PROCON Chair and CEO Mark Stebbins died June 17. According to a statement from PROCON he, “…passed away unexpectedly and peacefully at his favorite place in the world, Bailey Island, Maine, on June 17, 2021, after enjoying a beautiful sunset with his wife, Sally.”
Stebbins grew up as a contractor’s son in the North End of Manchester, where his entrepreneurial and competitive spirit developed early. In order to gain experience in real estate and finance, he took a job at Chase Manhattan Bank in New York City, “where he met and fell in love with Sally.” In 1979, he returned home to New Hampshire to work alongside his father at PROCON and begin what would become a long career and lifelong passion for developing real estate.
“Although Mark was passionate about business, his first love and priority was always his family. Mark and Sally recently celebrated their 42nd wedding anniversary and have three children: John, Jennifer, and Lisa. Later, three in-laws and six grandchildren joined the family. He has always been close with his parents, brother and his family, and sister and her family.”
Stebbins loved real estate so much that he made it his job and did it for fun too. At age 19, he and his brother put an offer in on a house in Bailey Island, Maine. Over the years, he envisioned and created an extended compound for friends and family to gather there together.
Professionally, Stebbins was a visionary and consummate entrepreneur. He grew PROCON to the largest design-build construction company in New Hampshire. His hotel company owns the largest number of hotel rooms in Greater Boston. He owns a fabric company, a biotech company, a senior living development company, a commercial real estate brokerage, and innumerable commercial real estate developments. He truly loved his work and the people he worked with. Many of his business partners became close friends, and one of his greatest joys was working alongside his children, John and Jennifer, as they joined the business in the last decade.
He made his mark on the built environment and in business, but also felt a deep need to give back to the community. He was generous both financially and with his time and expertise, pushing non-profits to think strategically, to collaborate, and to develop sustainable models. Together with Sally, he joyfully supported organizations helping children and families throughout New Hampshire and the arts in Portsmouth.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to one of the below charities in Stebbins’s memory:
- Granite United Way
- Waypoint
- Boys and Girls Club of Manchester
- Easterseals of NH
- Gather
- Families First
PROCON was listed among the Best Companies to Work for by Business NH Magazine in 2017, 2018 and 2020. In the most recent application, pointing out that in April 2020, PROCON celebrated 85 years of business success. "Founded in 1935 by the Stebbins’ family, the company’s philosophy is simple; earn lasting partnerships, design and build exceptional projects, hire and promote hard working employees who are innovative and pay it forward.
The term design-build is commonly used by most construction companies that offer construction management services only and hire an outside architect that works under the CM. But this was not the case in 1988, when Mark Stebbins and former president, John Samenfeld implemented the strategic decision of hiring the first in-house architects to enhance the development experience of their clients. This course of action combined architecture with construction management in one company, unheard of at the time and still very rare today. It produced a customized, speedy and seamless project delivery system now known as design-build."
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