A quarter century after starting his own company, John DeStefano points to project diversification and loyal clients as the secret to long-term success. He started DeStefano & Associates, a construction management firm in Portsmouth, in 1999 after finding himself out of a job.
“I always had it in the back of my mind,” he says of starting his own firm. “Then I was laid off so that was the right time, and I thought why not put my own shingle out.”
DeStefano, an engineer with 40 years’ experience in the industry, describes the firm as a “napkin stage to completion” company serving NH, Maine, and Massachusetts.
DeStefano and his 18 employees do the planning in house, while contracting the design and construction services. The staff is made up of project managers, estimators, site managers, and contract administration.
The company’s portfolio of projects varies in size, location, and industry. Over 25 years, the company has built multifamily housing, health care facilities, restaurants, retail outlets, breweries, coffee houses, and offices.
“One market may be down, but another market may be up, and that absolutely contributes to our success,” says DeStefano. “We aren’t afraid of taking on projects that have complexity. We like architectural projects.”
The company removed and replaced 30 columns and 700 cubic yards of ledge under the auditorium of The Music Hall in Portsmouth in 2008—a renovation that resulted in its award-winning lower level featuring a bar and bathrooms.
Stonewall Kitchen in York, Maine, has been a client since DeStefano’s first year in business. “They were my first major client, and they’ve been a client ever since,’ he says. “We do bid against other companies, of course, but 80 percent of our work is regular and repeat business.”
DeStefano & Associates completed the design and construction of 36 apartments in the former St. Joseph’s School in Haverhill, Massachusetts, the renovation of the Foster’s Daily Democrat building in Dover, as well as projects for Tributary Brewing in Kittery, Maine, and Lonza Biologics in Portsmouth.
Looking ahead, DeStefano says continuing to be a small, family company is his focus—not scaling. (His son, Eric, is vice president, and his wife, Stephanie, is the bookkeeper.) “It’s very much a business and culture that is family forward. Family first, work second,” he says.