How Great Falls Strengthened Its People-First Culture with One Connected System

Company Overview

Great Falls Construction has been building Maine for nearly four decades. Founded in 1988 by Jon and Cindy Smith, the family-owned company has grown steadily from its roots in small residential projects to become one of the state’s most trusted general contractors. Today, Great Falls employs more than 80 people and delivers projects across the state ranging from homes and fire stations to a $37 million public school build that’s currently underway.

What makes Great Falls unique is its people-first philosophy. The company shapes its project mix around employee strengths and goals. “Some of our team members thrive on residential jobs, while others prefer big commercial projects,” says HR Manager Lindsay Nason. “We try to line up work that fits their strengths, because we want people to enjoy what they do and build a career here. We’re more of a crockpot than a microwave — we grow intentionally, making sure we’re building careers as well as projects.”

With an apprenticeship program, on-the-job mentoring, and strong partnerships with local schools, Great Falls is preparing the next generation of builders while ensuring today’s employees make it home to their families each night.

The Challenge

Behind that steady growth was a back office stretched thin. HR and payroll were split across four separate systems: one for time tracking, one for payroll, one for benefits enrollment, and another for HR documents.

“Payroll alone took me three to four hours every week,” Lindsay recalls. “I had to re-enter benefits, update deductions by hand, track certifications in spreadsheets, and print checks for reimbursements. Everything was stored in different places. It was very manual.”

As the company doubled in size, those inefficiencies became impossible to ignore. Employees juggled multiple logins and passwords, and HR spent more time on paperwork than on people.

The Solution

When Lindsay first saw Miter, the difference was clear.

Payroll & Compliance

Certified payroll had long been one of the most time-consuming parts of Lindsay’s job. Each week she filled out forms by hand, tracked fringe benefits in spreadsheets, and scrambled whenever requirements changed.

Miter put an end to that. Certified payroll and fringe reports are now generated immediately, a task Lindsay once dreaded is finished with a click.

The improvements go beyond compliance. Weekly payroll runs faster and with less effort, even as Great Falls has added more employees. “Payroll used to take me three or four hours a week,” Lindsay explains. “With Miter, it’s cut in half, even though we’ve added more employees.”

With timesheets, pay rates, and deductions all feeding directly into payroll, there’s no longer any re-entry or backtracking. Instead of checking and rechecking the math, Lindsay can trust the system to keep everything aligned.

Time Tracking & PTO

Before Miter, tracking time meant juggling multiple systems. Employees clocked hours in T-Sheets, PTO was logged somewhere else, and Lindsay had to pull everything together manually at the end of the week. It was slow, clunky, and prone to errors.

Now, employees clock in and out by job and cost code directly from their phones, with geofencing that surfaces the right project. Hours flow straight into payroll, cutting out extra steps and reducing mistakes.

PTO requests and pay stubs live in the same app, giving employees a single place to manage their information and saving Lindsay countless calls and emails.

Benefits

Open enrollment used to be one of the most frustrating times of year. Employees had to remember which website to log into, track down old passwords, and then hope the system worked. Once elections were made, Lindsay had to go into payroll and manually update deductions for every single employee.

Miter changed that completely. Benefits enrollment now happens in the same system employees already use for time and payroll, and deductions flow directly into payroll without any extra steps. “Everything with benefits is automated and seamless,” Lindsay says. “I don’t have to worry about entering anything manually.”

What was once a stressful season has become routine, saving hours for HR and making the process easier for every employee.

Reimbursements

Reimbursements followed a similar story. In the past, employees would email photos of receipts or drop paper copies on AP’s desk, and the team would cut paper checks — sometimes for just a few dollars of mileage. The process was slow and inefficient for everyone involved.

Now, employees take a photo in the Miter app, code it to the right job, and hit submit. Lindsay reviews and approves, and the reimbursement is deposited with payroll.

The result is faster turnaround, less frustration, and more time for the back office to focus on higher-value work.

Recruiting & Onboarding

As Great Falls has grown, so has the need to bring new people on board quickly and seamlessly. Hiring is no longer a once-in-a-while task, it’s a constant part of keeping up with new projects and building the next generation of the workforce.

With Miter, recruiting, onboarding, and payroll are seamlessly connected. Candidate information flows forward, and once hired, employees enter their details directly into the system. “Before, I’d send out onboarding packets and then re-enter everything into payroll,” Lindsay says. “Now employees fill out their own information in Miter and it all flows through. I just make sure it looks good.”

Since launching Miter, Great Falls has onboarded 25 new employees in less than a year, all without adding extra HR staff.

Performance & Certifications

Performance reviews and certifications had also been managed manually, often with paper forms and Excel trackers. Reviews were easy to lose track of, and certification expiration dates could slip by unnoticed.

Miter brought order to the process. Annual reviews are set up in the system and delivered straight to employees’ phones, reaching everyone, including those who don’t use computers. Certifications are uploaded during onboarding, and Miter tracks expiration dates automatically. “We’ve never had a system to track certifications before,” Lindsay says. “Now I can pull a report and see exactly what people have and when it expires.”

Communication

With Miter, even communication ties back to the same platform. In-app chat and SMS messaging let Lindsay reach every employee directly on their phone, the same place they clock time, view pay stubs, and request PTO.

Employee Experience

For Great Falls, modernizing the back office wasn’t just about saving time, it was about creating a better experience for employees. Before Miter, team members had to juggle four different systems just to clock in, request PTO, check their pay stub, or enroll in benefits. Confusion over logins and forgotten passwords were routine, and simple changes like updating a direct deposit required a call to HR.

Miter changed all of that. With one login, employees can now handle everything in a single app — from pay stubs and PTO to tax forms and direct deposit updates. “Every single team member has been able to do what they need to do in Miter. We haven’t had any issues.,” Lindsay says. “It’s very user friendly.”

Errors are also caught earlier, which means fewer headaches for employees. “Before, I’d get emails Thursday morning saying, ‘my check’s wrong,’” Lindsay explains. “Now we catch those in advance.”

The difference shows up in day-to-day interactions. Employees don’t need to chase down HR for answers, and important updates reach them right away by text. The result is a system that feels simple, reliable, and designed with them in mind.

The Results

For Great Falls Construction, growth has always been about more than adding projects or headcount. It’s about serving people and giving employees a workplace where they can build long-term careers, and delivering projects that strengthen Maine’s communities.

With Miter, the company’s back office now reflects that same commitment. Payroll, compliance, benefits, recruiting, and communication all live in one system, giving employees a smoother experience and giving HR more time to focus on people instead of paperwork.

The impact is both human and operational. Payroll takes half the time, compliance reports are instant, onboarding is seamless, and employees have the tools they need at their fingertips. Great Falls can keep growing without slowing down its back office and without losing sight of its mission to put people first.