Dunlop & Johnston, Inc. Information

Dunlop & Johnston, Inc., (D&J) was founded in 1910, when two carpenters, John Dunlop and Frank Johnston, Jr., arrived from Scotland. Later, they formed a general contracting company at the behest of clients who wanted a highly qualified firm to take control of their projects. In the mid 1950’s, D&J revised its business direction by building many of the largest and most ornate churches in the area. In the 1960’s and continuing through the 1980’s, concrete construction was its forte’ – with many multi-tiered projects for clients like Owens Illinois in Toledo, Ohio and Union Carbide in Charleston, West Virginia, as well as other projects throughout Ohio including TRW, The Cleveland Clinic, Ford, Chrysler and General Motors. During the mid-1970s, a descendant of one of the original founders, Craig Dunlop led the company, with Lee Malloy and Vincent DeCrane as officers. At that time, the firm hired Bill Spencer. Craig, the last Dunlop, retired soon after, and Malloy and DeCrane continued as principals. In the mid 1980’s, D&J began to move away from concrete as its main business unit and focused more on general contracting. At this time, the company performed major projects for such clients as Cleveland Metro Health, BF Goodrich, Master Builders, St. Joseph’s Hospital (Lorain) and the Summa Health System. Fifty years ago, the firm began operating their headquarters out of a building in Warrensville Heights, Ohio. As the company grew, it added wings and outbuildings to create a sprawling complex. In the mid-1990’s the firm moved its headquarters to a new facility they built in Valley City, Ohio, which continues to be their center of operations. Gradually, Bill Spencer assumed a larger role until he took over as total owner of the privately-held company in 2000. Bill’s son, Randy, began working at the company. He began at D&J as a laborer while continuing his schooling to earn his bachelor and master’s degree in Civil Engineering. He now serves as President of D&J.