Business View Magazine | October 2020

26 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2020 projects. Fast forward to today, BZI has 240 employees and is a nationwide power player in the warehouse and distribution center space. And yet, there was a time, early in the company’s existence when it almost came to a full stop. “In 2008, when the financial crisis hit, it tested the resolve of the team,” recounts Company CEO, James Barlow. “A lot of businesses didn’t make it, and construction in particular was hit really hard, and the team wondered if we should close the business. There were customers who weren’t paying, and payroll was late. One weekend the team gathered – ten or twelve guys - and they took a vote on whether they should close the business or not. They voted to shut it down. Monday morning, the whole team showed back up to work because nobody had another job. They took another vote to decide whether or not to reopen the business, which became the consensus, and everybody went back to work. It was kind of a landmark moment when everybody decided to stay in the game.” For the next few years, 2008-2011, Barlow says it was all about survival and rebuilding from the ashes of the Great Recession. The company began to get some traction in the retail sector, building facilities for such well-known giants as Wal-Mart and Kroger. In 2012, BZI built its first distribution center – a 900,000-sq.-ft. facility for Family Dollar in St. George, Utah. Over the next few years, it also fulfilled a lot of specialty welding contracts, upgrading joists in existing facilities all over the U.S. “We started developing AT A GLANCE BUILDING ZONE INDUSTRIES WHAT: A steel erection company WHERE: Kanarraville, Utah WEBSITE: www.buildingzone.com