VERDEX CONSTRUCTION NAMED START UP BUSINESS OF THE YEAR
From the C-suite to the community, region’s companies shine
Excerpt below taken from South Florida Business Journal, April 28, 2017….
Verdex Construction Start Up Honoree:
Sometimes, to succeed as a startup, you have to keep that startup drive. It seems the team at Verdex doesn’t have to be told that.
Just ask. President Rex Kirby calls the company’s rise “rocket fast” – with an increase in revenue from $1.7 million in 2015 to more than $47 million in 2016, and an anticipated $100 million-plus in 2017.
He calls the company’s rise “one of the fastest wind-ups of any South Florida construction company, ever.”
How does the company continue growing – and sustain the emotional drive? Verdex seeks to diversify its project base across several markets, including multifamily, industrial, mixed use, hospitality, special projects/interiors and offices. This will help safeguard against individual sector fluctuations.
Since the beginning, Kirby has focused on “managed but significant growth” amid its unique mission that the whole company is aware of and buys into – something Kirby calls his corporate culture of “Building Something Better.”
It’s a form of “effectiveness we’ve achieved in hiring people that are a cultural fit and are committed to our mission,” he says. The company is “riding a wonderful wave of attracting great people,” something that should be a challenge for a young, unproven company.
The company pays a fair wage for each position, and leans on its culture as something few employees find elsewhere, Kirby says. Those employees are led by a team of leaders who have been trusted in the industry for decades.
“Finding clients that were willing to take a chance on us as a new construction company was our biggest challenge,” says Kirby, who lost two $50 million-plus projects to his “newness.”
A referral from one of the companies led to a contract to build an ultra-luxury beachfront condominium.
“They cited our dedication of working with them to get to their budget as the main reason for selecting us,” Kirby says. “That became our first break and the start of our ‘Building Something Better.'”
Fast Fact: As an appreciation of the trust each client has put in the company, Verdex presents a specially made “signing pen” crafted from unique woods and a description from the artist.