A decade of growth for Foundation Building Materials
Foundation Building Materials is recognizing a company milestone as the building products distributor honors 10 years of growth.
Founded on March 1, 2011 by Ruben Mendoza, John Gorey, and Tom Fischbeck, the Santa Ana, Calif.-based company began as a single location. Since its founding in Orange, Calif., and 10 years later, FBM has grown to more than 200 locations.
According to FMB, since day one the company has operated on a set of key values set forth by Mendoza, Gorey, and Fishbeck.
“These values are safety comes first, staying focused on the customer, placing a high value on its employees, always telling the truth and striving to become the best,” the company said.
The trio of founders recently discussed some of the company’s early days, including overcoming obstacles that eventually translated into a solid five-year business plan and future growth.
“We started Foundation from scratch,” says Mendoza, the CEO of FBM. “We bought some assets and inventory from a guy that was going out of business.”
At one point making payroll was even a challenge, CFO Fishbeck says.
That’s not a problem these days. In January, American Securities LLC closed on its acquisition of the company. The all-cash transaction, valued at about $1.37 billion, gives FBM greater flexibility to focus on serving customers across the U.S. and Canada, according to Mendoza.
The move was quickly followed by FBM acquiring Beacon’s interior products and insulation business in an $850 million deal, which included 80 Beacon locations.
Today FBM operates more than 250 locations across the United States and Canada with more than 2,600 employees. The company focuses on the distribution of wallboard, suspended ceiling systems, metal framing, and complementary building products.
The discussion between Mendoza, Gorey, Fishbeck (regional vice president at FBM) and COO Pete Welly can be viewed here.
