Press

The Vindicator – Sunday, November 14, 1999

Drywall Company Was Built Slowly

By Don Shilling, Vindicator Business Editor

BOARDMAN – Roger Kreps remembers the fear of starting a new business and the day the fear of failure went away. In between, there was a little crying, many days of changing clothes in the car and long hours dedicated to building a one-man operation into a company with 150 employees.

A key part of his business came from his younger days, when he quietly listened as his grandfather, father uncle and brother talked about the mistakes they made running their businesses.

“I listened to all those things,” said Kreps, president of Roger Kreps Drywall & Plastering, Inc. in Boardman. “I said, “When I go into business, I’m not going to make those mistakes.””

Started small: Kreps, 50, hasn’t made many. He started taking on small plaster repair jobs in his spare time 15 years ago and today runs a company that has $11 million in annual sales and handles major commercial work from Cleveland to Pittsburgh.

The company recently completed its biggest job to date as carpentry contractor for

The Legacy , a new 24-screen movie theater in Valley View in the suburban Cleveland area. His crews performed $3 million worth of work. The company also recently received its first contract in Pittsburgh – working on the interior remodeling of the Sheraton Inn at Station Square.

But starting a business was only a remote possibility for Kreps in his younger days, even though he helped out at his father’s plastering company.

He was a 1968 graduate of Boardman High School, where he starred at basketball and track and later was inducted into the school hall of fame. He was inspired by his teachers and coaches to go into education and worked 16 years as a teacher and coach at West Branch High School.

He worked on the side at plastering and drywall companies run by family members when he decided to begin working on his own. He started with small jobs he could handle himself but soon he had a half dozen employees and was installing walls for room additions or new homes.

What he recalls: What stands out in his mind are the days he left school and went directly to a plaster or drywall job, pulling his pickup truck off the side of a desolate road so he could change clothes. As his business grew, however, his desire to teach began to leave him.

“I did a decent job my last two years, but not like I did the first 14 years. I dedicated myself to those kids,” he said.

In 1987, three years after running his company part-time, he quit his teaching job. He recalls when he brought the resignation letter to the superintendent.

Emotional moment: “I broke down and cried. She cried. It was very emotional,” he said.

Kreps and his wife, Mary Ann, committed $100,000 in savings to start the new company. Kreps said he wasn’t worried about losing the money but he was worried about his first big job. A contractor building a new sanctuary for Victory Assembly of God in Coitsville approached him about handling the interior work because bids by established companies were too high.

Kreps said he took the job for $300,000 but had no idea whether he could do the work. The steep slope on the roof provided challenges he had never faced before.

Finished the job: He and his crew completed the job. The company made $60,000 and orders began flowing in for other local jobs. The company later expanded into Cleveland, Akron, Canton, Sharon and New Castle. It now has 140 workers in the filed to handle work in those areas and the Mahoning Valley.

Eight people work at the company headquarters at 8065 Market St. The company is having an open house Friday at its newly remodeled offices. RK Inc. does interior and exterior plastering, drywall hanging and carpentry work at hospitals, retail stores, prisons and churches.

Kreps said the company has added between $1.5 million in business annually for the past five years and he thinks it will hit between $13 million and $15 million in annual sales before leveling off.

He said he intends to work for four or five more years and then become chairman of the board handing over daily operations to someone else. Over the next several years, he will explore his options, including selling the company, creating an employee-ownership program or turning the business over to a family member. The Kreps’ have two daughters, ages 15 and 12.

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