Beth Lipko has been the office administrator at Elkins Constructors since December 2003.
WHAT DOES SHE DO?
“I oversee all of their project administrators which includes hiring, firing and training. I also work with three of the vice presidents in their different areas. I am involved in a lot of the pre-proposal end of the business and giving things to the client. I’m kind of the liaison between the vice presidents and the marketing department on getting all the information together for our presentations. I sit in on the presentations that are given in-house to critique. I work with a lot of different areas including the institutional, worship and condominium markets.”
WHAT DOES
ELKINS DO?
Elkins Constructors is a commercial contracting company that provides construction services to the commercial, institutional, and retail markets. They offer construction management, design-build and general contracting services to both public and private clients. “We build communities because we build everything from the church that you worship in to the school that your child attends to the Wal-Mart or Lowe’s that you shop at to the condominium that you are currently living in.”
WHERE WAS SHE BEFORE?
She was an office manager at Wayne Automatic Fire Sprinklers for four years.
WHY MAKE THE MOVE?
“Wayne is a smaller company and I was working in a branch office, not the corporate office, and I wasn’t going anywhere. I like to come into a company at growth phases. What I am good at is policies, procedures, structural and organizational aspects of getting a company where everyone is on the same page. When I started at Wayne, they were going through a growth phase. There were 42 employees when I started and 72 when I left. I worked on structuring their system and coordinating with the corporate office to take on more things at the branch level.”
WHAT DID SHE DO BEFORE THAT?
She owned a business, Appearance Protection Services, which did automotive after-market sales for 14 years.
PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE HELP IN NEW POSITION?
“I have a well-rounded full-fledged knowledge of all the aspects of a business rather than just one area. I know a lot about human resources, personnel, how to build teamwork, all the functioning aspects of overhead, profit margins and how to set budgets and maintain it. I know how to go through growth. We started our company with five employees and grew it to over a $1 million a year with 27 employees. There are a lot of things that you learn in growth phases. Managing growth is pivotal to success.”
PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS?
Commercial Real Estate Women of Jacksonville and Associated Builders and Contractors Women’s Council.
ABC WOMEN’S COUNCIL?
“We are a small group that is in a growth phase with about 20 members. It’s growing all the time. It was started because women involved in construction, project management and business owners like to roundtable and discuss issues that are more relevant to us as women in the construction industry.
“We try to figure out how to overcome those obstacles and become a more forceful entity in the construction industry.”
WHY BE INVOLVED
IN CREW?
“It’s a good marketing opportunity. A lot of the members are our clients. There is a lot of good information obtained in CREW that helps us pursue new work. CREW has a lot of great speakers come in and talk about changes and gives us an idea where growth is going to take place. It gives us a heads up on where to look for developers.”
LESSONS LEARNED?
“What I’ve learned is that when you see growth in Jacksonville, typically we have been overbuilt in the commercial market for awhile. We are seeing tremendous growth in residential. Knowing that that the growth in residential is going to promote growth in commercial market. It’s getting ready to explode in Jacksonville.”
BEST ADVICE YOU’VE EVER RECEIVED FROM A CO-WORKER?
“Keep it simple. Work is about the people that you work with and when you enjoy what you do and the people that you work with you are going to be successful. Do something that you enjoy.”
HOMETOWN?
Atlanta.
RESIDES
Southside.
MOVED TO JACKSONVILLE?
1986 with her family.
PERSONAL SIDE
She is single and has two children, Stephen, 21 and Renee, 20. When she is not working she enjoys going to the beach, water and boating. “I love the fact Jacksonville has all this water around it.”
- by Michele Newbern Gillis