The Blue Book Network

The Blue Book Network

Type of business	ESOP
Founded	1913
Headquarters	Jefferson Valley, New York
Area served	United States
Founder(s)	The O'Malley Family
Key people	Richard Johnson, President
Industry	Construction
Services	Online marketplace, Review site, SaaS, Magazine Advertising, SEO/SEM, Trade shows
Revenue	$85M US
Website	http://www.thebluebook.com

The Blue Book Network, also known as The Contractor's Blue Book or simply as The Blue Book, is a marketing, workflow software and print media company.

The company name is rooted in the fact that for over 104 years they have published numerous regional buyers guides listing commercial construction companies, largely subcontractors and suppliers. Now twice annually (Spring & Fall), 32 regional blue book editions are delivered to property managers, facilities managers and commercial general contractors. It is often compared to a yellow pages for contractors, given the focus on mini ads within The Who's Who of Building & Construction and the more recent evolution of offering search solutions for search engine marketing.

History

1937 edition of the Subcontractors Register

The company traces its roots to when Joseph O'Malley, president of The Society of the Allied Building Trades, first published a subcontractor's registry for New York City in 1913.^[1] The Subcontractors Register for the Allied Building Trades was a directory of subcontractors for the New York City area, listing companies by their trade. It was published by Joseph O'Malley (1893–1985) who was later joined by his nephew, Walter Francis O'Malley, as editor.^[2] The 1942 version calls itself: "A Classified List for the Allied Building Trades of Sub-Contractors, Material Dealers & Manufacturers, General Contractors & Builders, Architects - Engineers, Real Estate Management Firms".

Later expansion in the New York and New England markets took place. The Blue Book spread to the west coast by 1992 and (the hard cover edition) was permanently retired in 2016. It was subsequently replaced by a series of bi-annual regional magazines called The Who's Who in Building & Construction.

The prior content of the hard bound book was transitioned online and referred to as The Blue Book Network. The web-based buyer's guide contains critical information on architects, contractors, manufacturers, suppliers, vendors, and other companies relevant to the commercial bidding and build process.

In 1999, the company extended its focus to include bid messaging and private project reporting. A private and secure online plan room providing full reporting called BB-Bid was released at no cost to general contractors and property/facility managers. The BB-Bid software allowed a user to upload a construction project onto the site and message the bid to the subcontracting and supplier community, regardless of their presence in the paid print directory.^[3]

In 2013, the company became an Employee Owned Corporation with the creation of an employee stock ownership plan devised by then owner James O'Malley. James O'Malley had been the CEO for over 50 years.

In 2014 they partnered with .BUILD to help commercial construction companies secure their targeted domain and appropriate domain name registration.^[4]

In 2015, the company which owns Blue Book, Jefferson Valley, New York-based Contractor's Register, launched a SaaS and bid management system called OneTeam.build. OneTeam.build was delayed four months due to performance issues and re-released in January 2016. The organization is also known for hosting large regional trade shows now known as The Who's Who Showcase.

In 2016, The Blue Book introduced its new regional construction magazines - The Who's Who in Building & Construction (and each edition includes their regional buyer's guide). The magazines are published and delivered FREE of charge to the industry in both the spring and fall.

In 2017, the company launched its newest online tool called the "Relationship Manager" allowing project participants to connect while improving communications between all parties.

The company has over 500 employees nationwide and seeks to build a business development role within small to mid-sized commercial contracting companies. Blue Book as an organization is valued at around $90 million US as of January 2016.

References