June 2013
| Business World Magazine | 249
agreement. “The reaction on the part of a
two-headed entity can be a disaster for the
owner,” says Hancock.
At Synchro, that issue is moot because the
architects and construction teams all work
under the same roof of the same company;
collaboration isn’t something simply encour-
aged, it’s the way work gets done - no ifs, ands
or buts about it.
Hancock envisioned certain benefits for
customers that could result from the stream-
lining of services and synergies, essentially,
by using a team approach, and he got his
chance to put his theories to the test in 1981.
The construction company had already been
in operation for just over 20 years through
the efforts of a man known Dick Ganchan.
Hancock actually married Ganchan’s daugh-
ter, but his love for the building trade and
his experiences with Brown & Root helped
him to ultimately secure leadership of Syn-
chro where he soon changed its entire opera-
tional model. Where it had once focused on
residential construction, the company went
on to become a leader in the designing and
building of complex commercial and indus-
trial facilities.
Synchro was one of the earliest companies
to combine architectural and construction
services under one roof and the synergy that
