How DCI Group Reached Out-of-State Operators Every Week as Its Backlog Climbed to $420M
About Project
DCI Group’s business development lead had worked through his local network. Columnline started delivering researched out-of-state operators every week, and by March 2026 DCI’s backlog was more than three times its usual level for the time of year.
About DCI Group
DCI Group builds healthcare, senior living, and multifamily projects in Iowa and nearby states. Wade Hiner, who leads business development, brings operators to Iowa, where building costs far less than in California or Texas.
Wade had worked through his local network. One project can run $35 million, so a single good meeting pays off. He needed a steady way to find those operators first.
- Company
- DCI Group, Iowa City, Iowa
- Industry
- Commercial general contractor and construction manager: healthcare, senior living, multifamily
- Size and scale
- $420M backlog in March 2026. A new 15,000-square-foot office.
- What Columnline runs
- Pursuit research: a weekly batch of out-of-state operators, researched and ready for outreach
- Tools it works with
- Email, LinkedIn, a map-based lead portal
Before
- Google searches, one operator at a time
- No industry data services
- A few cold emails, then nothing back
- Digging to learn who builds in house
- Each contact is one conversation
After
- Best-fit operators arrive every week: 10 to 50 communities, within 500 miles, adding sites
- Each lead is a dossier with project details and source links
- Outreach that shows DCI knows the operator
- Wade scores each lead, and the next batch learns from it
- Operators refer Wade to developers building nearby
The Problem
Out-of-State Operators
Problem
The local network runs out
Out-of-state operators did not know DCI existed. Many build their own projects, leaving no work for a general contractor. Finding the ones worth a call meant searching one company at a time.
Solution
Researched operators, every week
Columnline built a search around DCI’s best-fit buyer. It watches for expansion news, capital raises, and new development hires. Wade scores each lead in a map-based portal. A zero means they build it themselves. A reply moves the score up.
The outreach follows Wade’s own rule: “the best chance you have to have somebody reach back out to you is for you to tell them how much you know about them.”
Pursuit Researcher
Finds operators that fit DCI’s profile, researches each with sources, and tunes every batch from Wade’s scores.
“Typically this time of year our backlog is around 1.30. It’s 4.20. And with what I have in front of me, it’ll be 560 shortly.”
Wade HinerBusiness Development, DCI GroupResults
A $420M backlog, about 3.2 times the usual for the time of year.
- $420M backlog in March 2026, about 3.2 times the usual $130M for that time of year, with $560M in sight.
- Researched operators delivered every week, each scored by Wade and used to tune the next batch.
- Operators now point Wade to the developers they build next to.
- Same-day research on a 196-unit student housing developer.
Outcome
The outcome
By March 2026, DCI’s backlog was more than three times normal, with $560M in sight. Operators now point Wade to the developers they build next to. When he needed due diligence on a student housing developer, it came back the same day: “This is more than enough thank you sir!!”
Wade has introduced Columnline to at least four companies. In his words: “When I run into something this good I can’t help but share with my network.”
Next steps
What’s next
Weekly batches continue with a dedicated account manager. Next up: market-rate developers who pair with senior living operators, then multifamily and hospitality.
Out of local contacts and need operators from other states? Book a call, and we will run the same job at your company.