By Christina Knauss, Columbia Regional Business Report, September 17, 2024 — Local and family-owned. Those are two words used by many businesses simply to promote their product, but for Chad and Caroline Lindler of Chapin, those two words are the foundation of everything they do.
The Lindlers own and run Chapin Commercial Construction, a licensed general contractor that since its founding in 2018 has worked on a wide variety of projects in the Carolinas, with a special focus on new construction in the rapidly growing communities of Lexington and Chapin.
Chapin Commercial offers commercial construction services across a wide range of industries in South Carolina, North Carolina and Tennessee. Headquartered in Chapin — also the home town for both Chad and Caroline — the company currently has plans underway to open offices in Beaufort, capitalizing on the rapid growth in that area of South Carolina’s Lowcountry.
The company’s name reflects not only its location but the Lindlers’ very roots.
Both grew up in Chapin, attended all three area schools and moved back to the area after attending Clemson University. It’s where they married and where they are raising their children. Chad Lindler worked in commercial construction for more than 20 years, making important contacts with developers, architects, suppliers and prospective clients that paid off when he decided to start his own company. Caroline has a background in accounting.
“I like to be my own boss and enjoy establishing relationships with folks,” he said. “Commercial construction can be a very lengthy process, and I’m a hands-on person who likes to see things happen from the ground up.”
Caroline Lindler said the business is based on a relationship forged over many years.
“Chad and I have known each other since we were 3 — we were in preschool together,” she said. “We started dating in high school, have been together for 24 years and married for 15. I think us having that long-term, strong foundation helps from a professional perspective. We understand each other and we bring different things to the table — he is on the construction side and I’m on the financial side.”
In the past six years, Chapin Commercial Construction has worked on everything from stores and car dealerships to industrial buildings, fitness facilities and even houses of worship — Saluda River Baptist Church in West Columbia and St. Jacob Lutheran Church in Lexington.
One of the company’s main selling points is their “design-build” approach which combines architectural, structural and MEP (mechanical, engineering and plumbing) systems design with general and trade contractor services, offering clients a seamless project journey from beginning to end.
“It varies with every client — some clients know exactly what they want, and others the construction takes longer,” Chad Lindler said. “We have people that call in and say they want to build, say, a restaurant and they don’t know where to start. We can put you in contact with the people you need and as a team guide you through the entire process.”
This approach drew kudos from leaders at Heavy Iron Cranes earlier this year after Chapin Commercial completed construction on its new headquarters at 4862 Augusta Road in Lexington.
“I could not have chosen a better general contractor to partner with on this build,” said Levy Brack, vice president of Heavy Iron Cranes.
One of the things that stands out in this process is the communication between Chapin Commercial Construction and all the sub-contractors. Chad and his team of contractors have an exceptional work ethic.
Heavy Iron Cranes, established in 2008, is a crane services provider that sells, services and rents cranes, specializing in new and late-model equipment including crawler, rough terrain and all-terrain cranes.
That design-build approach means that the Lindlers have to tailor the building process to the needs of the client. There’s no cookie-cutter approach to timing. Some projects, like Heavy Iron Cranes’ headquarters, are conceived and completed in a year.
A golden hammer hanging on the wall of the company conference room — a gift from a former client — reminded Chad of a longer process that dated back to 2018, which started with helping the client find land to purchase, then went through the design process and finally construction.
Other recent projects show the wide range of Chapin Construction’s client base.
The company is currently wrapping up a build on a new Aquarius Spa facility in downtown Chapin next to the historic Robinson Hiller House. Also near completion is a new Club Pilates on Sparkleberry Road in Northeast Columbia.
Also near completion is a new location of Circa Barbershop — its fourth in the Midlands — coming to Main Street in Lexington, located in the same building as the Craig Reagin Clothiers.
Other recent builds include Forest Acres and Lexington locations of StretchLab, a California-based fitness brand that offers customized assisted stretching services, and a Vital Eyes optometrist location in Chapin. Some restaurant projects in the Midlands are also on the horizon.
The company is also working on an expansion of Whitaker Funeral Home in Chapin. This project has some special challenges because efforts are being made to try to find materials that will match the distinctive orange-shaded rock used to build the original structure.
Working with a wide variety of businesses — especially franchises — also has challenges that the Lindlers work to accommodate, including finding ways to fit a company’s design requirements into a wide variety of spaces, including historic structures.
The rapid growth in both Chapin and Lexington — driven by retirees and others moving into the area — has given the Lindlers a constant stream of new clients right in their own hometown area.
“The area has been booming for years,” Caroline Lindler said. “We love to see the development but it can be challenging as a business owner. There are challenges from an infrastructure perspective, but generally we feel the development is good for the community because it provides services we used to have to drive into Columbia for. Now it’s all coming here.”
The company dealt with the same challenges that faced the construction sector during the COVID-19 pandemic — price increases and supply chain bottlenecks. While supply chain issues have eased for the most part, prices continue to be a challenge, Chad Lindler said. The biggest issue, however, is another that the sector is facing nationwide — a shortage of labor.
“Good labor is hard to find. We’ve been struggling to find good quality employees who want to work and want to work hard, but that’s a part of being in the construction business,” he said. “We’re fortunate in that we have a great group of sub-contractors.”
Working as a husband-and-wife team means that business is never far away, and the Lindlers have advice for other couples who might be wanting to start businesses but also concerned about maintaining important family time.
Chad said that “keeping open lines of communication” at all times is one of the most important things for couples to consider. Both also say that learning how to forge a work-life balance is crucial.
“You have to be intentional about it because you end up taking your phone and computer with you everywhere you go,” Caroline Lindler said. “We are intentional about blocking out time together as a family. We try to go on vacation, but the double-edged sword with technology is you can go on vacation but you’re never actually away. So maybe when we’re away, we spend three hours in the morning working, but the benefit is that we’re still on vacation. After that time, he and I are done and then we can focus on family time. It’s important to be intentional about that focus.”
The Lindlers also stay involved with the community, including annual volunteer work with Camp Kemo, a children’s summer camp experience run by Prisma Health. Each year, campers go to the Chapin area for a day of boating and swimming, and the Lindlers pitch in to help with cooking. Their children go along so it’s another chance for important family time with a community focus.