March 11, 2025
Vernal, Utah
My name is Erik Haslem, and I’m the CEO of BHI. I would like to welcome each of you to this evening’s celebration. Tonight is the night where we recognize individuals and teams for their outstanding efforts and performance.
We proudly state in our “Why BHI” document:
We proudly believe that our most valuable asset is our teammates. We understand that every person is important to our overall success… We believe in open praise for our teammates that deserve recognition. We call it “burning the free fuel”. We look for reasons to celebrate each other’s efforts.
Tonight, we are lighting that fire. We are celebrating you.
Now, although not everyone will receive an award tonight, please understand that tonight we are celebrating everyone and their individual contributions to the overall success of our company. Tonight is literally all about you. However, before we commence the award session this evening, I would be remiss if I did not take this opportunity to address each of you and briefly describe the state of our company.
2024 was another fantastic year for BHI, a year of impressive growth with record-breaking sales and profits. We exemplify our Core Value of Growth and have been blessed to add so many talented people to our team.
I truly believe the reason we’ve been able to attract so many talented individuals to work here is because we have a phenomenal team that works here every day. Good talent attracts other great talent, like a magnet. We’ve had many achievements this year that we should celebrate, and I’d like to highlight just a few of them.
We closed the successful acquisition of OP Tanks & OP Steel, which brought additional talent to our team and the ability to further service our clients. Another record we broke, which I’m sure you all were as excited about as I was, is we decimated our previous record on our bonus program, as we paid out millions.
We won many awards for the projects that we’ve accomplished, including from the AGC, ENR, Utah Construction & Design, and we made Inc. magazine’s list of the fastest-growing companies. We were named as one of the fastest-growing companies in the state of Utah, and we were recognized as one of the fastest-growing companies nationally.
And the one that I personally am the proudest of is that we were awarded as a Top Utah Workplace for the fourth year in a row and as a top workplace in the US. We had an amazing year. Our success in 2024 has positioned us very strongly for the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.
To understand where we’re going, let’s take a quick look at the economic landscape. Looking ahead to 2025, we’re keeping a close eye on a few key economic indicators that we feel will impact our industry. There are six primary factors that we believe will lead the US economy in the coming year and we are watching them all very closely. They are: tariffs, inflation, interest rates, consumer strength and sentiment, geopolitical events, and ultimately labor.
As you study the data, 2025 looks to be a year with a resilient economy. However, Trump’s first few weeks in office have set markets spinning. It will take a minute for the markets to digest and evaluate how his policies will impact us, and we are already seeing the markets reassessing and there are talks of an economic downturn.
The impacts of tariffs are felt globally and will have an impact on everyone, including us at BHI. It will impact us with increased material costs as it creates a domino effect through supply chains. Developers and customers will have to recalculate the impact of these changes on their projects, which may halt and inevitably cancel some great projects.
We will see higher interest rates as the Federal Reserve tries to manage inflation impacted by these tariffs. We will continue to see that the persistent inflation target of two percent remains elusive as it coincides with tariffs, and we will start to see layoffs, a more frugal and pessimistic consumer, and geopolitical turmoil.
However, our diverse project portfolio allows us to navigate these changes effectively. These challenges help display the strength of our business model. These factors, combined with our strong market position, give us confidence that 2025 will be another year of growth and opportunity for BHI.
We see proof that our current business model is not only handling these economic challenges that are occurring, but we are succeeding. There is strength in being active in different markets, different industries, and different geographic locations. Take confidence that we are watching these ever-changing markets and that we’re sitting in a very, very strong position.
Now, let me address the state of our company. I am here to tell you that BHI is stronger than ever.
We are growing and are even being presented with opportunities that are unprecedented. We currently have billions of dollars in our project pipeline and hundreds of millions of dollars in contracted backlog. We continually add to our customer pool and are continually working to develop stronger relationships with all of our partners. We are being presented with projects that are more complicated and continue to grow in size and complexity.
In 2024, we have amazing technology, tools and talent that are making our company even better and truly exceptional. However, we are always looking for new talent, and we are openly inviting everyone to come join our BHI team. We are also actively looking into acquiring additional talent through the right acquisitions.
One of our Core Values is Growth, we believe in growth for many reasons, but the primary reason is because it provides opportunity and feeds our core purpose. We proudly state:
BHI’s Core Purpose is to provide personal and professional growth opportunities to individuals. We bless employees and their families as we build rewarding career and job opportunities.
Everyone here tonight, even with the current market challenges, we have a surplus of opportunities. Our brand and our company have never been stronger, and one of the driving reasons is you. It is because of the work you do each and every day. It is because you live our Core Values and exemplify our mission statement. You prove that it is much more than just words on a wall. You walk the walk and talk the talk, and it does not go unnoticed.
Providing opportunities to each of you is our purpose; growing with you is our “Why”. Our “What” is construction, and we’re good at it. We build America. Our “How” is our mission, our vision, and our values. Our why is, and always will be, you. That is why growth is a Core Value, because we want to bless as many people and as many families as we possibly can. And that is why we are growing and will continue to grow.
I want to thank each of you for your contributions to our organization. You make BHI great. I love and enjoy coming to work every day. I get to work alongside the most amazing people—people who are fun, honest, hardworking, extremely talented, and dedicated. People who challenge me to be better. People who are wonderful friends, and to me, this is more than a job, to me we are blessing each other’s lives.
I want to truly thank you for what you do. You wear our Blue Bolt with pride, and I appreciate you. You exemplify my father’s name, and for that, I am honored and humbled. You are why I love my job. You are helping in driving our growth and strengthening our reputation. You are building America, and I couldn’t be prouder to be part of this team.
Our future is bright. 2025 is going to be another record-breaking year. A year full of growth. A year full of challenges. And I couldn’t be more excited for the opportunities that lie ahead.
Let’s go out and make 2025 the best year BHI has ever had.