SPRING/SUMMER EDITION 2015
Construction Executive In-depth Profiles of Chicago Area Construction Executives & Projects
80 YEARS OF EXCELLENCE: Matthews Roofing serves commercial and residential customers LOYALITY AND PERSEVERENCE: Custom Roofing weathers storms, puts customers first INDUSTRIAL GROWTH: Principle Construction builds to fit clients’ growing needs
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Photos Courtesy of Matthews roofing Co.
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ConstruCtion ExECutivE
Elmer W. Matthews opened up shop on North Avenue in Chicago in 1934.
Matthews Roofing’s roots start with Depression-era ambition
Elmer W. Matthews, above, worked on roofs high above the city streets of Chicago. At far left, Elmer’s son William carries on the family tradition.
In the early 1930s, an ambitious young man was hard at work driving his bread truck on his daily route. He was doing his best to keep food on the table for his young family. But in his heart he knew he wanted more. Coming from a family of roofing laborers, he knew the fundamentals of roofing and he knew it well. He had the experience to install a good roof, one of high quality and expert workmanship. It was 1934 — in the grip of the Great Depression — when Elmer W. Matthews started Matthews Roofing Co. Inc. in Chicago.
In such a difficult economic environment, Matthews realized full well that only through unflagging dedication to service, excellence of workmanship, quality materials, unwavering dependability and affordable pricing could his business thrive. Since that time, those cornerstones have guided the family’s business principles in every generation. Confidence in the quality of his work and the integrity of his business methods soon earned Matthews Roofing one of the highest reputations in Chicago.
By the 1980s, Matthews Roofing was being run by Elmer’s son, William, and the business had grown to employ dozens of roofers working throughout the city.
Matthews Roofing rises high on lofty reputation By Jean Murphy
Daily Herald Correspondent
Courtesy of Matthews roofing Co.
Roofers from Matthews Rooofing Co. replace a steeply pitched roof over a Chicago home. The company does commercial, industrial and residential work.
people need help, even in winter.” Matthews Roofing works on flat industrial and commercial roofs, as well as residential roofs needing
laminate, slate or wood shingles. But the call for wood shake and slate shingles has decreased over the years as owners transition to other types of
Continued on Page 4
We Would Like To Congratulate
Matthew’s
Roofing Company
ConstruCtion ExECutivE
The Matthews family has been dedicated to providing Chicago area building owners with shelter from the elements, both at work and at home, since Elmer Matthews founded Matthews Roofing in Chicago during the Great Depression. Today, Elmer’s son, William, along with five other direct descendants and two in-laws, are active in the business doing commercial/industrial and residential roofing within a 50-mile radius of Chicago (including portions of Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin). And their headquarters at 3737 W. North Ave. is located within only a few blocks of Elmer’s original location, also on North Avenue. “We employ between 75 and 100 people, three-quarters of whom are seasonal,” said Keith Matthews, vice president of marketing and Elmer’s grandson. “We work as long as the weather permits and even in the middle of winter. If there is an emergency, we will shovel off the snow and work. That is a big deal in this industry because many of the little companies shut down each winter and sometimes
shingles that are easier to maintain, Matthews said. “When a homeowner is considering renovations, he or she should not ignore the roof. We often see people replacing the windows and doors and also the siding, but leaving the old roof in place,” he said. “It is important to look at the whole picture. A 50-year-old roof really takes away from the value and aesthetic of the home. Besides, your roof is your most important barrier between the weather and your machinery (in the case of a business) or your good china (in the case of a home). When you buy a new roof, you are buying peace of mind,” Matthews said. In addition, except as a temporary measure, you don’t want to patch a roof because it is not a permanent answer and mixing old and new shingles never looks good, Matthews believes. In addition, keep in mind that most municipalities won’t allow multiple roofs to be installed on top of each other. Many allow only one roof, while others will allow up to two. “You can’t keep adding layers of roofing to a building because each
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For 80 years, company has thrived on family values
ConstruCtion ExECutivE
Continued from Page 3
layer is very heavy and then adding a large snowfall to the live load could be disastrous,” he said. “We use the best materials available, even though they are more expensive, because we understand you get what you pay for. Besides, the better materials offer better warranties,” Matthews said. While Matthews Roofing installs a variety of roofing systems that meet the needs of each individual customer, they primarily use GAF, IKO, Certainteed and Johns Manville products. For instance, they steer customers who are ecologically and energy-conscious toward roofs that are coated with aluminum to reflect the sun’s heat away from the home or structure. Matthews admitted he is not a fan of garden roofs covered with lots of soil and plants. You have to engineer and certify the building and roof decking to make sure they are strong enough to hold all of that extra weight, along with any weight from snow in the winter. And what happens when the plants and trees grow too large, he asked. That will happen. Without proper landscape
Photos Courtesy of Matthews roofing Co.
The business is still located on North Avenue, not far from where Elmer Matthews’ original shop was located.
maintenance, you will end up with a dirt pile. If you have been a Chicago-area resident for many years, you can attest to the fact that Matthews Roofing’s name has for years been seen all over the city on billboards and 8-foot-tall signs posted on buildings in every neighborhood.
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You’ve heard them on WBBM Newsradio and on Chicago Bulls radio as the sponsors of the “Raise the
Roof Play of the Game.” “During my grandfather’s time, we had 70 or 80 of the 8-by-8s (billboards) around the city and we still maintain as many as we can to this day, though there are fewer,” he said. “We have survived for more than 80 years, not because of our signs, but because of our family values. We strive to be fair and honest and while no one has a perfect record, we always try to do our best. The whole family is very hands-on,” Matthews said. “The most valuable piece of business advice I ever received from my father was that nothing is free, but if you work hard, you will reap the benefits. He has also taught all of us to try to put ourselves in our customers’ shoes and understand their point of view in all dealings,” he added. Matthews Roofing can be reached at (773) 276-4100 or you can visit www. matthewsroofing.com.
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Matthews’ roofers work on a curved surface, above, and a flat roof, below.
Cary roofing contractor weathers two storms
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Founder’s death, Great Recession forces Custom Roofing to adapt By Jean Murphy
Daily Herald Correspondent
Sharla Darnell and her late husband, Eugene, founded Custom Roofing Contracting in 1998. Sharla had to expand her ownership role following her husband’s death 10 years ago. Photos Courtesy of Custom roofing ContraCting inC.
Custom Roofing Contracting Inc. of Cary works with all roofing materials, such as asphalt shingles, cedar shakes, tiles and slate.
point that by 2004 they were doing $16 million in sales per year. Eugene and Sharla planned to build their dream house in Barrington. “We were rolling and had high hopes,” Sharla Darnell recalled. Then came the tragic news.
Eugene was diagnosed with an aggressive form of lung cancer and was given less than six months to live. He actively fought the disease with every possible treatment, but eventually lost his battle in 2005. Sharla was left with two young
children to raise and a business to run. Eugene told her she should sell the business and go back to Kentucky with the children, but Sharla chose a different path. “The schools were better up here,” she said. “Besides, there were good people depending on the company Continued on Page 6
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ConstruCtion ExECutivE
The story of Custom Roofing Contracting Inc. of Cary is a story of hard work, loyalty, family and perseverance. In 1987, Eugene and Sharla Darnell moved to the Chicago area from Benton, Kentucky. Eugene had worked on a downtown high-rise as an ironworker and he saw the promise of jobs and economic growth in Chicago. He convinced Sharla to move to the Chicago area in search of better opportunities, expecting to stay only five years and move back home. But the Darnells’ plans changed. After a year of working for someone else, Eugene and Sharla founded their own company, C.R. & Sheet Metal Corp., which they operated for about a decade before selling it. In 1998 the couple founded another company, Custom Roofing Contracting Ltd. They specialized in the roofing of new construction homes for large builders, ith some private residential roofing on the side on a referral basis. They rode the housing bubble to the
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Custom Roofing also installs windows, siding, gutters
Monday, august 3, 2015
ConstruCtion ExECutivE
Continued from Page 5
and on me. So I decided to stay and persevere.” “Three days after Eugene’s funeral, I dragged myself back to the office and asked my top manager, Ken Stratman, to move into Eugene’s office and partner with me in running the business. His wife, Celia, was also working for me in the office. Ken and Celia had become a part of our family and Ken had promised Eugene before his death that he would watch over me and the kids,” Sharla said. “I couldn’t leave. My family truly is this business,” she said. “I have tried to reward the people who stuck by me when I needed them.” Unfortunately, soon after Sharla made the commitment to stay in Illinois, the economy began to slow and by 2008 a full-blown recession hit that brought the housing industry, particularly new construction, to a grinding halt. A number of builders went bankrupt, leaving Custom Roofing unpaid for many expenses, including job materials. Everyone in the company sacrificed with cuts to pay and benefits. Sharla took funds from Eugene’s life insurance to help the business survive the recession, believing the company could come back strong. “For years we had the letters WWGD hung on the wall, standing for “What Would Gene Do?.” We tried to answer that question as we ran the business,” she said. Custom Roofing Contracting reinvented itself. While continuing to do new construction work for builders, the residential market is now a priority in marketing and sales. “We are growing again,” Sharla said. “We do more work for individual homeowners and still contract with reputable builders in the area. Our sales continue to climb, and I feel like we are finally over the hump.” Custom Roofing is working to keep its overhead low and price competitive. New sales staff, office staff,
Photos Courtesy of Custom roofing ContraCting inC.
Some jobs are larger than others for Custom Roofing Contracting Inc.
installers and service staff are being hired as the growth continues. Custom Roofing Contracting employs 17 full-time office and sales staff and installs all kinds of roofs, from asphalt, to flat, cedar shake, tile and slate. Crews are now working in northern Illinois, southern Wisconsin and lower Michigan. Custom Roofing also installs windows, siding and gutters because Sharla realizes the importance of offering the entire exterior package to post-recession homeowners who want one-stop shopping. “I am definitely glad that I stayed in the Chicago area and that we’ve made the business work,” she said. “You can’t curl up and die or live the rest of your life depressed when you lose a loved one. This is my home now. This business was Eugene’s dream and this is the life we chose to provide for our own family and the families that depend on us.
Custom Roofing Contracting Inc. recently replaced the roofs on these properties.
While Custom Roofing Contracting Inc. of Cary worked primarily with new construction prior to the Great Recession, most of its business now is roof replacements on older homes.
“I have certainly learned that you are only as good as the people around you. I attribute all of this company’s success to the team around
me,” Sharla said. For more information, visit www. yourcustomroofing.com or call (847) 639-8400.
Design/build company grows with the economy
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Recovering industrial market provides opportunity to Principle Construction By Jean Murphy
Daily Herald Correspondent
Principle Construction Corp. owners Jim Brucato, left, and Mark Augustyn have been in the industry for a combined 60 years.
each project we assemble and lead a team of experts to provide analysis on items, such as where to build geographically, master planning, costs, architecture, engineering and much more. And we do it for everyone from the most sophisticated clients who do this all the
time, to entrepreneurs who are looking for more space. Building or expanding a facility is a huge economic decision for them and we give them reliable data that they can use to make sound Continued on Page 8
Atomatic is proud to work with Principle Construction on the SAIA Freight project in Grayslake. We look forward to many more years of our valued partnership.
Principle Construction Corp. does a lot of work in designing and building additions to existing industrial properties.
Atomatic Mechanical Services, Inc. www.atomatic.com P: 847-818-4352
Monday, august 3, 2015
For over 65 years, Atomatic Mechanical Services has been dedicated to quality design, installation and service of HVAC systems and controls for the commercial, institutional, industrial and residential building markets throughout the metropolitan Chicago.
ConstruCtion ExECutivE
Finding a need and filling it is the secret to any successful business. James Brucato and Mark Augustyn did exactly that in 1999 when they founded Principle Construction Corp. The two had worked together as vice presidents at a large real estate development and construction firm prior to striking out on their own. “We noticed that most design/build firms seemed to be constantly chasing the biggest projects and that the mid-size projects were not getting the attention and service they deserved. We chose to fill this market niche and built a business model that caters to $1 (million) to $20 million industrial projects,” said Brucato, president of the company. “We strive to be the best, not the biggest, so we focus on providing projectmanagement services for the industrial marketplace, including metals and plastics manufacturers, food processors, as well as distribution warehouses. We also do office build-outs, especially when they are attached to industrial facilities, and a few other specialty projects each year,” he said. Augustyn, Principle Construction’s chief operating officer, said this approach benefits clients. “Our aim is to provide real value for our customers by preventing the types of confrontations that can happen when one entity is responsible for the
design and another is responsible for the construction,” Augustyn said. The design/build method of project delivery began to catch on during the late 1970s and Augustyn believes it is a fantastic way to control a project’s budget and schedule and ultimately provide the client the building they want. Principle Construction’s current building projects are the 33-acre Saia LTL Freight terminal in Grayslake, a 280,000-square-foot industrial building in Aurora for Victory Packaging and a 47,000-square-foot freezer and cooler facility with offices and a maintenance garage on a 13.8-acre lot for Budreck Trucking in University Park. “We have projects going in every collar county around Chicago and are starting on a project in Detroit for an established client. The more complicated the project, the better for us. Many of our projects start with a client approaching us and saying, ‘We are thinking of …’ and asking for our opinions and guidance. We like to think that we add tremendous value to a project, especially when we are brought in at that stage, thanks to our product knowledge and experience,” Brucato said. “From the inception of the project we work diligently to understand our clients’ operations and needs. We then manage the entire design and construction phases to deliver our clients the facility that meets their operational requirements, budget and timing. On
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Many older facilities outdated, Principle owners say
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ConstruCtion ExECutivE
Continued from Page 7
business decisions,” he said. During the Great Recession, Principle Construction was fortunate to be able to diversify into industries that were not as affected by the downturn, such as physician offices and a surgicenter in Mokena. It also helped established clients who needed to re-examine their assets during that difficult time, repositioning from single-tenant buildings, for instance, to multitenant buildings and reworking office space so struggling businesses could “make do” with less space. In turn it also helped landlords reposition that resulting excess space. Ultimately, those lean years added to Principle Construction’s resume, so to speak, giving it a more diverse experience upon which to draw. With the recession behind us, Brucato said it is full steam ahead as the company works to fill a huge demand for industrial space in the Chicago area, southern Wisconsin and northwest Indiana. “There is a boom in construction of speculative industrial buildings by developers — and many expansions of existing facilities, too,” Brucato said. Augustyn said the vast majority of these projects are being delivered using the design/build method. This may seem strange if you happen to drive past empty industrial buildings with “for lease” signs in front of them. However, Brucato and Augustyn said many existing buildings no longer meet the needs of customers and need to be replaced. “When I started in 1990, the average height of a warehouse was 24 feet and a large facility was 200,000 square feet. Today, the average height is 32 feet and range in size from 300,000 to 500,000 square feet, and some facilities
Principle Construction specializes in mid-size, design and build industrial projects.
get as big as 1 million square feet. Clients need much more cube space and many more sophisticated truck docks than warehouses needed 25 years ago,” Brucato said. “There is so much Internet-based shopping today and all of the goods we order need to be shipped,” he continued. “In fact, we are fast approaching same-day delivery of retail goods. So our clients need large and sophisticated packing, picking and racking systems that most older buildings cannot accommodate.” Leased space also needs to be very flexible in case the owner needs to
This manufacturing facility for Winpak Ltd. in Sauk Village was recently designed and built by Principle Construction Corp.
find a new tenant at some point in the future. “We recently did a teardown in Elk Grove Village. That is a great location near O’Hare (International) Airport but most of the docking provided in those buildings are insufficient and there is no room for expansion of individual buildings, which are often low and square. People today want rectangular-shaped buildings with higher clearances for more efficient movement of product through the facility. So we tore down one building and built two new ones with much better dimensions, clear height and docking,” Brucato said. Elk Grove Village will always be a good location because of its access to transportation routes. Many warehouse and distribution centers are being forged in secondary markets where there is more available land. These sites primarily attract regional distributors that don’t need to be near an airport and don’t care if they have visibility from a major expressway, they said. As the company moves to the future, Augustyn and Brucato will push to ensure the hard-earned reputation of Principle Construction continues to grow as experts in the field of mid-size design/build industrial properties. “This is a segment of the market in which we know the product well and know how to serve the customers, so we are sure that new opportunities will continue to come along,” Augustyn said.
This office warehouse building in Elk Grove Village was recently completed by Principle Construction.
“We have established our brand and know the work will follow because our clients appreciate our expertise and level of service and know we will stick to the work ethic that made Principle what it is today,” Brucato said. “We named the company Principle Construction because our business is based on our strong principles and values. We know the marketplace, keep up on the advancements in our industry and strive to be the best in everything we do,” he added. Now in its 17th year of business, Principle Construction has 15 full-time employees and is looking to expand further. It has completed more than 300 projects during its history, which amounts to $500 million in revenue. Earlier this year the company moved its offices from Bannockburn to Rosemont. Principle Construction now has 1.25 million square feet of industrial space under construction. For more information, call (847) 615-1515 or visit www.pccdb.com.