![]() ![]() In 2017, the first year of business under Griffin’s ownership, the company had $90 million in sales. “That really motivated the staff, and made them part of the process, with many employees bringing in new clients and jobs,” Griffin said. He incentivized staff with competitive salaries that he refers to as the “highest in the industry,” bonuses and strong benefits, while keeping his own salary relatively low. To me, the best way to build your business is to turn your employees into entrepreneurs themselves,” said Griffin, who developed his entrepreneurial spirit at the age of 11 when he started his own lawn-mowing business. “The main thing was rebuilding our staff. Griffin streamlined operations, made new hires, invested in new technology systems and eventually brought on new clients with significant project costs. “I told them the entire truth, and to my surprise, each one agreed,” Griffin said. Without a source of capital, he devised a way to raise cash to expand, approaching the company’s 18 largest suppliers and working out a loan program. To get the company back on track, Griffin’s plan was to rapidly grow. “It was the hardest and scariest time in my life, but at the same time, I had just lost so many people close to me, which really put everything in perspective.” “I don’t think I slept a full eight-hour night for two years,” Griffin said. The company, still in rough waters with banks, was also facing a tough legal atmosphere with several lawsuits pending. He sold his house, liquidated his retirement account and borrowed money from friends and family, eventually raising north of $12 million.Īs part of the transaction, he took on about $14 million in debt and shortly later discovered an additional $15 million in debt that had not been disclosed. “I realized life is a short ride, and I wanted to challenge myself to turn the company around,” Griffin said. He had just lost his father-a former professional cowboy-and two best friends to cancer. Griffin decided to take the plunge and acquire the company after a mix of personal and professional circumstances drove the former CPA to take a risk. Griffin, also chief executive of Pinner Construction, is one of five honorees for this year’s Business Journal Excellence in Entrepreneurship awards (see stories on the other winners, pages 1, 4, and 11). He emerged as the unlikely buyer of the firm, and nearly four years later, the company appears to be on the other side of the struggle, with sales nearly tripling since 2016. Those creditors, however, suggested that Griffin take the reins instead. “We were in a terrible construction economy, and I couldn’t get a bank or any other financial institution to loan us money under the current ownership,” Griffin said. ![]() ![]() Griffin, then chief financial officer of the longtime family-owned and operated business, was struggling to attract any interested buyers for the firm. When Dirk Griffin acquired Pinner Construction at the start of 2017, he realized things would have to get worse before they could get better.Īfter 97 years of business, the Anaheim-based civic and education general contractor was forced to sell at the end of 2016 after it found itself facing several internal struggles, including a worsening situation with the company’s financial partners.
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