Ain’t No Mountain High Enough
Learning to persevere at Loveland Excavating & Paving
Nobody said life would be easy.
An entrepreneur by temperament, an accountant by education, Matt Brennan understands numbers. But in 2008, as the Great Recession settled in for a long, hard visit, Matt found new meaning in the word “downturn.” By the numbers, Matt had 15 businesses, $27 million in sales, 110 employees and multiple office locations. His businesses were tied to construction, which was one of the industries hit hardest by the ruthless wiles of recession. With his businesses highly leveraged, the future looked more than grim. Matt was a smart man, with a good head, who was losing his shirt—and fast.
Matt turned to longtime adviser, Sam Tuten, and to his attorney, Tom Woebkenberg. These two trusted allies helped Matt to restructure and regroup.
Tom, a partner in the Cincinnati law firm, Wood & Lamping LLP, first met Matt in college, then reconnected with him when Matt was starting his first business. He’s been an adviser to Matt through the years. “Matt’s gone through some really tumultuous times,” says Tom. “Matt’s early years were truly a baptism by fire. He came through those years and the recession era bruised and battered, but wiser.” Sam, Senior Vice President for the Midwest region at Marsh & McLennan Agency LLC, has been an adviser to Matt since the beginning. “Matt’s ‘I’m gonna do what I want to do’ attitude brought him some success, but it was short-lived. He lost sight of what the others brought to the table.”
In the midst of the chaos, Matt found one thing that would make all the difference: the courage and humility to simply sit back … and listen.
“Sam and Tom mentored me,” Matt says. “We had very frank discussions, they gave me good advice and they stuck by me and coached me through some very difficult times. Without those two guys in my corner I never would have made it.”
Dropping down to one office and 21 employees, Matt negotiated vendor payment terms, established a structured debt through the U.S. Small Business Administration, and began the process of rebuilding. In three years, he was on his feet once again.
So, now that he was back in the game, the future looked bright. This time, Matt set his sights on building and maintaining just one firm, Loveland Excavating & Paving. It was time to heave a sigh of relief. But not so fast.
Matt couldn’t put his finger on it, but something just didn’t seem right about the new controller he’d hired. The months wore on and his uneasiness just didn’t subside. There was good reason. One year into the controller’s employment, Matt found that she had forged documents, stolen money, cheated vendors and single-handedly pushed the company onto a financial precipice.
Matt entered this crisis with new ammunition—the skill sets he learned from his mentors and his own hard-knocks education, forged from the challenges he’d endured throughout the recession. This time he took control.
“I couldn’t just fold up shop and start over,” he says. “I couldn’t do that; I couldn’t let people down. I couldn’t stiff vendors. It wasn’t in me to quit.”
Matt pulled his employees together and laid it on the line. Then he did the same with his vendors. Once again, he depended on Sam and Tom for wisdom; but he also put his trust in his team and their ability to step up and fight the uphill battle they would need to endure to keep this company alive. “ ‘Just keep grinding,’ was our motto,” he says, “and it remains our motto today.”
Fast Forward
Now, things have changed. Loveland Excavating & Paving, based in Fairfield, has become one of southwest Ohio’s leading site contractors. From large parking lot projects for retailers, such as Lowe’s home improvement stores, Tri-County Mall, Kenwood Towne Centre and Bethesda North Hospital to small restaurant sites, such as White Castle and Raising Cane’s, their services cover a wide range of uses.
“We have a reputation for solving complicated problems,” says Matt, who serves as the company’s CEO. “We don’t do simple jobs. We’re working on an active highway or down in a complex meter pit. We do things other companies can’t.” Couple that with nearly 80,000 hours without a work-related incident and you’ve got some stats that are hard to beat.
The turnkey site development team provides a complete site construction package outside of the physical building—including asphalt services added in 2006 and site concrete services added in 2017. All work is self-performed in this unique approach. “That makes us unique, and it gives us and our customers a competitive advantage because we can accelerate the schedule and alleviate unknown scope issues that come into play when there are multiple subs,” Matt adds. “It makes the whole punch list acceptability process much easier and results in less management on the contractor’s side.”
”I had great people who believed in me and I’m where I am because of them.” Matt Brennan, CEO, Loveland Excavating & Paving
Team Altruistic
While Loveland Excavating & Paving has seen its peaks and valleys, the team’s personal lives have their challenges, too. Matt and his wife, Susan’s, youngest son, Blake, was diagnosed with autism as a toddler. They quickly found that resources for children on the autism spectrum were lacking in Cincinnati, so they did what they do best—they took action. A dream that began on their kitchen counter became the Cincinnati Center for Autism. The 15,000-square-foot facility opened in 2003 and today maintains a staff of 30 professionals who serve more than 100 children each year.
Tom says that the center may be the best thing Matt’s done. “To run a business, face recession and create an oasis for families and kids all at once is a powerful story. He started the center in an office warehouse space in a building he owned. He helped it transition to a 3-acre property with beautiful grounds and a facility that offers an outstanding environment for families and their children. It’s a huge labor of love.”
The Loveland Excavating & Paving team and its vendors all show their respect for Matt and exhibit their own altruism by donating their personal time and materials to help the center. “Employees and vendors contribute time and talent to improve the facility, create new parking, and make building repairs and upgrades,” Matt says. “They’ve contributed $250,000 in improvements, $35,000 in 2017 alone.”
Loveland Excavating & Paving employees also work with the Fraternal Order of Police and, as a team, sponsors 50 families at Thanksgiving, making sure each has a plentiful family meal.
Climb Every Mountain
Matt learned well the lessons wrought by adversity; yet he gains strength in learning to live a big life. And that includes reaching new summits—The Seven Summits, to be exact—the seven highest mountains on the world’s seven continents. With four already under his belt, this year’s challenge is Mount Everest in Nepal.
Currently on a strict diet and completing physical training for three hours nearly every day, Matt is building the physical and mental toughness to embrace the journey. Reaching base camp will take 10 days; reaching the summit will take two months.
Matt acknowledges that, during a summit, he has to walk away mentally from home and work and to limit communications. “I couldn’t do it without Susan’s support at home or without the commitment of the Loveland management team, who take on all the responsibility for keeping the business strong while I’m gone,” he says.
Looking Back, Forward and Up
The winding road that brought Loveland Excavating & Paving to where it is today, shows just how well adversity can help shape both personal and professional success. “When you’ve come through the wringer, it humbles you,” Matt says. “I really thought I was smart; I had to learn that I wasn’t the smartest guy in the room. I’ve changed as a leader. Now, I don’t make decisions alone—that wasn’t the case 10 years ago. Today, with good advisers and managers, I can sit back and listen and trust.”
Sam agrees with Matt’s assessment. “Matt’s done a lot of good things,” says Sam. “He’s very resilient and driven to perfection; he strives in his own way to help people around him, personally and professionally. The people who work with him have grown professionally and now work in a real team environment. He listens compassionately to employees, bankers and others. He’s focused on making Loveland best-of-class; and now he’s doing it with a passion for people.”
“I’m a very lucky guy,” Matt concludes. “Any time you think you become successful on your own, you’re mistaken. I had great people who believed in me, and I’m where I am because of them. I’m just a passenger along the way—only smart enough to listen.”