Cherne Contracting Corporation

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Focus on Refining
With the decline of the power sector in the mid 1980s, Cherne sought opportunities in other industrial construction sectors. In 1986 Cherne secured contracts for the mechanical work at Lake Superior Paper Industries' new paper mill in Duluth, Minnesota and at Koch Refining's facility in Pine Bend, Minnesota. While Cherne had done paper projects before, the Koch project was the company's first experience in the refining industry, and exposure to new opportunities and new challenges. 

Cherne was ideally suited for refinery construction with its full service general contractor capabilities and its roots in mechanical construction. Following the 1986 Koch contract Cherne was awarded a second, much larger contract at Koch’s Rosemount facility. After successfully completing this second contract, Cherne looked to the southern California region for refinery construction opportunities, an area that had seen only a few union projects for several years. 

Using its historical productivity data Cherne was able to demonstrate to prospective clients that union construction, even with its higher wage rates, could actually be less costly than non-union construction. In 1989 Texaco awarded Cherne a cost reimbursable contract at Texaco's Wilmington, California refinery. Under the contract Cherne placed its fee at risk for cost performance creating a contract that had the flexibility of a cost reimbursable format while aligning Cherne and Texaco toward the goal of saving craft hours.

The Texaco project proved very successful and was followed by additional contracts with Texaco in California and Kansas. Cherne's performance attracted the attention of other refiners and soon resulted in contracts with companies such as ARCO, Shell, Ultramar, Conoco, Chevron, BP Amoco, Ultramar, Sunoco, Tesoro and Equilon as well as additional work for Koch.

In 1990 Cherne committed to an accident free workplace by adopting its Zero Accident Program. This commitment has moved Cherne from industry average safety performance in 1990 to industry leading safety performance today.

Cherne Contracting confidently moved into the 21st century under the leadership of CEO Bill Cherne. Guided by its substantial refining, power, and general industrial construction experience, Cherne continues to improve its processes and services to meet the needs of our clients.
Tony Cherne (center), founder of Cherne Contracting Corporation, posed for a photograph during his apprenticeship. Circa-1913