Builder also constructs longterm relationships.

The traditional marketing mantra--it's the repeat clients, who build your business--continues to ring true in the construction industry. North Bergen, NJ-based Mc Gowan Builders' phenomenal success over the last seven years exemplifies this wisdom very well.

The few construction firms that grow into multi-million dollar organizations usually attribute their success to decades or even generations of development. Although Mc Gowan Builders, Inc.'s President and Founder, Patrick J. Mc Gowan, strongly believes in a careful and steady growth strategy, he credits his company's success to nearly religious zeal of the entire firm in maintaining relationships with clients and ensuring their satisfaction throughout the construction process.

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Mc Gowan established MGB in 2001, following a 20-year career that took him from a teenage Irish immigrant laborer to president of a New York City construction firm with two construction and engineering degrees on his office wall.

His perseverance was tested shortly after starting his business, as 9/11 caused many real estate owners and tenants to halt renovation and new construction projects. In need of business, Mc Gowan continued to maintain his professional relationships. He would also drive around on weekends, looking for signs of businesses moving in or out of commercial buildings. One Saturday, he noticed trucks outside the Donna Karan building in Carlstadt, NJ. Following an initial introduction and several meetings with the director of facilities, MGB was hired to refurbish the entire 40,000 s/f facility. The firm completed the project in four weeks and was later hired for additional work. As Mc Gowan applied his passion, positive approach to conducting business, and hands-on management style to projects that followed, MGB grew to emerge as one of the leading commercial interior fit-out and ground-up construction firms on the East Coast, with more than $100 million in projects under way in 2008. The company currently builds projects from Rhode Island to Florida and Louisiana.

By the time it entered its seventh year of operations in 2008, MGB had built facilities for some of the most prominent firms and organizations in the nation, including multi-location, multi-state projects for Macy's, Saks Fifth Avenue, Loehmann's, Staples, Bally Total Fitness, and JPMorgan Chase retail banking group. The firm also includes The Tides Foundation, The Noguchi Museum, major healthcare providers, and numerous office property owners and tenants among its repeat clients.

The MGB staff includes more than 60 licensed architects, engineers, estimators, CPAs, project managers, superintendents, laborers, and support personnel. Partner, Vice President, and Patrick's brother Martin Mc Gowan, who holds a BA in Architecture from Pratt Institute, is responsible for managing the firm's construction operations in New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut. Third of the Mc Gowan brothers, Thomas, is building his portfolio as project manager for increasingly complex assignments. Following in Patrick Mc Gowan's footsteps, many of the company's executives and project managers started as interns, laborers, and superintendents. The firm encourages continued development of technical and managerial skills, and supports professional and college education of its staff. Thanks to investment in employees, MGB doesn't experience high personnel turnover that frequently cripples other builders.

The firm's current and recent New York City work includes the $70-million Dream Downtown Hotel, one of the largest hospitality developments currently under way in Manhattan that will contain a retail component; Manhattan flagship stores of City Sports and Loehmann's; the $10-million interiors of the Tides Foundation, and numerous other retail and office interior fit-outs. In New Jersey, MGB is preparing to break the ground for the $11-million Leaguers Headquarters in Newark; recently completed the $16-million renovation of the Sheraton Meadowlands Hotel & Conference Center in East Rutherford; and is in the pre-construction phase for several upcoming retail tenant fit-outs at the Meadowlands' Xanadu development. In February, the Florida team completed the new $3-million Alliance Francaise Center in Miami, and is working on several retail, healthcare, and office projects throughout the state. Mc Gowan's Florida office also recently delivered the new $5-million Tribune Television studio and broadcast facilities in New Orleans, LA.

As the economic climate changes, Patrick Mc Gowan and his colleagues continue to focus on delivering top-notch services to all clients, regardless of the size of their projects.

In a time when many builders have begun to experience a slow down and are forced to reduce their staff, MGB maintains steady flow of new projects from loyal clients, who continue to rely on the firm to construct their facilities with quality and personal attention from everyone on the project team, from tradesmen to the president.