A lot has changed since Bob Moss and his son Scott founded Moss 20 years ago, and in recent years, the company has shifted into a higher gear, growing rapidly by taking advantage of opportunities in booming markets in the Southeast.
The Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based company grew 50% in volume from 2021 to 2023, CEO Scott Moss says. The company now has more than 1,600 salaried employees worldwide and nearly 1,250 in the Southeast, where it will add 300 salaried employees by 2023. Last year, Moss posted revenue in the Southeast of 2.13 billion of dollars, a 30% increase from 2022. Global revenue was $3.18. billion
Every division of the company achieved a record year in 2023. The company’s leaders, reflecting on recent achievements, continuously point to their people as the foundation on which this growth is built.
Prioritize people
The family-owned and privately held company recognizes the primary role its people and culture play in the company’s success. By delegating authority and fostering the enthusiasm that builds customer relationships, the company facilitates its rapid growth.
“At Moss we put people first and trust that everything else will follow,” says Edwin Perkins, solar president.
“When Bob and I started this business, we just wanted a great place to work,” says Scott Moss. “I think that’s what everyone wants: they want to feel like their work is meaningful, they’re being cared for, and then they can care for other people.”
Bob Moss is still involved in the company as president and founder, as is his son Chad Moss, vice president, who joined a year after the founding and serves as CEO of Moss Family Office Worldwide, an office management company ‘acquisitions of family assets.
Including hourly employees, the total workforce is close to 4,000 today, Scott Moss says, and the company ensures that its family business values of honoring relationships and fostering an entrepreneurial spirit are honored throughout the company. Building leaders is a big part of the company’s growth, Moss says, noting that the company currently has 240 interns.
“As a leadership team, we are focused on optimizing our systems while preserving what got us here: our culture.”
—Edwin Perkins, president of Solar, Moss
“You see companies that have values and talk about these things, but at Moss it’s everywhere,” says Veronica Nur Valdes, the company’s senior vice president of strategy, who has been at Moss for about a year. “It starts with the people. How are we improving the lives of these people? How are we building the future? And that’s deeply rooted in the culture.”
When looking to hire someone, Brett Atkinson, president of the Moss South Florida unit, says the skills are usually there in the candidates, but the culture, energy, curiosity and desire to be part of something bigger that they are key. If they are present, everything else will fall into place.
Maintaining that culture and spirit as the company grows is crucial, says Scott Moss, who remembers when the company was just him and his dad and a computer 20 years ago. He now has about 40 watches ready to give to employees who have been with the company for a decade, and there are several who have been with the company for the full 20 years.
“What’s been most fun is that we’ve been able to evolve with the demands of the market,” he says. “We call these evolution releases. So right now, we’re on version 7.6 … just like your phone has an operating system, this is the operating system we’re on now.”
Self-described non-celebratory Scott Moss focuses on the future: “I’m trying to figure out how I do the job of CEO of a $4 billion company, right? Because that’s really the what’s happening next.”
Keeping company culture intact amid rapid growth means thinking outside the box, with a visionary leadership team that strategizes so that every employee knows they have a role to play in the company and contribute to its goals and success. .
A recent survey of employees was close to 100% on the question of whether they were clear about the company’s direction, Nur Valdés points out.
“When people understand the why and understand what we’re doing and how they fit together, that’s how you get success,” says Mike Mazza, president of Moss in California, Florida and Texas.
This includes delegating responsibilities so that clients meet with decision makers capable of immediate action on issues, something both Mazza and Atkinson pointed to as a contributor to success on fast-paced, dynamic projects.
Moss completed work on the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix circuit with a tight schedule just in time for the inaugural race.
Photo courtesy of J Christopher Photography
Solar on the rise
Building on its reputation for delivering quality projects on time and safely, Perkins says Moss has evolved by continuing to integrate emerging sectors such as solar battery storage, building its portfolio of projects across multiple geographies and investing in a improved workforce development while focusing on scaling operating systems to adapt. growth
“We are committed to providing field-focused, high-performance solutions so we can keep up with market demand,” says Perkins. “As a leadership team, we are focused on optimizing our systems while preserving what got us here: our culture.”
The outlook is particularly bright for solar projects, where Moss is tapping into growing demand, says Scott Moss, with roughly 75 projects underway and another 30-40 in pre-construction.
Moss topped ENR’s list of US solar contractors for 2023, powering nearly 3.8 GW of solar energy nationwide, enough energy to power Florida’s Jacksonville Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is home to more of 1.3 million people, says Perkins.
Recent legislation like the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act have spurred greater investment in renewable energy, Perkins says, and the long-term outlook for solar PV storage and solar are solid. This growing demand is also putting pressure on the workforce, requiring a wave of talent to build, install and maintain this new infrastructure, he says, making specialist skills like solar construction increasingly valuable and helping to drive the demand for skilled workers in the industry.
Completed in early 2023, the JW Marriott Clearwater Beach Hotel offers hotel rooms and residences.
Photo by Chad Baumer
Race to results
Tom Garfinkel is vice president, president and CEO of the NFL’s Miami Dolphins and managing partner of the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix. Moss has recently completed major projects for both programs.
For the Dolphins, Moss completed the $135 million, 250,000-square-foot Baptist Health Training Complex in Miami Gardens in time for the 2023 training season. With the Miami Grand Prix, Moss completed the track for nearly $300 million in time for the inaugural run.
“Tom called me and said, ‘Hey, I’m going to Monaco tomorrow and announcing F1 in Miami,'” Atkinson says, adding that he assumed a two-year timeline for the project until Garfinkel corrected him. And I said, ‘Tom, that means we have to build the track in eight months.'”
Garfinkel’s response was, “Failure is not an option.”
“What you’re really looking for is someone who will tell you directly what the schedule and budget will be, and then deliver, on time and on budget, quality work.”
—Tom Garfinkel, Miami Dolphins vice president, president and CEO; Managing partner of the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix
Split into two phases, Moss built a new 3.36-mile track that goes under the Florida Turnpike and wraps around Hard Rock Stadium with 19 turns and 12 bridges. Part of the first phase was also a grandstand venue for more than 300,000 people, built in time for the May 2022 race, all while contending with shutdowns for dozens of concerts, pro football games, the Miami Open Tennis Tournament and three festivals. Atkinson says the people at Moss are what make the difference in being successful on projects like this because they have the power to make decisions as the needs of the client and the project change.
“Some of these projects were really challenging from a timeline standpoint,” says Garfinkel. “What you’re really looking for is someone who can tell you straight up what the schedule and budget will be, and then deliver, on time and on budget, quality work.”
Moss achieves this, he says, thanks to the flexibility and creativity of the company’s dedicated employees.
“We build things together, we communicate openly,” says Garfinkel. “I often say that the No. 1 rule in life is to treat others as you want to be treated, and the No. 1 rule in business is to do what you say you’re going to do.”
Moss fits that bill, too, he says, from Bob Moss to Garrett Green, vice president and project executive who managed the Dolphins and Grand Prix projects, and everyone in between. Moss is straightforward about what the challenges are, he adds, and what they can and cannot do. During construction of the Dolphins’ practice facility, the COVID-19 pandemic slowed construction in part because of legal safety guidelines, Garfinkel says. Moss was able to meet the requirements and keep the project going. At the Formula 1 track, Moss maintained an unwavering 11-month schedule for a project he says would normally take 2 years.
“It’s flexibility,” he says of how Moss quickly delivers quality projects that differ from more conventional endeavors such as condos or office buildings. “Our projects require a certain degree of flexibility and adaptability to the challenges that arise [as well as] creativity and problem solving, because it’s not a standard project.”
Garfinkel says the relationships they’ve built and the trust they have in the company, as well as their credibility, are reasons he’ll look to Moss for future projects.
Take off in Tampa
Tampa-based real estate developer Strategic Property Partners (SPP) has worked with Moss on several high-value projects since 2017, including the Cora Water Street Tampa luxury apartment building.
Moss built the 432,607-square-foot Cora, a 24-story, 388-unit residential tower with ground-floor retail and a rooftop service deck. SPP CEO Josh Taube points to collaboration and shared goals as the key to his success in working with Moss, which isn’t always the case with owners and contractors, “so it’s refreshing when you actually it feels like a cohesive team.”
This came into play when the glass company for a recent project went out of business in the middle of construction. Moss was able to navigate procurement and installation with other suppliers while staying on budget and on schedule. The relationship also extends beyond the end of a project, Taube says, with Moss’ responsive assurance department providing regular updates and the wider team ready to guide any questions or issues that arise outside of the warranty period.
“Moss has been an exceptional partner to work with and we deeply value our ongoing relationship,” says Taube. “The quality of his work sets a high standard.
