As PROCON celebrates 90 years in business, its fourth-generation of leadership continues to push the boundaries of design-build innovation while honoring family traditions.
What started as a small residential builder has evolved into one of New England’s largest design and construction companies, known for building Dartmouth College’s new $75 million dormitory and two hotels that rise above Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts.
In 2024, PROCON won two excellence in construction awards for its design-build of the Tuscan Village project in Salem and for its 700,000-square-foot Rand-Whitney industrial project in Boylston, Massachusetts.
John Stebbins, CEO of PROCON, says the company’s reputation and client list wasn’t built overnight. “It’s an iteration of building projects slightly larger and slightly more complicated year by year,” he says.
PROCON made a critical shift in the 1980s, when Mark Stebbins, John’s father, reimagined what it could be. After Mark passed away in 2021, John, and his sister Jennifer Stebbins Thomas, stepped into leadership roles and continue to expand upon his vision.
“He was the one with the idea to bring the design professionals into the organization,” Stebbins says. “He grew the business from where it was in 1980—around $10 million a year—to around $200 million in revenue.”
The company’s design-build model, where architects, engineers, and construction experts work together, remains its competitive advantage. But it’s PROCON’s deep ties to the community that inspire trust and attract repeat business, according to Tracey Pelton, PROCON’s vice president of marketing and corporate affairs. “It’s all about the relationships we build with our subcontractors, our clients, and the community,” she says.
With roughly 1,500 units currently in design and construction, the company recently launched Tidemark, a development firm dedicated to expanding affordable housing options across the state. “We’ve put a renewed focus on multifamily housing. That is a major need for the region,” Stebbins says.
PROCON also embraces new technology to make the design-build process more efficient and cost effective. “We’re modeling an entire building [on a computer] right down to almost the nails and making sure it’s fully coordinated and all systems work together, and that it’s fully constructible before we put shovels in the ground,” Stebbins says.
For decades, the Stebbins family has supported causes from the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Manchester and Easterseals NH, to the new Mark Stebbins Community Center, which will house the Boys & Girls Club, Amoskeag Health, the NH Food Bank and other nonprofit support services to assist Manchester residents. “My grandfather and my dad really enhanced that tradition,” Stebbins says. “My sister and I are trying to carry that forward.”
