by Monica Chamness
Realty/Builder Connection
The year is 1986. It’s the last quarter of the big game for professional quarterback Matt Robinson but the roar of the crowd sounds strangely dull. For Robinson, this is the end of an era, a transition from using his brawn to using his brains. The pendulum of Robinson’s career has swung from professional football player to seasoned businessman.
Regardless of how many years have gone by, Robinson has not forgotten about his football past. Sports fans can continue to hear his commentary during select games of the Jacksonville Jaguars.
“For the last couple of years, I’ve been the radio color analyst,” he said. “You’ve got a play-by-play man [Brian Sexton] who calls the play. I critiqued things. Obviously, part of the goal is to teach football over the air. Those that couldn’t be at the game turned the radio on. We described everything to them, made them feel like they were there and hopefully, taught them a little about football in the process.”
After serving as an independent contractor for the Jaguars broadcasting his commentary over the airwaves each weekend of the season, he has cut back to covering preseason games only. The seemingly small distraction of being a weekend radio color analyst ate up 20 hours of his week and involved numerous road trips.
“He’s not coming back to the radio booth this year,” said Brian Sexton, the voice of the Jaguars. “Summit [Contractors, Robinson’s employer] has been churning along and he’s right in the center. Matt backed out of the day-to-day stuff like when he was working for the Jags solely. Jeff Lageman [former Jaguars defensive end] has stepped in to fill the void.
“Matt is still involved with us but on a much reduced level. We’re going to have a sports desk with updates shown on the Jumbotron in the stadium. Matt will do that.”
Robinson cut a path to recognition in the real estate community as he retired from the NFL after playing eight years of professional football. He played football at the college level at the University of Georgia—where he also earned his degree in business—then was drafted by the New York Jets in the 9th round.
Despite not being on the top of the list of picks, Robinson played for three years with the Jets, starting roughly half the time. He was subsequently traded to the Denver Broncos, released after a couple of years, and then immediately picked up by the Buffalo Bills where he completed his NFL career. He did sign another contract, this time with the Los Angeles Raiders, but had to leave training camp because his father became ill with cancer.
“I was living in Sarasota at the time and was contacted to play with the United States Football League, which actually had a team here,” he recalled. “Instead of sitting out for a full 12 months, I played a couple of years [with the Jacksonville Bulls], got beat up and decided to retire. It was a good career; it was fun.”
In 1986, Robinson retired from the game at the youthful age of 31 and suited up for the corporate world. He started off in the sales division of a local real estate company, Property Services, and ran with the ball. Five years later, he was hired by developer Stokes & Company and eventually became their in-house salesperson. From there, he joined a financial public relations company, IMSI, as one of the principals representing emerging companies in the stock market.
When the offer came from Summit, he was ready to go. Around the same time, the Jaguars approached him about a job there. He had been juggling both until May when the time commitment was more than he could muster.
Robinson’s notoriety from his previous NFL affiliations was not lost on his new employers. The name recognition Robinson earned from his days tossing around the ole pigskin certainly didn’t hurt profits for the contracting company. His boss concedes that was part of the reason they hired him.
“We had a vice president position in marketing open at the time and he fit the criteria to a ‘T’,” recalls Bob Fleckenstein, president of Summit Contractors.
“Because of his football contacts, he’s well-liked. A marketing guy needs to be well-liked. Personality is what we need for the construction area. As a result, Matt has opened many doors for us across the country.”
Presently, Robinson is firmly entrenched in the wheels of corporate America with real estate as his second career. Now his strategy unfolds in the board room, not on the playing fields.
“Prior to my coming to Summit Contractors, the company didn’t have a formal, national campaign,” said Robinson, senior vice president of business development at Summit Contractors, Inc.—a Jacksonville firm that handles general contracting, construction management and design/build projects. As of the early part of 2001, he became responsible for marketing the company on a nationwide scale.
“When they brought me in, it opened the door for me to create a national campaign, completely reorganize our in-house business development, marketing, desktop publishing and website.”
Drawing up his own playbook, Robinson’s strategy hinges on developing new clients, holding onto present clients and muscling into new markets. Candidates for new markets to explore include military housing, schools and student housing.
“In Florida, a lot of money has been designated due to class sizes so more schools are going to be built,” he said. “We also want to push more into student housing.”
So far, Robinson’s business savvy has complemented the company’s upwardly spiraling revenue.
Fleckenstein agrees: “He’s aggressive but not offensive. He does a tremendous job and has the gift of follow-up. He is responsible for some of our increased business.”
“We have 50 projects presently in 22 states with contract values totaling $250 million,” added Robinson. “In the last 18 months, the company has grown by $80-100 million, in a bad economy.”
Robinson believes the Jacksonville-based company’s prosperity is due to their participation in the niche market of multi-family housing. National projects facilitated by Summit vary according to their financial structure: tax credit, HUD [Housing and Urban Development], market rate [privately owned and funded in a conventional way] or student housing. Summit does commercial work regionally as well.
“Multi-family housing is very production-oriented,” he said. “Time, quality and budget are the key components. Lots of investors, with the volatility in the stock market, have moved into real estate. Also, there’s a major boom in the population from age 21-28 and 61-65. Those are your two audiences that look into renting—those fresh out of college and empty-nesters.”
“My background tied into making sense here [at Summit],” he said. “I saw an opportunity with a company that was in a growth mode. There was the opportunity to move up. I loved the industry, knew the owners and loved the corporate culture.”