A 90-year-old construction company has decided to branch out for the first time- and in doing so, build roots in Warwick.

New Britain, CT-based Downes Construction Co. recently opened a Warwick office at 301 Metro Center Boulevard. The organization has helped in construction of schools, police and fire stations, as well as museums and libraries, which president Dan Patrick said were “boutique projects” for the company.

Patrick is a former resident of Rhode Island, having lived in Barrington for 34 years. What makes Downes unique, according to him, is its business structure- Downes is an employee-owned company.

“In May of 2020, all of the employees agreed to buy the company from the existing owner,” Patrick said. “We are 100% employee-owned.”

According to Patrick, Downes’ Warwick office is 5,000 square feet, and will have twelve full-time employees working here. Overall it has 75 employees. The office additionally has spaces for Downes’ upper management so that they can work on projects in both offices.

The company expanded to Rhode Island because it was working on Ocean State projects and wanted to build their presence. Warwick, Patrick said, was a convenient location for Downes’ Rhode Island operations due to both its centrality in the state and proximity to Route 95.

“Warwick is really a convenient location for us,” Patrick said. “It’s right off the highway, and we have an awful lot of people going up and down Route 95. It seems to be the right place.”

With a greater focus in Rhode Island, Downes is looking to narrow its focus even further, as the only Rhode Island roles the company is looking for right now are Owner’s Project Manager (OPM) roles for projects involving schools.

By doing that, Patrick said, Downes will be able to assist towns with renovations and building new schools, which he said will

“There’s a significant movement in Rhode Island to renovate the schools throughout the state,” Patrick said. “Our skillset is really focused on our ability to help cities and towns to implement and eventually oversee construction of these new projects.”

Last week, Downes interviewed to be the OPM for construction for the new Toll Gate and Pilgrim High Schools. Warwick Public Schools will be announcing their OPM on Feb. 13.

Currently, Downes is overseeing multiple projects in Providence, Woonsocket and Westerly, with an additional project at Davies Career and Technical High School.

Already finished projects in Rhode Island, according to Downes, are the Lincoln High School Physical Education Center and projects for Burrillville and Exeter-West Greenwich Public Schools.

In the future, Downes is potentially looking at expanding their Rhode Island repertoire to projects for healthcare buildings as well, according to Patrick.

Patrick said that he was excited for Downes’s new office in the state where he lived for 34 years, and said that their new office’s ribbon-cutting, which was held last week, was a “great kickoff” for their new location.

“We’re excited to have a branch in Warwick,” Patrick said.