By Joseph F. Schuler Jr.. When the owner of the kitchen store that fed him $500,000 in business annually told Scott Gregor he was going to sell and retire, Gregor did what he had to: He bought the business. That was about a year after he was named to the Big 50 in 1998. Now Kitchens of Distinction, which designs kitchens and sells high-end cabinetry, makes up about $1.5 million of Gregor's nearly $3 million in business, outpacing the $1.3 million he does at his original Portland, Ore., remodeling company.
Gregor refocused the showroom from selling lower-end cabinets and moved his remodeling business to the store's high-traffic location near a string of car dealerships.
Gregor says if it wasn't for systems improvements spurred by his peer review group, Business Networks, he wouldn't be able to run a company that is a third larger, with a third fewer employees than the 15 he had in 1998. "We've had a systematic process of growth and health."
Since 1998, Gregor has added CGR credentials, changed the company name from Master Plan Construction to Master Plan Remodeling, and overhauled his logo. But no business milestone has brought Gregor as much pride as an accomplishment closer to home -- becoming a grandfather at 49.
