When Randy Brooks completed his five-year obligation with the U.S. Air Force in 1971, he faced several career options: become a salesman for a water treatment company, work for a local law enforcement agency or join an upstart construction company. He chose the latter, believing construction held the most opportunity for growth.
Thirty-seven years later, as president of that same construction company, it’s clear Brooks’ intuition was on target.
A Mentor in the Making In October 1970, Aagaard-Juergensen, LLC, Orlando, Fla., opened under the direction of Robert Aagaard and Walter Juergensen—two construction professionals who wanted to form a general contracting firm founded on repeat business from satisfied customers. With just a handful of employees, the company performed projects costing $20,000 to $40,000.
A year into the venture, Aagaard encouraged Brooks, a family friend, to talk with Juergensen about joining the company. What started as an administrative role—typing, answering the phone and greeting office visitors—eventually blossomed into a mentorship between Brooks and Juergensen.
"He had just gone into business and I had just started in construction so there was a willingness to learn from me and a willingness to teach from him," Brooks says. "He was patient and we both thought alike."
Though Brooks enrolled in some night classes on blueprint reading, most of his education stemmed from on-the-job training.
"Walt taught me estimating and I helped him do some assistant management on a couple of big jobs. For several years, I worked under him. Then I went out on my own doing estimating and project management," he says.
Not only did Brooks possess the drive and work ethic to move up the ranks, but he also found satisfaction in his day-to-day work.
"I liked looking at something on a piece of paper and developing and building it," he says. "At the end, you turn the project over to the owner and you’ve accomplished something."
Gradual Changing of the Guard As Brooks gained more experience, a few outside job offers came rolling in, but he felt they represented lateral moves rather than upward development. Plus, he and another Aagaard-Juergensen employee were discussing the possibility of branching out and starting their own business.
That idea dissipated in 1984 when Aagaard retired. Juergensen bought him out and, sensing Brooks’ restlessness, agreed to sell Brooks 10 percent of the company. Brooks was thrilled to stay on board and continue building the company he’d been with for 14 years.
"They treated me fairly and I was able to do what I like to do. Nobody was looking over my shoulder," he says. "The company had a good reputation in town and I helped build it. I didn’t have a whole lot of ownership in the early days, but my name was tagged to the company. My reputation was out there as well as Aagaard-Juergensen’s."
During the next two decades, Juergensen retained 51 percent of the stock and gradually sold 44 percent to Brooks and 5 percent to another employee, Mike Moore. When Juergensen retired in June 2007, the duo bought him out. Brooks assumed the role of company president and Moore became vice president. (Looking ahead in the company’s succession plan, Moore likely will attain majority ownership within the next decade.)
Maintaining Core Values As president, Brooks oversees project management, estimating, finance and marketing. The company employs 30 people, several of whom have been around for more than 25 years.
"I like seeing my people grow and seeing them go through some of the same things I went through years ago," Brooks says. "I still enjoy going out on the jobsites, watching the buildings grow from the ground up, and seeing my people experience the completion of projects."
Job sizes range from $4 million to $6 million, and about 80 percent of business is generated from referrals or repeat clients. Additionally, about 65 percent of Aagaard-Juergensen’s projects are design-build, so the firm doesn’t self-perform as much as it did during the hard bid days of the 1970s and 1980s.
"In the mid-1980s, we were up to about 75 employees," Brooks says. "But, at times, subcontractors could do the work more competitively than we could, so we backed up and became a construction management-type firm."
The company, which focuses on manufacturing and commercial projects, registered about 10 percent growth this year. Because design-build projects take 18 to 30 months to develop, enough work is in Aagaard-Juergensen’s backlog that Brooks anticipates growing again in 2009 unless clients back out of contracts due to financing issues.
"Most people have financing, but about a month ago the phone quit ringing," he says. "I’m concerned because it takes so long to develop design-build projects, so we may have to get back into the hard bid market and get back into public work for the first time in 10 to 12 years."
A good reputation goes a long way in tough economic times, which is why Brooks appreciates the core values Aagaard and Juergensen established 37 years ago.
"Walt basically taught me everything I know about this business. I molded myself after him," Brooks says. "If you have a problem on a job, put your cards on the table and don’t hide anything. Be truthful, have integrity, work hard and play hard."
Brooks would offer similar advice to construction professionals who want to become entrepreneurs or advance into a management position.
"It’s not going to be easy, but if you like what you’re doing and are persistent, then go for it," he says. "From a standpoint of moving from a project management position into a business owner position, learn how to read financial statements, backlogs and work-in-progress reports. We all have to recognize and understand these things to make a company successful. If you don’t have the luxury of a mentor, then take some classes."
For most contractors, great value can be culled from seeking guidance outside company walls through involvement in groups that focus on both construction and general business issues.
As a founding member of Associated Builders and Contractors’ (ABC) Central Florida Chapter, Aagaard-Juergensen has long relied on the association for apprenticeship programs, legislative information and insight on issues important to small business owners. Additionally, Brooks pinpoints relationship building as one of the key benefits of ABC membership.
"If we were going to expand out of the central Florida area, through our relationships with ABC and other chapters, we could go into another area and know some of the subcontractors," he says. "We are believers in ABC. It can help anybody’s business."
Brooks served as president of ABC’s Central Florida Chapter in 1995, was on ABC’s national Board of Directors from 1996–2000 and served as president of ABC of Florida (the state chapter) in 2000.
In addition to being a member of ABC and the National Federation of Independent Business, Brooks has participated in a monthly CEO group for the past eight years. Comprised of business leaders from a variety of industries—including automotive, catering and electronics—the group covers everything from financials to good business books to read.
"If I have a problem in my business, I put it in writing and ask them what my options are," Brooks explains. "Some members have sold their businesses, so when I bought Walt out, I took it to the group and asked for feedback on what was fair and what I should be doing."
Tackling employee issues is another benefit of the group.
"All of us have people problems. We’ve been through them at one time or another throughout the years," Brooks says. "One benefit that came out for us was incentive plans. We’re now an open book company—something we weren’t for 25 years. We share numbers with our employees on a regular basis so they know how we’re doing."
Joanna Masterson is staff writer of Construction Executive.
Editor’s Note: To recommend someone to be featured in
Construction Executive’s series on construction professionals who work their way up to leadership positions, contact Lisa Nardone, nardone@abc.org.