DIG Insurance & Business Magazine Fall 2019 | Page 6

trades. This is how Pino developed a deep
understanding of the business. During
college, he was preparing estimates and
selling work. And after graduating in 2007,
he joined the family operation full-time
in management. One part of their strategy involves moving
Pino’s mother out of her role of managing
the financials. “We’ve hired people to help
take some of that workload off of my mom,
and she has started to take a step back,”
Pino says.
They began to fine-tune the operation,
focusing more on water mitigation and
commercial projects. Today, 80 percent
of their work is commercial, and they have
20 employees on staff. Joe Sr. is still very involved and generally
oversees the residential projects. “He has
let go of a lot of responsibilities, but at the
same time, he likes to be very hands-on
with his projects,” Pino says.
“I feel like some parents who own family
businesses immediately put their kids into
management positions, but that’s not how
we did it,” Pino says. “My dad didn’t want
me to start doing management work until
I really understood and experienced the
field work.”
AN ORGANIC TRANSITION
Business perpetuation has been gradual
and intentional. “My dad and I have always
had a great relationship, and he’s been very
patient with me, teaching me how to run
the business,” Pino says.
He feels the process has evolved naturally
as his skill sets have developed. He and
his father diversified the business and
developed areas of concentration that each
enjoys. For example, Pino prefers
the commercial accounts while his
father enjoys residential work—such
as restoration after a large house fire.
“If we have a problem on a job site or with
a customer, we talk to each other about
it,” Pino says.
“We haven’t had a formal [succession] plan,
but it’s more of an organic thing,” Pino says.
6
BUT GROWING
ALSO REQUIRES
ATTENTION TO
DETAIL SO QUALITY
DOESN’T FALTER...
“Dad is more of a Type-A personality.
I’m definitely a Type B,” Pino says. Because
of this, he finds it easier to delegate tasks.
“That’s something you really need to do
in order to grow.”
But growing also requires attention to
detail so quality doesn’t falter, and that’s
where the Type A comes in. “He has taught
me to be more hands-on and focused
on quality control,” Pino says.
“We still work together and bounce ideas off
of each other,” Pino adds.
RESPECTING THE LEGACY
Pino feels there’s a mutual respect that’s
important when transitioning a family
business. “The person coming into the
business needs to value the person who
built the business and the work they put
into it—it’s their baby,” he says.
While Joe Sr. is at “retirement age,”
he still enjoys his time working closely
with customers, so the transition
is happening naturally.
“I know my dad will always want to be
involved to an extent,” Pino says. “And I am
looking forward to getting the business to
a point where it's a well-oiled machine and
I can be there to oversee quality and focus
on big-picture planning.”
DIVIDE AND PERPETUATE
Bill Gibbs grew up in Ocean City, working
as a beach boy for Breakers Hotel on the
boardwalk. Every day, visitors asked him
where they could grab lunch—there really
wasn’t a casual spot for families near the
hotel. “I always loved the pizza business,”
Gibbs says. So, after coming home from
college, a 22-year old Gibbs opened
a boardwalk pizza shack.
“I was very aggressive,” he says, sharing his
love for meeting and talking with people
while rolling dough, serving up pizzas,
sodas, and beer. He worked this way for
eight years, until 1979 when he had
an opportunity to buy the Breakers Hotel.
“I knew it would be a perfect place for
a family-friendly restaurant,” he says,