PLH Group Inc.
MARK CROWSON
PRESIDENT AND CEO
With $13 billion to invest in acquisitions, Mark Crowson, president and CEO of PLH Group Inc., says he is a popular man. He is constantly fielding inquiries from representatives of companies that are for sale. Formed in 2009 by private equity firm Energy Capital Partners, Irving-based PLH Group acquires and consolidates construction and maintenance companies to provide construction and infrastructure services to clients in the electric and pipeline industries in North America. The company’s revenue has grown at an average annual rate of 53 percent since Crowson joined the firm in April 2011. PLH Group screens companies being considered for acquisition by looking at market and geographic fit as well as financial performance. Companies also must align with PLH Group’s business values and culture. “For every 100 companies we look at, only one makes it,” Crowson says. “We are picky and disciplined, and we have turned down successful companies because the management team didn’t fit our culture.” Crowson looks for companies run by successful entrepreneurs—people who tend to be open to new ideas and who are always looking for ways to improve processes. Since its formation, PLH Group has acquired 13 companies. “The presidents of these companies report directly to me, so I have all of these entrepreneurs working for me,” Crowson says. “They are bright people who know what they’re doing. My role as CEO is to ensure that their good ideas happen.” —G.V.
PHILIP J. ROMANO
INVESTOR/ENTREPRENEUR
After creating 30+ restaurant concepts that have generated over $20 billion, Phil Romano says what still matters most to him is making people happy. “That’s what I love doing,” says the 74-year-old investor, artist, and nationally renowned restaurateur. “After you’re at it a while it’s not the money, it’s the applause that shows people like what I’ve done.” His six national concepts are Fuddruckers, Romano’s Macaroni Grill, Rudy’s Country Store and Bar-B-Q, Cozymel’s Mexican Grill, Spageddies, and Eatzi’s. Romano says he doesn’t think about making profits, but focuses on creating something that people need and can’t live without. His latest venture is Trinity Groves, an 80-acre real estate development in Dallas, which he owns with two partners. An incubator program gives entrepreneurs a chance to create new restaurant concepts under his guidance. As of spring 2014, nine restaurants are open, with another nine set to open within a few months. The concept is drawing national attention, with others interested in replicating the program—one that’s already producing a 20 percent return on investment, Romano says. “Millennials need opportunities and can’t get money anyplace, but they have good ideas and want to control their own ideas,” he says. “I keep telling people I’m a MAD (making a difference) person. I want to make a difference in everything I do, and in order to make a difference you’ve got to do it different.” —K.N.
Reed Enterprises
RANDALL REED
OWNER, PRESIDENT, AND CEO
Randall Reed took a risk when he moved to Garland in 1988 to become a partner in a Ford dealership there. But 25 years later, turns out it was a good move. Eight years after buying into Prestige Ford, Reed and his family established their automotive group, now known as World Class Automotive. It’s part of Reed Enterprises, along with Starbase Jet, which Reed started in 2001. World Class Automotive Group consists of eight dealerships in several Texas cities including Houston, Dallas, McKinney, and Huntsville, as well as Oklahoma City. “In our automobile business, sales have increased between 20 and 30 percent over the past couple of years,” Reed says. “It’s a great time to be a Ford dealer.” Reed, who is a licensed pilot, started Starbase Jet after being bitten by the flying bug when he moved his family to Colorado to escape the hot Texas summers. “I had to commute to Texas, and the commercial airline schedules made life too hard,” he says. He serves as CEO of the company, which provides private jet charters and aircraft management and sales. It has more than 30 planes in its charter fleet. “This company has grown almost two-fold each of the past three years,” Reed says. Later this year, Starbase will launch a $95 million project at Dallas’ Love Field to restore the old Braniff International terminal before moving its Houston and Addison operations there. Officially designated an historical site, the terminal was built in 1958. —G.V.
Sellmark Corp.
JAMES SELLERS
PRESIDENT AND FOUNDER
DIANNA SELLERS
CEO
Not every business can successfully shift its focus from PR and advertising services to making outdoor gear like high-tech riflescopes, binoculars, knives, and crossbows. But that’s exactly what Sellmark Corp. has done. The story of the Mansfield business is as unique as its founder and president, James Sellers, and his wife, Dianna, CEO. James started the PR firm in 2000, right when the economy was tipping into the dumps. Finding it hard to get clients to commit to retainers—and with a new baby in the house and another on the way—James in 2003 wound up taking a gig as president of U.S. operations of a Russian optics manufacturer. Dianna, meanwhile, juggled being a stay-at-home mom with a new line of work for Sellmark: exporting products like screwdrivers and safety belts to oil exploration ships. “In the beginning, we made a lot of mistakes,” James says. By 2007, though, Dianna had accumulated enough capital that Sellmark could both take on its current form and carry on the work of James’ Russian partner, Yukon Advanced Optics, through Sellmark. Yukon remains a valued partner, the Sellers say. Sellmark brought in roughly $26 million in revenue last year, up from $24.1 million in 2012. —J.B.
Securadyne Systems
CAREY BOETHEL
PRESIDENT AND CEO
Securadyne Systems LLC isn’t afraid to go up against the big boys. It operates in a market that has billion-dollar players like Johnson Controls, Tyco, and Siemens. Still, it has done quite well for itself, thank you very much. Its revenue more than doubled from $33 million in 2012 to $68.4 million in 2013. The company re-sells security technology to large companies in office buildings, such as systems controlling physical access, video surveillance, and emergency communications. It also helps install and maintain the technology. Securadyne’s president and CEO, Carey Boethel, attributes the growth to two factors. One is strong customer service. The second is a willingness to adopt best practices that it finds in the businesses it buys. Since September 2011, Securadyne has acquired four different companies. Boethel and his management team pair up selected employees from a business they’re buying with front-line (read: non-executive) Securadyne workers. Together, the two employee groups hash out which enterprise has the best way of doing things on various fronts. As a result, Securadyne often adopts techniques from the businesses it buys, and its employees stand behind the decision because, well, they were involved in making it. Securadyne’s majority owner is the Charlotte, N.C.-based private equity firm Pamlico Capital. Growth investments have been the fuel for the acquisitions that Securadyne has done, Boethel says. “This is a five- to six-year plan,” he says. “We’re about two-and-a-half years into this.” —J.B
Credits
