🔒Portand’s M.R. Brewer Inc.’s bright future stays true to familial roots

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M.R. Brewer Inc. is a construction and millwork firm that handles everything from installing a $50 cabinet door to completing multi-million-dollar renovations and new construction.

As a family-owned business invested in the Portland community for nearly 30 years, that kind of diverse production is important to owners Malcolm “Rusty” Brewer, his wife Patricia Brewer and their grown sons, Jeffrey and Matthew.

Now they're thinking succession. The family is taking steps to leverage its diverse capabilities for responsible growth as the parents gradually step back from day-to-day operations and the sons come into ownership.

“We want the business to be around for our own kids and give them the opportunity to pass it onto their kids, if they want it,” says one of the representatives of the business's second generation, Matthew. “To do that, we have to stay current with the times, stay current with technology, and stay current in the marketplace.”

Evolution of a business

Rusty Brewer got into the business as a young man because he enjoyed carpentry. After graduating from Southern Maine Vocational Technical Institute (now Southern Maine Community College), he went to work for a couple of contractors, including Cape Elizabeth-based F.P. & C.H. Murray. Brewer found that working outside in the winter was not his favorite activity.

“I was freezing,” Rusty says. “So I got an inside job.”

That was with the architectural woodwork firm Pond Cove Millwork, where he stayed 15 years.

The decision to start his own company was simple: “I said, 'I can work for someone else or I can start my own business,'” he recalls.

In 1987, Rusty and a friend, Richard Beaudoin, set up shop in the Brewer barn. When summer rolled around, their kids played nearby in the yard, and Rusty realized he should find a separate workspace. The partners leased basement space at the Portland flooring firm Paul G. White Interior Solutions for eight or nine years, employing 12 people. From the beginning, Brewer and Beaudoin took on just about everything — from trim to furniture to renovations.

“Whatever came along, we'd chase it down and do the work,” Brewer says.

Then they bought their current building at auction, a 12,000-square foot space at 91 Bell St. in Portland. Beaudoin retired and Rusty continued to expand both the cabinetry and construction lines of business. Today, the company employs 25 people. Most of the company's work is in greater Portland, with some customers from as far away as Camden and Boston.

Both sons got into the business naturally, growing up around their father's work.

“When my brother and I were little, who's a bigger idol than your old man?” Matthew says. “Seeing him build things makes you want to do it. And seeing the bond he has with the guys he works with was one of those things that was a big influence on our lives.”

Rusty is now 64 years old, while Jeffrey is 40 and Matthew is 36.

Jeffrey started at the company in 1997 and Matthew followed in 2003. The sons have been instrumental in introducing new technology.

“When I started, they did everything pen-on-paper,” says Matthew. “I got them set up with a server and got everybody set up with computers. We're all under the same project management software now. No more pen and paper. Everyone used to do everything a little different from each other; now it's all uniform.”

Under the sons, the millwork shop — producing custom millwork, moldings, cabinets, doors and windows for the company's own construction team or for other contractors — graduated to high-tech.

Today, the shop is equipped with up-to-date equipment such as a computer numerical control router that performs the sort of precision work needed for matching vintage moldings in a historic house. They replaced the old single-head Williams & Hussey molder with a digitally controlled five-head molder — a versatile piece of equipment that feeds material through five cutting heads to accomplish the desired profile on a board. Plans are drawn using computer-aided design software.

On the construction side, M.R. Brewer focuses on renovation, rather than new construction. It builds maybe one new home a year, compared with 12 to 15 renovations a year.

For instance, they're finishing the renovation of a historic Falmouth home, just under 5,000 square feet with views of Casco Bay, that was designed by noted Portland architect John Calvin Stevens. The project, taking about eight months, involved gutting the house and opening up one portion, which was originally divided into smaller rooms, into a spacious floor plan that includes a step-down living room and open kitchen and dining area. As general contractor, M.R. Brewer oversaw the project, performing rough and finish carpentry as well as cabinetry and millwork. It subcontracted trades such as HVAC and electrical work.

“This project is right in our wheelhouse,” says Jeffrey. “Renovation is our strong suit. We have a good eye for detail and for making the work seamless. You can't tell where the old work” — vintage elements left in place — “ends and the new work starts.”

Renovation has been a strong market throughout the company's existence, though demand ebbs and flows.

“When the economy is doing well, people want to update and renovate their houses,” says Jeffrey.

Two years ago, the family decided to split the business into two divisions: construction and millwork. The sons took over the construction side, with Rusty handling the millwork side.

The decision to divide the company resulted from a combination of ideas, Rusty says. The millwork side can work with other contractors. The division also allows the company to understand their true costs in each space. Sales grew by 20% between 2013 and 2015.

“[Before the division] it was difficult to pull out our true costs,” says Matthew. “Everything was lumped under one company, and trying to figure out costs that way was difficult.”

The division also provided a way to pass the construction side of the business to the sons, while leaving the millwork to the father.

Building a team

As Rusty hoped, his sons took on the construction division and have been running with it.

“Within the last year, we've circled ourselves with one heck of a team,” says Matthew.

An adjunct to that team is an accountant, Marc Powers, a partner at Portland-based accounting firm Purdy Powers & Co.

“He's helping us on the financial side with the transition of ownership from my parents to Jeff and me. Bringing him onboard was one of the top things we did over the past year,” Matthew says. They also hired a public relations specialist, Christopher Philbrook, who left Industrium last year to start his own firm.

With Powers' help, each division has established management, accounting and internal communication. Philbrook has been instrumental in updating the company's website and rolling out a marketing campaign that includes direct mail, media outreach and production of a retail catalogue for the millwork division.

These changes come at a time when both the construction and millwork markets are gathering momentum.

“The market seems to be moving in the right direction,” Matthew Brewer says. “Typically, January is a slow time for contractors. But I don't know many contractors out there that are slow right now. In fact, I think a lot of contractors right now are looking for labor.”

Finding skilled employees has been a challenge.

“A lot of different companies are fighting for the same guy — and there aren't a lot of guys out there who fit the mold,” Matthew says. The brothers are working to change that. “Right now, we're trying to work with other contractors to figure out how to get word to technical school and local high schools to promote the trades. We feel the trades aren't being promoted anymore as a good career path for kids. We're part of a group of contractors in Portland that discusses these issues.”

“They're the next generation, stepping up the business,” says Rusty. “I started the business, but the boys are young, hungry and ambitious, and they want to bring the business to the next level.”