Building a Reputation

The Tower Group's Mike Gresser is bidding to build Mitsui OSK Lines Ltd.'s Shipping Terminal

By Laura Jane Pittman, The Business Journal

When Mike Gresser was 18 years old, wielding a hammer at a construction site, he never imagined that one day he would rise to the helm of a multimillion dollar company. For the past eight years, Gresser, the executive vice-president and director of North Florida Operations to The Tower Group, a contraction and construction management firm, has been instrumental in helping the firm’s North Florida office become the most profitable of its operations in Florida.

Gresser joined The Tower Group at their Davie headquarters in South Florida in 1997 with 20 years of construction management experience for a South Florida developer under his belt. He was asked by company principals to come to Jacksonville in 1999 to serve as Director of construction for the emergency North Florida office.

Last year, Jacksonville-area projects brought $50 million for the company, and this year North Florida profits are expected to be $100 million. Total 2006 revenues for The Tower Group were just over $201 million.

“We had confidence when we brought Mike to North Florida that he was going to succeed, but the level of what he has been able to achieve has been remarkable” said Gil Nehamkin, a founding member of The Tower Group. “There are not a lot of people who could run multiple fast paced jobs with impossible schedules and do it so quickly and so well.

Gresser began as an apprentice carpenter more than 30 years ago and worked his way throughout the construction industry, from supervisor to project manager to his role as vice president. His hands-on background plays an important role in his corporate position, he said.

“I have unique perspective because of my field experience,” Gresser said. “When you know how to build a building, it makes much easier to manage that building.” Clients tout his ability to communicate and facilitate the parameters of a project – even a difficult one. Colleagues praise his superior personnel skills and incredible work ethic. Roger Chastain has worked as senior project manager for the North Florida office for five years and he has been subcontractors choose The Tower Group projects over others for the opportunity to work with Gresser and his team.

“He has always stressed that this is a true group effort - from the owners to the subcontractors,” Chastain said. “You are inevitably going to have conflicts when you are building $25 million buildings, but Mike makes sure that everyone walks away satisfied at the end.”

The Tower Group, which employs a85 employees, 30 in North Florida, ranked No. 42 on Southeast Construction magazine’s list of top contractors last year. Since entering the Jacksonville market nearly a decade ago, the company has made a name for it’s self in the field of educational construction.

The Tower Group has built 17 area schools, including the 192,000-square foot Fleming Island Hight School and a 21,000-square foot administration building for the Kent Campus of Florida Community College at Jacksonville. It performed construction work at St. Johns River Community College and Matanzas High School in Flagler County. New projects include the construction of St. Johns County High School DDD. “I have always found Mike to be scrupulously fair and as good as his word,” said Frank Busam, facilities specialist for St. John County School Board, who has worked with Gresser during the construction of four elementary schools and one middle school. “I have been very satisfied with the performance of the company and the work they have done to our buildings.” The Tower Group recently submitted a bid for vertical construction work on 11 buildings at the Mitsui O.S.K Lines Ltd. Terminal at Dames Point. The contract has not yet been awarded, but Jacksonville Port Authority officials are expected to make an announcement soon.

In July 2006, Spain-based engineering and construction company Obrascon Huarte Lain SA acquired a 70% stake in The Tower Group. Company officials hope this strategic partnership will open doors in different markets, such as retail or private industry. According to Nehamkin, OHL has built 44 hospitals in 10 years and will bring valuable and complementary expertise to The Tower Group. “We cut our teeth in South Florida on big-box projects and office buildings and recently completed a $25 million outdoor mall in Destin,” he said “Working with OHL, we are hoping that in the near future we can tap into facets of the private market here in the Jacksonville area.”

With Gresser leading the way and fostering strong relationships in the industry, company officials are confident that The Tower Group is on its way to becoming a construction stronghold in North Florida.

“We have been the new guy in the block for a while,” Gresser said, “but we have proven ourselves as good contractors and are slowly, slowly changing that perception. It can be difficult to tap into different markets, but we are seeing new doors open all the time.