A Legacy of Excellence: Bonneville Builders’ 25-Year Journey

Bonneville Builders was founded in 1998 by John Tebbs and named after the ancient Lake Bonneville. John Tebbs is still very active at Bonneville as the current president. Over the past 25 years, Bonneville has grown into a sizeable and well-respected commercial general contractor, upholding its mission of building great buildings with great people.

We had the opportunity to interview Bonneville Builders’ assistant vice president and senior project manager, Tyler Fellows. He shared key insights into the factors contributing to Bonneville’s success while reflecting on their past collaborations with FOCUS Engineering and Surveying.

Building a Strong Team and Culture

Bonneville Builders employs various personnel across its development, preconstruction, and construction phases. “We have a fantastic business development team building strong relationships with clients. Our estimating team goes above and beyond to find every dollar to meet clients’ needs when planning a project. Our operations team works tirelessly to meet each owner’s expectations every week.”

In his role at Bonneville Builders, Tyler, along with vice president/senior project manager Kelly Rasmussen, focuses on shaping the company’s operational policies and procedures. They provide support and direction to project management staff as they navigate RFIs, submittals, change orders, and other challenges on job sites. Tyler emphasizes consistent alignment with Bonneville Builders’ mission and values. Bonneville Builders defines a great employee and person through qualities like honesty, preparedness, dignity, and endurance. “It’s all about keeping our commitments. When we face failure, we own it and make the necessary adjustments so that, in the end, we fulfill our commitment to completing the project.” Notably, Bonneville Builders has been ranked among Utah’s top 100 fastest-growing companies for three consecutive years. When asked about the key contributing factor to this success, Tyler stated, “What makes Bonneville unique is our people. I don’t mean that in a general sense. These specific people working for us are truly the ones that make the difference.”

Collaboration with FOCUS Engineering and Surveying

When asked about what initially sparked the collaboration with FOCUS, Tyler expressed appreciation for FOCUS personnel’s willingness to work through challenges. “Even while negotiating a change order fee, which isn’t always ideal, FOCUS was able to establish a mutually beneficial relationship in terms of cost. They’re always on point with responsiveness, getting crews out to work sites even on short notice.” Bonneville Builders has partnered with FOCUS for almost five years. One of their most recent projects is Ridgeview—a large townhome development with 46 buildings in Highland, Utah. Tyler added, “As we’ve worked through additional services, FOCUS and Bonneville have developed a winning relationship. In my experience, they’ve always supported us and come to the table to meet our needs.”

At FOCUS, we are excited to achieve many more successes alongside the exceptional Bonneville Builders team.