Gehrtz Construction Services

What Gehrtz Construction Services does

Gehrtz Construction Services, Inc. (GCS) is a privately held construction management firm founded in 2001 and headquartered in downtown Fargo, North Dakota. The firm operates as a Construction Manager-as-Agent, meaning it acts exclusively as the owner's representative throughout the design, bidding, and construction lifecycle and does not self-perform any construction work. Its service portfolio comprises six integrated offerings: Construction Management, Pre-Construction, Owner's Representation, Pre-Design, Building Analysis, and Referendum & Fundraising Support. The Pre-Design capability is delivered in conjunction with sister company Zerr Berg Architects, which provides architectural drawing production and layout expertise.

GCS targets public-sector and institutional clients in the Upper Midwest, with primary verticals in K-12 education, healthcare, senior living, and government/municipal projects, plus secondary exposure to industrial, commercial, religious, and community builds. Named customers include Fargo Public Schools, Moorhead Area Public Schools, Detroit Lakes Public Schools, Essentia Health, Sanford Health, Eventide Senior Living Communities, Concordia College, Aldevron LLC, Clay County, and the City of Dilworth, among others. The company is owned by six principals — Steve Gehrtz, Matt Gehrtz, Dan Kleist, Brian Berg, Tony Wolf, and Tyler Brandriet — who collectively bring over 120 years of regional construction management experience.

The business model is professional services: GCS charges customized project management fees, with pricing quote-based and not publicly disclosed. GTM is relationship-driven and geographically concentrated in the Fargo-Moorhead metro area of North Dakota and Minnesota, with project-level reach extending to surrounding regional communities. Distribution is direct via enterprise field sales, RFP responses, and repeat-customer referrals; marketing relies on a project portfolio website, LinkedIn/Facebook presence, and word-of-mouth within the local institutional market. No external institutional investment, parent company, or subsidiaries (beyond the Zerr Berg Architects relationship) are disclosed.

Name

Gehrtz Construction Services

Legal name

Gehrtz Construction Services, Inc.

Website

https://gehrtzconstructionservices.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2001

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Gehrtz Construction Services is a Fargo, North Dakota-based construction management firm that acts as an owner's advocate on commercial, education, healthcare, senior living, and government projects across the Upper Midwest, without self-performing construction work.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Construction Management Services

NAICS

Nonresidential Building Construction (2362), Construction (23)

SIC

General Bldg Contractors - Nonresidential Bldgs (1540), Non-Operating Establishments (9995)

akta.pro primary industry

Construction Management (Agency/Owner’s Rep) (IMAFAAAC)

Keywords

• Construction management services
• Owner's representation
• Pre-construction planning
• Building commissioning services
• Post-construction services

Headquarters

HQ city

Fargo

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Construction Management Services: Professional construction management fees charged for overseeing construction projects from pre-construction through owner handoff. Services include CM Services, Pre-Construction, Owner's Representation, Pre-Design, Building Analysis, and Referendum & Fundraising Support. Revenue is generated through professional service fees on managed construction projects.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Gehrtz Construction Services is a construction management firm that acts as the owner's advocate throughout the entire building process. The firm never self-performs construction work, instead representing the owner across pre-construction, construction, building analysis, owner's representation, post-construction, and building commissioning phases. Services are delivered across the Fargo-Moorhead area and surrounding 150-mile radius for healthcare, senior living, education, municipal, and commercial/industrial clients.

Product overview

Gehrtz Construction Services (GCS) is a full-service construction management firm that provides professional CM services as an Agent to the owner. The company offers a unified portfolio of six integrated service offerings: Construction Management Services (core service managing projects from pre-construction through completion), Pre-Construction Services (early-phase planning and cost estimation), Owner's Representation (advocating for owner interests throughout projects), Pre-Design Services (drawing production support via partnership with Zerr Berg Architects), Building Analysis Services (facility assessments and renovation estimates), and Referendum & Fundraising Support (public project financing assistance). GCS does not self-perform construction work but focuses exclusively on managing projects on behalf of owners, acting as an extension of the owner's team with a firm but fair approach to contractors.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Pre-Construction

Named customers14 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Zerr Berg ArchitectscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerZerr Berg Architects is described as a 'sister company' with a very close partnership. GCS leverages ZBA's architectural expertise to offer additional drawing production and layout services. This partnership provides inside knowledge of architectural systems and design processes, allowing GCS to offer pre-design layout services and collaborate effectively on complex, high-performing buildings.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Hill International (Global Infrastructure Solutions): Global construction management and owner's-representation firm specializing in complex public-sector, healthcare, and education projects. Pure CM-as-agent heritage makes it a relevant incumbent peer for owner-rep engagements.
• JE Dunn Construction: Top-tier national CM/GC firm with strong healthcare, education, and government practices. Competes with GCS on owner-representation engagements but at far greater scale and geographic footprint.
• Mortenson Construction: Minneapolis-headquartered national construction firm with full CM-as-agent and design-build capabilities across healthcare, education, energy, and sports. Same Minnesota roots and vertical overlap but at substantially greater scale and geographic reach.
• Gilbane Building Company: National construction management and general contracting firm with a dedicated CM-as-agent offering, serving education, healthcare, and public-sector clients. Operates at much larger scale and broader geography but competes for similar owner-representation mandates.

Direct peers

• Knutson Construction: Minnesota-based construction services firm with comparable size, regional Midwest focus, and full-service CM offerings spanning commercial, healthcare, and education. Closely comparable in business model and market geography to GCS.
• Kraus-Anderson: Minneapolis-headquartered construction management and general contracting firm with deep Upper Midwest presence and similar owner-representation capabilities. Comparable vertical mix (healthcare, education, senior living, government) and similar relationship-driven regional model make it the closest direct peer.
• McGough Construction: Minnesota-based construction firm offering CM, general contracting, and development services with strong regional Midwest presence. Overlapping verticals (education, healthcare, senior living, industrial) and comparable owner-representation positioning.
• A.M. Higley: Mid-size construction management firm with a pure owner's-rep / CM-as-agent model, similar to GCS in size, philosophy, and project mix. Comparable structural decision not to self-perform, and serves similar healthcare, education, and public-sector clients.
• Heery International (Turner Construction): Specialized construction management / owner's-representation firm now part of Turner Construction. Direct peer in pure CM-as-agent philosophy and similar verticals (education, healthcare, government), though at greater scale.

Regional players

• WSB: Minnesota-based engineering and consulting firm that has expanded into owner-representation and program-management services across the Upper Midwest. Comparable regional focus and adjacent service-line expansion.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xlinkedin.com/company/gehrtz-construction-services
• Facebookfacebook.com/gehrtzconstructionservices
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/gehrtzconstructionservices

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Gehrtz Construction Services