Business Spotlight

American Shoreline

TERRANCE GEESE

The business operations of Matt and Mandy Endrizzi have been a bit like the proverbial

acorn. From the acorn of a lawnmowing business, a multi-faceted group of operations has grown, one of which has great importance in maintaining the beauty of Lake of Egypt. “We are not really widespread in what we do. It all revolves around a can do attitude and customer service,” Matt says. American Shoreline Inc, the portion of the operation you most likely will see at Lake of Egypt, operates only in Illinois, but a sister firm, Endrizzi Contracting Inc operating out of Vienna, offers line clearing operations catering to electrical interests, operating in multiple states – Illinois and Missouri.

Endrizzi Contracting Inc also features a number of other associated services: herbicide application, forestry mowing, and bucket truck work.

The entire operation began to develop back in March 1998, Matt says. With the help of his grandparents, Wayne and Betty Mott, he started a lawnmowing service. With lots of encouragement from his Mom and Dad, Mark and Ginger Endrizzi “We just continued to go up the ladder from there” he says. With lots of encouragement from his Mom and Dad, Mark and Ginger Endrizzi

Along with operating a business, Matt headed off to school.

“I went to a couple of years of school in urban forestry and landscaping,” he recalls.

Along the way, Endrizzi started working with a couple of other contractors, including his uncle, Morris Mott. Then a life-changing event happened; Matt met Mandy, who was in school at the time, studying to become a medical physician assistant, a program she completed.

While Mandy saw patients in Vienna, she also had a key role in her partnership with Matt. Now, she no longer practices and the couple are devoted to fulltime work with their companies.

After the couple met, they began focusing on their futures and goals, they recall. A good part of their attention during 2010 and 2011 was directed at landscaping around Lake of Egypt.

“That was when we started to really grow,” Matt says. They were working together toward common goals. During that time frame, Matt and Mandy were married in 2012 and, in 2013, Mandy graduated her PA studies.

While Mandy began work as a PA, attention was not diverted from the business operations the two had worked to develop.

After seeing patients and after completion of that part of her day, Mandy handled the bookkeeping, paying the bills of the business, and payroll. Matt did estimates and worked on growing the enterprises.

By about 2015, the couple had 12 employees. And more growth was ahead.

In the spring of 2016, the couple decided to buy American Shoreline. That purchase gave them a solid footprint and high visibility in Southern Illinois and at Lake of Egypt.

Locally Owned Company 618-694-2985

solutions@americanshoreline.com americanshoreline.com

Shoreline Solutions for Waterfront Properties in Southern Illinois!

• Rip Rap Installation • Weed Removal • Natural Stone Steps • Beach Installs

American Shoreline was already an existing business at the lake, and the couple decided it would be a good company to acquire to help them in the landscaping division of their holdings.

Growth of their businesses was rapid. Mandy quips that she is there to keep Matt’s “crazy ideas and wild ambition” in check.

Matt compares Mandy’s input as one who can make sure all is in order.

He compares the way they operate as a team. He suggests an analogy: It is as though he acquired a new jigsaw puzzle and threw away the box and instructions; not even an illustration of the completed puzzle is left. He then takes the pieces home for Mandy to put together.

“I have every piece that we need to make it work. I just throw it at her and she puts it together. And every day, I put it in a sack and that night, throw it at her again. It keeps getting better and better,” Matt says.

Dreaming up new ways to improve the business did not end with the purchase of American Shoreline.

“When we bought (American Shoreline) we had one barge and a little tug. We replaced that tug with one that is more robust. And we added a barge, so now we run two,” Matt says.

The firm is ready with a variety of services, including dredging, weed removal and shoreline restoration.

“If there is a terribly eroded shoreline that has been eroding for years, you are literally losing your property. We can come in, resolve that, and permanently prevent further erosion,” Matt says.

The firm has on hand an assortment of colors of rock he says. They also do sand beach installations and American Shoreline hauls for other contractors, delivering materials by water.

On occasion, he says, the firm assists dock companies moving docks and other projects.

The shorelines of Lake of Egypt are pretty stable, Matt says.

“The big thing is years and years of erosion,” he says. “If it goes unattended, you loose a lot of shoreline.

“Some of the jobs we come to, big large oak trees are in the water. They have fallen over because the root system has eroded.”

American Shoreline can clean that up when they are called upon by a landowner to create needed rip-rap protection for the property.

“When we (construct rip-rap protection), we can create a nice walking path,

MATT AND MANDY ENDRIZZI

enabling them to have a flat surface for walking along the shoreline,” Matt says.

In doing the work of repairing a shoreline, it is important to American Shoreline to not create paths on a lawn or impact the land by compaction of the soil.

“We don’t come in from the land side,” Matt says. “We can do it all from the water.

“A lot of the property around Lake of Egypt is steep, full of old beautiful post oak trees with large rock outcroppings,” he says. Add to that the beauty of many Lake of Egypt homes with manicured and irrigated lawns.

Those elements, all a part of the beauty of Lake of Egypt, are why the company makes every effort not to disturb nature.

“We have a method to take care of problems (from the water) without ever disturbing the landscaping.”

Aside from rip-rap protection and beach construction, working from the water also can involve the most basic of needs, removal of weeds.

“We have built several weed rakes and we can come in, remove the weeds, load them onto the barge, take them to our port, load them into a dump truck and haul them off.

“You can go from a weedy, uninviting waterfront property to a clean and very desirable area,” he says.

Keeping weeds under control also is an activity that needs constant vigilance, he says.

“You have got to keep a handle on that to keep the weeds out. Once we get them removed, they stay gone for a while, especially if homeowners don’t mind pulling some of the little straggler weeds that come in.,” Matt says.

American Shoreline has not restricted itself to Lake of Egypt, Matt says. The firm has worked with the Army Corps of Engineers at Lake Shelbyville, has worked at Lake Kincaid, performed rip-rap and shoreline work for the City of Carbondale at Cedar Lake and the firm is currently doing work for Lake Lou Yaeger at Litchfield.

“We keep Lake of Egypt as our priority, but when we have the opportunity to pick up some work at some of these outlying lakes, we certainly do,” Matt says. Keeping Lake of Egypt as the priority is as important to the property owners of the lake as it is to the Endrizzi couple because American Shoreline is the lake’s only barge-oriented service.

Operating barges and tugs on a lake requires some extra caution and, in keeping with the overriding safety goals of Southern Illinois Power Cooperative, owners of the lake, American Shoreline works at operating safely.

“First and foremost, we don’t work the weekends,” Matt says. “Unless there is an emergency job that needs to happen ––– which is very rare ––– we won’t go out.

“Our boat is pretty big; almost 100 feet, tug and barge com-

bined,” he says. The barge is easily seen when traveling to a destination as it is painted a brilliant yellow. The excavator atop the barge is painted bright white and orange.

The operation works to avoid the heavy boat traffic times by running barge operations Monday through Thursday, with an occasional Friday. They never operate at night.

When they work on a Friday, the operating time starts very early and wraps up before noon to avoid the influx of weekend pleasure craft boaters, Matt says. Matt and Mandy say they see a great future for Lake of Egypt and American Shoreline. The lake has been changing in recent years, gaining in recognition and popularity.

“It is popular for many reasons,” Matt observes. “It is probably the most affordable property in the quad-state region and the resources it offers are really unmatched in comparison to other lakes. When you are driving from Chicago, there is really little waterfront property available. At Lake of Egypt you can still buy waterfront property at from $40,000 to $80,000 at some of the subdivisions and build a home. You really get a lot for your money down here.”

Contributing to a bright future, Matt says, are some of the Lake of Egypt marinas promoting the lake with food, music venues and weekend events almost every weekend.

“It is really just a good spot to live,” he says.

The future also looks bright for American Shoreline.

“I think we have a lot of shoreline that needs to come to us for remediation and repair,” he says. “I don’t see a slowdown in the need.”

The lake has about 30 houses under construction in mid-October and that bodes well for the company. In recent years, American Shoreline has been operating from its own port on the lake.

A new road was built to their location, where they maintain a loading facility and a yard to keep on hand a stock of rip-rap and other materials needed to maintain a shoreline.

While Lake of Egypt dominates a good chunk of their lives, the Endrizzi couple don’t see the lake as a place for their personal recreation. When they do have time to themselves, which is not often, you will find them reading good books and enjoying the company of the other.

That little lawnmowing business started by Matt now employs about 100 people, with four working at American Shoreline. Two key team players are responsible for the day-to-day operations, Brennan Street and Chris Hasler. Brennan a local resident from Harrisburg came on board this year as head manager and estimator. Chris Hasler a local Lake of Egypt resident has been a part of the company before it’s purchase by Matt and Mandy and knows it by heart.

The couple is thankful for these dedicated workers. They say continued success of American Shoreline will not be possible without these dedicated primary team members. We appreciate the continued customer support and look forward to serving the LOE residents for many more years to come! n