McKenzie Building Center’s New Ownership Expands Business and Looks To Grow Through Acquisitions

McKenzie Building Center of Watford City, an established building materials supplier since its predecessor started in 1934, has a new aggressive ownership group, an investment firm, that is interested in expanding the business internally and through additional acquisitions throughout North Dakota.

“Watford City is the epicenter of the Bakken Oil Region and with multiple major residential and commercial developments planned for the community, we are thrilled with the opportunity to participate in Watford City’s amazing growth. We are planning to expand our overall revenues to about $100 million annually through add-on acquisitions in the building materials business throughout North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana,“ said Eric Sparrow, CEO of both McKenzie Building Center, Inc., and MBC Holdings, Inc., the parent company of the Building Center.

Mr. Sparrow has teamed up with Wendy Sherwood, the company’s Vice President, in successfully completing the acquisition, and they have big plans going forward.

“We are building on the strong reputation of the business to expand its offerings to include more building materials, more farm and ranch supplies, tools, specialty woods, flooring, kitchen cabinets, carpeting, flooring and appliances for both the do-it-your-selfer as well as the professional contractors that are now a substantial part of our business,” added Mr. Sparrow.

“The company is also seeking to expand its ability to sell and erect quick build steel buildings that can be up to 100 feet wide and can be custom constructed as large barns, storage units, warehouses, retail stores, churches, community centers, schools, literally anything that is required, as there are no limits to the sizes and utilization,” said Russ Archer, who heads up the custom building division.

The senior management of McKenzie Building Center, Inc., has been streamlined so that long time experienced employees have taken the reigns of the company and are now active in its management, including the promotion to COO (Chief Operating officer) of Anthony Floreno, Geo La Roche as the Vice President of Sales, Jessica Allen as Chief Financial Officer and Credit Manager and Russ Archer as Vice President of Purchasing.

“Former owners Alvin Gravos and Cheryl Maynard have made the ownership transition smooth and effortless,“ said Mr. Floreno, who took over the day to day operations of the company.

“ I have been ready to retire for several years now, but wanted to build the business to be a strong presence in the area, before selling and planning my retirement estate,“ said Alvin Gravos who had purchased the business years ago from the original founders, and was instrumental in building it up to its present size. “I wanted to make sure that the new owners would be willing to grow the business to take advantage of our area’s growing needs, and with this sale, I am satisfied that they will certainly do that and I look forward to the company’s continued growth in the future and to its expansion plans,” added Mr. Gravos.

McKenzie Building Center, Inc., is a full service supplier of all types of building materials including lumber, siding, roofing, insulation, tools, ceiling tiles, cabinets and counter tops, windows/doors, flooring, decking, fencing, farm and ranch supplies and paint, plus anything needed to build or improve your home, including appliances.

The company is now planning to add a retail mobile, modular and RV home sales center this summer to meet the demands for new housing as well as planning a model mobile/modular home community in the area to provide affordable housing in a planned development, and has retained the services of an award winning consulting firm to develop the site plans.

The new homes will start at an affordable $29,995 and range to $129,995 allowing a price point for everyone to afford a home. The company is working with banks and finance companies as well as with various affordable financing programs available though the VA, FHA and other affordable plans that will allow as little as 5% down, or $1,500 to qualify for a new home. “Being able to offer easy and affordable financing for our home buyers is the key to new home sales,“ added Ms. Sherwood. “Our available homes will start at around $299 a month and provide comfortable living in a well planned community,“ she added.

Home buyers will also be able to purchase the homes for placement on the buyer’s own lot or land, without having to purchase the lot and some of those will start from $199 a month, and RVs from $99 a month!

“Our current location on Highway 23 in Watford City, is also sufficient to add a new plumbing and electrical department, and we are also adding buildings to accommodate the expansion of our inventories of items in stock, to better serve our contractor clients and homeowners,” said Anthony Floreno, COO. Mr. Floreno has taken over the management of daily operations from Mr.Gravos, and has been working on that transition for some time.

“We are looking to use this business as the nucleus of an expansion program that will allow us to offer competitive pricing due to our increasing purchasing power due to the growth of our business. This year we expect an increase of our revenues at this location of about 30% over last year, and we are looking to add staffing at all levels on both a part time and full time basis as experienced sales personnel, office staff, accounting personnel, and yard and truck drivers,” added Mr. Floreno, COO.

McKenzie Building Center serves the following counties in North Dakota: McKenzie, Williams, Mountrail, Ward, McLean, Mercer, Dunn, Billings, Golden Valley and Stark. They can deliver anywhere in North Dakota and Montana as well. In Montana they serve Richland, Dawson, Wibaux, Fallon, Prairie and Roosevelt.

“Our vendors and suppliers are very excited about supporting our growth plans and it has been a pleasure meeting long time suppliers as well as new ones seeking our business,” said Mr. Sparrow. “We are a very strong business financially, and vendors are anxious to do business with us to take advantage of the strong growth in the area,” he added.

McKenzie Building Center is planning a GRAND RE-OPENING in late July with many special items and great fanfare, so watch for the advertising announcements. In addition, this exciting GRAND RE-OPENING will feature the opportunity for customers to enter a “guess how many jelly beans in the jar” contest to win a NEW HOME for $100 and a new RV for $10 for our customers!

The company is evaluating several possible add-on acquisitions in North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana and plans to add at least one additional acquisition this year as part of its growth plan to reach $100 million in revenues.

“It’s been great working with First International Bank and Trust in Watford City, who helped put this package together, and the community and customer response has been phenomenal,” added Eric Sparrow, CEO.

“We are very interested in adding new personnel to our business on both a full time and part time basis, and we offer some of the best compensation packages, including housing for employees,“ added Wendy Sherwood, Vice President, who is seeking to recruit accounting staff, sales personnel and lumber yard customer service personnel as well as experienced service people to service their extensive appliance installation and service work, and part time office and accounting personnel as well.

“Many people do not want to work full time due to home obligations or just wanting to supplement their income, and we offer flexible working hours daily or weekends in all departments including the expanding retail sales department, contractor sales and outside sales as well,” said Ms. Sherwood.

The McKenzie Building Center is located on Hwy 23, 1504 4th Ave., NE in Watford City North Dakota. Their web site is http://www.mckenziebuildingcenter.com. Their phone number is 1-701-444-3665.