Trade Design Build Turns Complex Projects Into Collaborative Client Experiences

Designing or renovating a home or commercial space can require clients to coordinate architects, contractors, project managers, and fabricators—all while navigating budgets, timelines, and hundreds of decisions along the way.

Trade Design Build was created to bring those moving parts together. Founded in 2016, the Ithaca, New York-based firm combines a licensed architecture practice, general contracting and project management, and custom millwork, casework, and furniture fabrication within one company. That integrated structure gives residential and commercial clients a single team from initial design through construction and fabrication.

For CEO Gideon Stone, delivering an exceptional experience starts well before construction begins. This approach earned Trade Design Build recognition as the Top Business (as well as the Top Honoree in the Customer Champions category) of the 2026 CO—100, an awards program for small businesses hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

[Read more: Meet the 2026 CO—100 Honorees]

Setting expectations before problems arise

Custom projects are inherently complex, and Trade Design Build doesn't define good customer service as eliminating every obstacle. Instead, the company focuses on helping clients understand the process, make informed decisions, and know that they have a reliable partner on their journey.

“For us, an exceptional customer experience begins with establishing the right expectations,” Stone said. “Designing and building a custom project is an exciting process, but it's also complex, filled with hundreds of decisions and inevitable challenges along the way.”

Trade Design Build begins by learning each client's priorities, goals, budget, and vision, then guides them through the decisions required to bring those elements together. Its integrated model also reduces the need for clients to coordinate several independent companies: Designers, project managers, builders, and craftspeople work together throughout the project, with Trade maintaining responsibility for the process.

More than 95% of Trade's clients use its full suite of architecture, construction, and custom fabrication services, according to the company.

[Read more: Customer Service Strategies That Boost Sales] 

Treating challenges as shared problems to solve

Having a single point of accountability becomes especially important when a project doesn't go according to plan.

On one recent residential project, Stone and his team developed a design and renovation plan that was initially focused on reworking the home’s interior spaces. Once demolition began, however, the team discovered a substantial amount of asbestos insulation. It quickly became clear that the best path forward was to strip the structure down to the studs and rebuild the building envelope—significantly changing both the project’s schedule and budget.

Rather than treating the issue as a construction problem to be resolved internally, Trade Design Build immediately brought the client into the conversation. The team explained what they had discovered, outlined the implications, and walked the client through the available options and tradeoffs.

“Our role was not just to identify the problem, but to help guide them through a difficult and complex decision-making process,” Stone said.

Through ongoing communication and collaboration, the team and client identified a path forward that minimized the impact on the schedule and budget while preserving the project’s broader goals and the trust that had been established.

“This situation could easily have derailed the project, but because we approached it as partners—with trust, honesty, and a commitment to solving problems together—we were able to navigate a challenging circumstance successfully,” Stone said.

[Read more: 5 Tips for Encouraging Teamwork in Your Small Business]

Using client relationships to keep improving

Trade Design Build applies the same emphasis on candor to customer feedback. After contracts conclude, the company surveys clients and explicitly encourages candid—even critical—responses. Throughout projects, frequent communication also gives the team opportunities to identify and address concerns before they escalate.

The firm's growth has required it to build more formal systems around that collaborative approach. Stone’s company started with three people and less than $300,000 in first-year revenue; today, it has grown to 35 employees and projects approximately $12 million in 2026 revenue.

Yet one of Trade Design Build’s most important measures of customer experience is less numerical: whether clients continue the relationship after their projects end.

“Many of our past clients remain close connections, often returning to us for future projects or recommending us to others,” Stone said. “For us, the greatest measure of success is when a client relationship extends beyond the project itself and becomes a lasting relationship built on trust and mutual respect.”

For Trade Design Build, putting customers first doesn't mean promising that an inherently complicated process will always be easy. It means giving clients the expertise, transparency, and partnership they need to navigate that complexity together.

[View the full 2026 CO—100 list]

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