was something of a culture shock.
“There’s real snow here,” Laura recalled thinking. “I didn’t know what a borough was.”
The Koons were in another transition mode again that summer, when they decided to get back into home building. “There’s something about being your own boss,” Laura said.
Being 3,000 miles from their original homes, though, the Koons had to find a niche market. They also discovered that housing construction here is a bit different. Jason said the majority of it in the Seattle area is new construction, “with a different trade for every job.” A lot of work here entails remodeling and putting up additions, “which don’t require 25 tradesmen.”
He added that, “every home here has a basement. There are few in Seattle.”
Decks also became a Pittsburgh area niche for Steel Dog, a name derived from the Koons’ German shepherd, Diesel.
Weather, Laura said, does not impact her company’s operation. “Our work is never seasonal. We don’t have to stop when it’s cold.”
Although the Mon Valley is monumentally different from the Pacific Northwest – climate-wise, geographically and otherwise – the Koons have settled in easily. In fact, according to Laura, they have done so almost from the get-go. They are involved in community initiatives, are forming friendships and patronizing local businesses.
“Laura tries to put a lot of time in the community,” Jason said. “We’ve found this to be a phenomenal place to have a business.”