roy rock llc

By Stephanie Crets

With a valuable reputation passed on from client to client, Roy Rock has established itself as a solid, reliable full-service masonry and concrete contractor. "It's a solid company," President Rui Pires says. "We perform quality work. Our name is not known from advertising; it's word of mouth."

Pires began as a laborer in the field 30 years ago and worked himself up to supervisor, then to project manager. He then spent four years in school learning how to read plans, then another two years dedicated to survey training. Roy Rock was formerly known as Roy Rock Construction, but when its union terminated, Pires took over as owner and president in 2005. The re-established company began with only $5 million in revenue, and Pires grew it to $45 million in revenue today.

Pires says this growth is remarkable considering he re-started the company right before the economic crisis in 2008. Thankfully, Roy Rock didn't suffer too terribly because most of its work was publicly funded, such as schools and government buildings. "I was able to get through like nothing," he says. "In 2011, the economy started getting better, so the company started getting a lot better, too. But I still was able to keep 60 to 70 guys working during those times."

Now, Roy Rock's work breakdown is about 75 percent concrete contracting and about 25 percent masonry. It used to be more masonry focused but Pires says the company began dedicating more time and resources to concrete superstructures about two years ago. Most of its projects include institutional, retail, hospitality, healthcare and high-end residential mid-rise buildings with contracts ranging from under $1 million to more than $30 million.

Roy Rock performs a lot of work with Millenium Homes, Claremont Construction, Sordoni Construction, Fields Construction and other general contractors. Pires says he prefers to work with the same clients repeatedly as Roy Rock generally has about 10 jobs happening at any given time.

While Roy Rock has a few projects on the horizon, some of its current projects include:

• Westfield, N.J.: two levels of concrete for a parking structure and four levels of concrete for a residential structure;
• Bloomfield, N.J.: one level of concrete for a garage and five levels of residential structure using concrete and masonry;
• Embassy Suites Hotel in Berkeley Heights, N.J.: nine floors using a combination of concrete, concrete superstructures and masonry;
• Englewood, N.J.: five floors of masonry for a residential building and six floor of masonry for an office building next door; and
• 69th Street, Fairfield Inn Hotel: nine levels of concrete floors.

"Construction is a rollercoaster," Pires says. "But I have work lined up for the next one-and-a-half years and the demand in bidding and requesting for bidding to us is crazy. It's very high and we can't keep up. It's a good problem; not good for the estimators, but it's a good thing for me. Other than that, I don't see any challenges in my job. The work is the easy part for us."

Learn Every Day

Roy Rock owns all of its own equipment including three concrete pumps and miscellaneous construction equipment, from excavators to forklifts and cranes. "It's much better than renting things," Pires notes. "It helps to do the jobs more efficiently because I can just call someone at the office if I need a piece of equipment. It makes things move so much smoother."

Additionally, Roy Rock prides itself on its safety in-house and out on jobs. The company employs an in-house safety consultant and every single employee has OSHA certifications from 10 to 32 hours of training. "I'm very strict with that for protection," Pires explains. "Hard hats, safety glasses, you name it. Having everything 100 percent safe is very important for Roy Rock. To me, it's a No. 1 important thing for the business. That's why I hire a safety consultant. "

Roy Rock's safety consultant visits sites daily, keeps safety reports and daily logs and performs machine inspections. "We're doing really good with safety," Pires continues. "The accident records with us are basically nothing."

But safety is something Roy Rock leans more about every day, along with learning how to better deliver projects more efficiently, on time and on budget for every client. "This is like a school every day," Pires relates. "Every day I get better and we get more experienced and wiser. Sometimes I pick up things when we're on the job before problems occur because of my experience all these years in the business and doing the same type of work over and over. We ask questions before problems arise, so when we go there, we have all the answers and jobs run smoothly."

Ensuring projects run smoothly ties into Roy Rock's ultimate goal to maintain friendly business relationships with its clients. It takes care of its clients and does right by them so both parties can continue to be successful.

"I built this company from nothing, so I take everything personal," Pires says. "I take care of my clients, I take care of my suppliers and pay them well and on time; that all goes with the reputation that helps make the company grow.

"I love what I do," he adds. "To own my own company was my dream. I'm doing what I love to do, which is important. We have to make money, but to love what you're doing is the main goal of being successful in business."