Building Success Series Features Marous Brothers Construction
The series of stories about the founding and growth of CEA members by Blake J. Minich
A prominent CEA member takes us to Willoughby, the headquarters of Marous Brothers Construction and a chance to sit down with the company’s cofounder and COO Scott Marous. Throughout the interview, the questions posed to Scott revolved around what he did to build the company. In each instance, Scott chose instead to attribute his good fortune to those who walked alongside him down the road to success.
Scott readily admits that, as youngsters, he and his brothers were constantly figuring out different ways to earn money, stating they were always diligent as they moved from one plan to the next in an effort to build their fortunes. In 1975, while in high school, Scott had a part-time job sweeping up for a local builder named Ed Tresger. With graduation fast approaching, Scott’s best option for the future appeared to be with the Coast Guard. While an honorable choice, he was hesitant to leave his high school sweetheart Sandy Starcher, whom he had been dating since his sophomore year. Fortunately for him, another opportunity arose, as Ed offered Scott a chance to become a full time carpenter. The choice was an easy one; as a result Sandy Starcher soon became Sandy Marous. In their thirty-five years of marriage, Scott finds himself eternally grateful for Sandy’s constant love and transcendent support.
Following in his brother’s footsteps, Chip joined Scott working for Ed after his own high school graduation. To supplement what they earned working for Tresger, the two would take on side jobs at every opportunity, always looking to take advantage of their non-stop drive. Scott smiled, thinking back on the naiveté of the 19 and 23 year old young men as he related the story of the founding of Marous Brothers Construction. “We were laid off for six weeks in December of 1979. We had two months’ of backlog on our side jobs, which at the time, seemed like enough work to last forever. So, we logically concluded we should go into business for ourselves.” In their case, being unaware of the substantial risks worked out to their advantage. When it came time to make their new career path known to Tresger, their former boss was disappointed that he would be losing two exceptional workers. However he wasn’t totally surprised remarking, “I always knew you boys were going to leave, I just didn’t think it would be so soon.”
Convinced of their ability to take on any construction challenge combined with a “Do it right or don’t do it at all,” work ethic instilled in them by their father, the brothers were on their way. Knowing they were far from perfect, Scott and Chip resolved that when mistakes did happen, they would face them head on and figure out a solution. Their philosophy worked and they began to gain more and more business. “I can only imagine what our earliest clients thought, having two guys in their early 20s tell them it would be no problem to tear off their roof and replace it. In those formative years I like to think we overcame our youthful appearance with extreme confidence coupled with referrals from other satisfied clients. Every potential new client would get a list of the names and phone numbers of the people for whom we had completed work. We would then encourage the new prospect to call them. It worked! Before long we were adding the recent referrals to our list of satisfied clients. We continue to follow the philosophy today. This business is all about relationships. We all work very hard at maintaining great client relationships. Treating our clients with utmost respect helps ensure, Marous Brothers Construction is the obvious choice for their current and future projects,” states Scott.
The brothers got their first opportunity to do commercial construction in 1981; a 40 unit new apartment complex. For some, not knowing how to bid the job could be seen as a problem but not Scott and Chip. Fortunately, when they parted company with Ed Tresger, it was on friendly terms. They approached him for help. In return for a split of the profits Ed agreed to teach them how to bid their first commercial project and offered to assist on the job if needed. With Tresger’s guidance the brother’s secured the winning bid as the Carpenter Contractor. Tresger estimated there would be a total profit of about $5,000. While he helped bid the job correctly, he underestimated the productivity of Scott and Chip. The outcome of their hard work produced a total profit of $15,000, which after a 50/50 split with Ed resulted in more money than the brothers had ever seen. More importantly, that moment gave the brothers the first glimpse of what they could become, and they liked what they saw. It opened their eyes to the possibilities available within commercial construction.
Early in his career Scott recognized that, in order to grow, you need to surround yourself with personnel that bring various areas of expertise that you may be lacking. Delegating the work outside your area of expertise enables you to concentrate on those tasks you do best, while the company keeps moving forward.
The initial growth of their company, which now has 500 crafts people in the field and 130 office employees, began in 1982 with just one person, their first employee, Joe Gorka. Still with the company after more than 30 years, Joe progressed from laborer to carpenter to superintendent to field operations manager, and Scott is quick to add, one of the best people they have in the field. Joe is a wonderful example of how the company’s philosophy of building relationships along with the goal of hiring hardworking, intelligent, and dedicated staff has continued to grow.
Scott smiles, as he talks of the regard he holds for his people as he relates, “It is not unusual to see cars in the company’s parking lot at 6:30 in the morning or on Saturdays… and not because we force them to. They are here on their own volition. It is because of them and their commitment to their jobs that we are as successful as we are. Without them, none of this would have been possible.”
Scott talked about the importance of keeping their needs simple during the company’s fledgling years. This enabled them to invest extra capital back into the company, which allowed them to purchase additional equipment, real estate, and bring on new employees. They started with roofs, siding, landscaping and remodeling often working as a subcontractor for larger firms. As they grew, diversifying their services kept them relevant through the ups and downs of the construction industry and the economy as a whole.
By 1987 the Marous Brothers were taking advantage of a depressed real estate market. In their hometown of Willoughby they bought up dilapidated properties in the historic district, refurbished, remodeled, and sold them at a considerable profit. This helped the company in several different ways. First, it gave them an incredible source of work. Second, it helped increase their standing as a corporate citizen in the community. Third, it set the stage for becoming historic renovation experts, which the firm is known for today. It could be argued that without the help of Marous Brothers Construction, the town could have found itself in a downward spiral of urban decay. Additionally, winning “The Beautification of Willoughby” award in 1988 began a long list of industry and community recognitions earned by the company. Their entrepreneurial insight combined with their community focus allowed them to showcase their talents, while helping to revive the local economy where they grew up.
The next major milestone for the company occurred in 1992. They landed their first project as a General Contractor, a historic renovation of Cleveland’s Central YMCA. There was a lack of belief by other companies when it was announced that Marous Brothers Construction won the contract. According to Scott, “It was their perception that we just popped up overnight.” In fact this job was a culmination of the effort put into every floor swept, piece of lumber humped, nail driven, hour of daylight worked, weekend spent onsite, and countless clients called over the previous decade and a half. “We still do a lot of subcontracting work, which differentiates us from some of the other large firms in the area. But, we paid our dues by learning to crawl before we could walk until finally, we are now able to run with the big boys that we have always admired and continue to work with today.”
Working in Arizona as an excavator, Ken, the third Marous brother, moved back to Ohio in 1997 due in large part to their father’s early death and a desire to be closer to his family. In adding another brother, the Marous’ were able to increase their construction specialties by opening up their Site and Concrete divisions. Scott noted that each brother brings something unique to the table; they respect each others area of expertise and really work well together.
Communication between the brothers is paramount. They meet every Thursday to discuss their current projects, learn from mistakes they may have made in the past, and to make decisions on the future. While they don’t always agree, they make sure to keep their disagreements behind closed doors. They talk things out; discuss the pros and cons and make a decision that is in the best interest of the company even when it means they have to agree to disagree. Scott’s longtime assistant, Denise Sacchini confirms the brother’s ability to work together. “I really believe the triangle of their leadership has been a tremendous way to run the company. It really is refreshing to see how well the three brothers work together.”
As the company has continued to grow, they have taken on new and interesting jobs including: the Hyatt Regency Hotel at the Arcade in Downtown Cleveland, the $17 million Lodge and Conference Center at Geneva State Park, which was the first publicly funded Design/Build project in Ohio. The $25 million African Elephant Crossing at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo serves as a model for other zoos nationwide with its naturalistic habitat capable of housing up to 10 elephants at a time including at least one bull and anticipated calves.
The most unique and challenging project would have to be the house they built for the television show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. “I never believed we could get all that work done in one week, but let me tell you from the time the old house was demolished and the basement poured, we managed to put up a 3,600 square foot home in 96 hours with the help of 4,600 volunteers and over 300 businesses. We were also one of the few companies to finish it on time. When the staff of Marous Brothers Construction puts our mind to something, it is amazing what we can accomplish as a team. It was a life-changing project and one I will never forget,” Marous says with great pride.
As he looks to the future Scott is confident in their succession plan and the talent that is rising through the ranks. With two sons and three nephews working for the company, the next generation of Marous’ are being groomed to step up and build upon the successes of the current generation of owners. Keeping the continuation of the company in mind, one of the things Scott enjoys most is passing on the knowledge he has accumulated through the years, hoping to share his wisdom and allowing others to learn from his experience.
Scott believes that the next generation brings with it new ideas, and ways to incorporate changing technologies. “Look at all the tools they have to work with now. When we were starting out we didn’t have all the things to keep us connected. I remember getting a beeper, which I thought was amazing. The only problem was that whenever a page came through, I had to take off looking for the nearest pay phone. That was followed up with the first car phones that were the size of a brick and literally needed to be plugged into your car to work. Before one of our first estimators insisted on getting a computer, we did everything EVERYTHING by hand. Now I have got reports coming straight to other devices like my smart phone and iPad.”
There was no single defining moment for the success of Marous Brothers Construction. Each step taken by the brothers led to new opportunities. Each opportunity offered another chance at something more. A company starting with two brothers and growing to more than 500 workers over a period of 30+ years is an example of what can be accomplished when one sets his mind to do something. In the words of Colin Powell, “There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.” Congratulations to Scott, Chip, Ken and all the rest who have helped build the success of Marous Brothers Construction.