Business Banking Customer Spotlight: Wallboard Specialties
When Mike Middleton describes how his family’s construction company chooses projects, he doesn’t talk about profit margins or industry sectors. “We don’t really pick an industry. We just pick people,” he says. “That’s how we choose our business. We like to work with people we know and trust and that we can work well with.”
This relationship-first philosophy has guided Wallboard Specialties through four decades of growth in Utah’s construction industry. As Vice President of this second-generation family business, Mike has watched his company evolve from focusing primarily on smaller projects to taking on some of Utah’s most complex construction plans. But the approach has never changed, and they still choose their partners based on trust and shared values, rather than just the size of the contract.
Building on Four Decades of Craftsmanship
Mike Middleton, Vice President, Wallboard Specialties, SLC
Wallboard Specialties is a commercial wall and ceiling firm focusing primarily on metal stud framing, drywall, insulation, acoustical ceilings, specialty wall and ceiling treatments, doors, frames and hardware, and other specialty finishes.
“For the majority of our business’s existence, we focused on small work. Over the last 10 years, we’ve really started to grow and pursue larger projects,” Mike says.
When a 450,000-square-foot student housing project at the University of Utah landed on their desk, Mike knew his family’s business was about to change. The project required an unprecedented amount of steel in an impossibly short timeframe, during the height of supply chain chaos. Every month of delay meant another million dollars in costs, and potentially losing the project altogether.
That’s when their partnership with First Utah Bank transformed what could have been a crisis into a defining opportunity.
Taking the Reins of the Family Business
About a decade ago, Mike and his brother took over the family business from their father, which required them to make a pivotal transition within their company. The buyout meant they needed a new line of credit that wasn’t backed by their father’s personal finances, and their family’s long-standing bank wasn’t quite ready to meet them where they were.
They approached their existing bank and told them they were striking out on their own, and they needed a new line of credit. ”They presented us with a solution that seemed like it was maybe more expensive and didn’t quite fit what we were looking for, and it didn’t seem like they had listened to what we had said.”
The experience left the brothers feeling like just another account number rather than valued business partners. That’s when a neighbor who worked at First Utah Bank suggested they give someone else a try.
“We sat down with First Utah Bank and they asked a lot of questions about who we are, where we’re going, what we’re trying to achieve,” Mike says. “They presented us with an awesome product that really fit our needs and was scalable, and we were able to grow with it.”
When Crisis Meets Opportunity
The true test of their new banking partnership came in 2022, when Wallboard Specialties landed their most ambitious project yet — a massive student housing development that would push every limit. The 450,000-square-foot project faced three massive challenges.
First, the timeline was compressed to an almost impossible degree. “They needed to design and build the entire project in less than two years. Normally a project of that size is at least a three year deal,” Mike says.
Second, the entire structure would use load-bearing metal stud framing, a technique that was common elsewhere but never attempted on this scale in Utah’s market.
The third challenge was the most daunting. Supply chain disruptions had made it difficult to procure metal studs, which were quickly becoming a scarce resource. “Metal studs went from taking about two weeks to get, to taking eight months to get. And in that time, the price of that metal stud was increasing 10 to 15 percent a month, every single month.”
The math was brutal. With the amount of steel required, every month of delay meant another million dollars in project costs. The project wouldn’t be financially viable if they couldn’t solve this problem.
A Partnership That Moved Mountains (and Steel)
Faced with these challenges, Mike and his team approached First Utah Bank with what he describes as their “wild business plan.” They needed both a property to house their operation, and enough credit to finance their solution.
“We needed to find a property and purchase that property, and we only had 90 days to get it done,” Mike says. “And First Utah Bank didn’t shy away from that at all. They stepped right up to the plate.”
But the property was just the beginning. To truly solve the supply chain crisis, Wallboard Specialties decided they would purchase their own equipment to manufacture metal studs in-house. “The second major challenge was to double our line of credit in order to finance the project,” Mike says. “They brought us in. They sat us down. They really heard what we were trying to achieve.”
Where another bank might have rejected their proposal, First Utah Bank saw an innovative solution worth supporting. “They were willing to hear us out, and they heard what we said. They were interested in being our partner, and not just our bank.”
Shared Values in Business and Banking
According to Mike, what set First Utah Bank apart wasn’t just a willingness to say yes to ambitious projects. It was how the bank built trust with them throughout the process.
“First Utah Bank clearly wanted to be our partner. They wanted us to succeed,” he says. “We talked through all of the challenges, they told us their concerns, and we were able to meet in the middle and solve the problem.” Rather than simply processing paperwork, First Utah Bank’s team took the time to understand Wallboard Specialties’ vision and growth trajectory.
“One of the unique things about First Utah bank is their ability to work with us on a personal level,” Mike says. “Every time we bring a challenge or a concern, we feel like they really listen. They hear us out, and then they present solutions that are clearly tailored to our business and have our best interest in mind.”
Innovation That Drives Market Leadership
The success of their in-house manufacturing solution transformed Wallboard Specialties from a traditional contractor into a market innovator. They now provide prefabrication and cold formed steel trusses for a variety of construction projects, creating new opportunities for their business in a highly competitive industry.
“First Utah Bank’s response to our needs really enabled us to become a market leader in our segment,” Mike says. “We’re doing lots of things that have never been done in Utah before, and it’s allowing us to scale at an incredible rate.”
The partnership has given the Middleton brothers the support they needed to take on the many challenges they were facing. “In business, there are a lot of things that can keep you up at night. For us, finances is always one of those things,” Mike says. “We know that when problems arise or concerns or struggles, that they’re on our side, they’re in our corner.”
This confidence translates directly into smart business growth and innovation. When competitors or customers ask about their banking relationships, Mike doesn’t hesitate to share his enthusiasm for First Utah Bank’s approach.
“First Utah bank has been integral to our growth,” he says. “Without them and their forward thinking, solution oriented way of doing business, we wouldn’t have been able to grow or achieve anything we’ve done in the last 10 years.”
Today, Wallboard Specialties continues to push boundaries, taking on projects that seemed impossible just a few years ago. Their success shows just how the right banking partnership can transform challenges into advantages, and how local partners like First Utah Bank can champion innovation in ways that larger institutions simply can’t (or won’t).
For a family business built on relationships and trust, finding a bank that operates with the same values has made all the difference. As Mike puts it, “We would recommend them to anyone.”