It's not old Greenwich but old Denver that fuels the growing reputation of Old Greenwich Builders. Well, a few targeted areas of the Mile-High City, along with the owners' yin-yang talents for upscale craftsmanship and sophisticated business systems.
It did all begin in Connecticut, however. Christopher Withers (left) grew up in West-port, and ran painting and then trim carpentry companies after college. His skiing and mountain biking buddy Cress Carter (right) parlayed an MBA into a software company that he later sold to Symantec.
Withers started Old Greenwich Builders in 1999 and was joined by Carter in 2001. A year later, they hired an office manager and proceeded, as a team, to assemble the systems that would support the strategic goals the owners hammered out each year.
The current marketing push is “relationship building” targeting architects, clients, and selected neighborhoods. One brilliantly simple neighborhood strategy radiates around jobsites: The company sweeps the street, marks off homeowners' parking spaces, and makes introductions (often accompanied by gift certificates) to neighbors, whose relief is palpable — and profitable. “We'll start a project, and neighbors will say, ‘We're so happy you're doing this job,'” Carter says.
- Leah Thayer
