As the construction industry shakes off the pandemic-era dust and rumbles back to life, Eric DeSimone is staking his claim on the future of building.
The SavCon and Savanna alumn is opening DeSimone Builders just in time to ride the wave of post-COVID interior buildouts and new construction projects entering the pipeline. DeSimone aims to disrupt the old-fashioned industry by tackling the widespread labor shortage head-on and building a team of leaders who will carry construction into the 2030s and beyond. We sat down with DeSimone and his Business Operations Manager Shelly Samuel to learn how they plan to assemble a new legacy in the construction industry.
Guiding the Next Generation of Builders
DeSimone’s lightbulb moment came from a statistic he was told by his coach in 2022.
“Our coach told me that 75% of the workforce is going to be Gen Z by 2026,” recalls DeSimone. “I realized, if you can’t figure out how to lead them and guide them, you might as well shut your doors right now.”
DeSimone believes that, in order to thrive in this environment, builders need to embrace the entrepreneurial, growth-oriented mindset that Gen Z brings to both their careers and themselves.
“We can teach you how to build a wall,” he explains, “but it’s the drive, the care, the ambition that you can’t teach.”
At 46, DeSimone is in the perfect position to quarterback the transition for this new generation. He has the experience and connections to get his foot in the door with developers and architects around New York City and South Florida, while also being able to navigate Gen Z’s digital-first world.
“We want to create a culture where we build more leaders and set them up for success,” says Samuel, who was DeSimone’s first hire at SavCon and at DeSimone Builders. “Whether they stay with us or move on somewhere else, our legacy will be shaping that person’s life and helping them get to their next step.”
More Than A Seat at the Table
In addition to creating a team of motivated leaders, DeSimone is taking a hammer to the complacency he sees creeping into the construction industry.
“Unfortunately, GCs and CMs are becoming very risk averse,” he says. “We get a seat at the table with the owner, the architect, and the engineer, and instead of bringing something to that table we’ve just become middlemen.”
This is where DeSimone Builders will set itself apart. DeSimone will focus on training his team to be proactive and not only ask questions but bring solutions to the table.
“We train our people right,” says DeSimone. “If you ever send an RFI and ask an architect how to do your job, the second sheet had better be your resume.”
Samuel emphasizes that DeSimone is the perfect role model to create a company culture based around proactivity and entrepreneurship. As an active YPO member for the last three years, DeSimone has spent his free time connecting with fellow executives, learning how best to support the next generation, and polishing his own skills to prepare him for this moment.
“He’s not a boss, he’s a leader, and he wants to build more leaders,” says Samuel. “It’s important to instill that in your team and make sure that those are not just words, but it’s demonstrated through your actions.”
Gathering Steam
DeSimone is opening up shop at the perfect time. The pandemic, the ongoing labor shortage and high interest rates put many projects on pause, but DeSimone has read the tea leaves and sees a bump in building coming down the road.
“I had many recent meetings with some of the biggest architects, engineers, expediters and owners in New York City, and they said they are all seeing more drawings and activity than they’d seen in a while,” says DeSimone. “When the architects and expediters says that, for us on the construction side, we start to see that work in eight to twelve months. So starting a company right now, we couldn’t be in a better position.”
While he builds up the company, DeSimone will focus on interior fit-outs, particularly the hot medical and office-to-residential conversion markets in New York City and South Florida. Then, once the DeSimone Builders name has become entrenched, he will begin bidding on bigger projects.
“I’m totally capable of doing a ground-up job, but that’s not something we’re trying to do right out of the gate,” he says.
Because DeSimone has strong ties with developers, architects and subcontractors in New York and Florida, the business will begin with a focus on those markets. DeSimone’s medium-term goal for the company is to expand up and down the East Coast and as far west as Tennessee, building management teams in each market.
“We’re going to start slow, get some opportunities, improve ourselves,” he says, “then we’ll start building skyscrapers.”
Head over to the DeSimone Builders LinkedIn page to become part of the next generation of construction leaders.