Carroll Bradford celebrates 10-year anniversary

Ten years ago, Carroll Bradford started with just two guys in a 1,200-square-office.

Today, the construction-solutions provider and roofing company has a much larger office in the heart of Baldwin Park — and close to 200 employees.

January officially marked Carroll Bradford’s 10th anniversary serving both Baldwin Park and the greater Central Florida community. The company’s success over the years is a testament to both the overall work culture and its community engagement, said Human Resources Manager Todd Sykes.

“What sets us apart is the way we treat our customers and employees,” Sykes says. “We’re very engaged with the community and engaged with our employees. That honestly helps the culture here where we are, because there’s hundreds of roofing companies through Central Florida, but this is a place that people want to be.”

Cofounders Stephen Barnett and Jon Menke both were born and raised in Central Florida, and they felt compelled to follow in the footsteps of their grandfathers, who owned successful businesses.

It’s how Carroll Bradford got its name. Barnett is the company CFO. His grandfather, Carroll Barco, was a family law attorney. Menke is the CEO, and his grandfather, G.L. Bradford, was a concrete contractor.

Menke has a background in construction, while Barnett specializes in business. Between the two, Carroll Bradford set roots in Baldwin Park and has expanded from there. A few years ago, Matt Wheaton joined the team as chief operating officer, and Mike Wade signed on as president of new construction. Both Barnett and Wheaton also call Baldwin Park home.

“It’s incredible to see how much we’ve grown over the last 10 years,” Menke says. “Our continued growth would not be possible without our unique company culture and passionate employees that are focused on delivering superior results as we proudly serve our community. Our team truly prides ourselves in our integrity, craftsmanship and exceeding our customer’s expectations.” 

Marketing Manager Stephanie Kruse says Carroll Bradford essentially does “everything but the interior” for homes. The company’s services include roofing, landscaping, door and window replacement, and new construction. It also is partnered with the Orlando Magic as the team’s official builder.

Although there are 25 employees in the Baldwin Park office, Sykes says, most of Carroll Bradford’s employees are in the field. He and Kruse credit those doing the manual labor as the literal building blocks of the company. Sykes says the mutual respect and engagement between the employees and management — as well as the hard work put in by each person — has cultivated a culture of success.

“I love to see how engaged they are and bought in and how they care about this company,” Sykes says. “This is the type of place, truly, where you don’t dread coming to work. They care about their coworkers, they’re engaged. The way that the culture has evolved here at this company is really neat to see. The employees here really tell the story of the business. Our owners are very engaged, caring and generous, and they’re fun.”

One of the hallmarks of the Carroll Bradford culture is its community engagement and giveback efforts. The company loves giving its employees a vehicle to do volunteer work and be active in the community.

That includes Arnie’s March Against Children’s Cancer, an annual walk that occurs during the Arnold Palmer Invitational Tournament to raise funds for children’s cancer research. Carroll Bradford has been the presenting sponsor, and it’s an event the staff looks forward to each year. Even the company’s mascot, Oakey, makes his appearance there.

“We’re so thankful for that partnership because it’s opened all of our eyes,” Kruse says. “To be out there the first day we did it, it was really cool to see how much our team was affected. The amount of money we raised for childhood cancer was tens of thousands of dollars. That was just from our employees, which was really awesome. … We did stuff with the kids, we did face painting, we did decorating our own hard hats and aprons, and our employees were just loving it.”

“Arnie’s March is really moving when you’re out there,” Sykes says. “You meet the kids and you literally walk the golf course with the families and children. You’re not only raising awareness but raising money for childhood cancer research. It’s a great event.”

Staff also is involved with the Ronald McDonald House, the Orlando Health Foundation, Big Brothers Big Sisters and local holiday toy drives. The company even puts on the Movies in the Park events at Blue Jacket Park.

“Just like the Movies in the Park, our business is here, and two of our owners live here,” Sykes says. “We want to make sure that we continue to be engaged with the Baldwin Park community. We’re a success story, a business built in this area, and we want to continue to give back to Central Florida but also be engaged here in Baldwin Park. … We do our best to make sure that we’re present at community events. We do a lot of work right here in this area.”

“My family lives in Baldwin Park and our business is based here, so giving back to our community is extremely important to us,” Barnett says. “Living and working in a great community that we’re passionate about helps motivates us to do our part to make the businesses of Baldwin Park excel.”

After 10 years serving the community, Carroll Bradford staff is looking forward to the next 10 years and beyond of continuing to grow and give back. Whether it’s out in the field working on new construction or out in the field putting on community movie nights and fundraising for childhood cancer research, Carroll Bradford continues to build a standard of excellence.

“This is a place that is truly unique,” Sykes says. “We collaborate, we listen, and leadership is very engaged in what happens on the operations side and in the field. We’re in the neighborhood, we care, we are a Baldwin Park-based business. We’re exceeding expectations for our customers. It’s a great place to be; we’ve been very blessed.”