Risley Padula Construction Inc. and Coastal Millwork Supply Co. in the Blue Clay Business Park have made their mark as the first tenants of the New Hanover County-owned industrial park.
The sister companies, which opened in the park in September but have a decades-long track record, now have office, showroom and warehouse facilities at the park. The firms supply and install interior doors, trim, stair parts and cabinets to single-family and multifamily residential builders.
Steve Risley, co-owner and co-founder, and Bob Padula, president of Risley Padula Construction and vice president of Coastal Millwork Supply, met at N.C. State University as students pledging a fraternity together. After college, they worked separately, doing interior trim in Raleigh. A trip to Wrightsville Beach to visit friends changed all that in 1998, when they decided to team up and move to the coast.
“When we started, we had a trailer of tools and two tool belts,” Risley said.
“We used to get our supply materials from local lumberyards, but in 2005, lumberyards couldn’t keep up,” Padula said.
That’s when Steve Risley’s brother, Jim, was brought in to operate Coastal Millwork. For 20 years, they worked in two buildings on 13th Street – one they owned and one they rented.
They had looked for a long time for an empty building with a classic warehouse space, but nothing seemed to fit what they wanted. Now, within the 5.5 acres of one of the county’s newest business parks, Risley Padula and Coastal Millwork have made their home in a 68,000-square-foot space.
“It is great. We flew under the radar for a long time. We have been need-based to service customers, but now we have a great showcase,” Steve Risley said.
It was an update for their employees too, they said. One employee who has worked with them for 17 years told Padula, “It’s like I got a new job when we came here.”
Their employees were an integral part of the planning process, the Risleys and Padula said. One part of that is the ability to control warehouse temperature for the first time.
“In our old space, if it was 32 degrees outside, it was 32 degrees inside. Now we have more stable 60- to 70-degree temperatures,” Jim Risley said.
“Our employees had a ‘say-so’ in planning the space,” Steve Risley said. “Who knows better than them?”
The warehouse space allows for flexibility as their needs grow.
“Anytime we can’t buy what we need, to control the quality and timeline, we bring it in-house,” Padula said.
They installed everything in the facility themselves, knowing what they needed for their employees and clients.
“After 20 years of experience in a place we were constantly adapting to, to come out here and plan what works is a real gift,” Steve Risley said.
Customers shop the various designs, casings and trims available because they can see them in the space itself, including around all the windows and doors, as well as the doors themselves. Additional samples are housed in various cabinet drawers, and QR codes are available for more information.
“Our entire office space is a living showroom,” Padula said.
With 100 employees between the two companies, including a crew in Raleigh, the company continues to grow, recently hiring a project manager and estimator.
The firms work with a variety of builders and architects at a range of price points, from starter to high-end.
“We like to diversify what we do, but we do not do cookie cutter,” Steve Risley said.
Growing the business while building relationships and continuing to provide personalized attention to detail is central to what they do, they said.
They also said they would be happy to see more people in their industry move into the business park to provide customers with the ability to see what is available to them.
“We’re excited about the future,” Padula said.
Jim Risley said, “Our long game is expanding more into commercial and developing relationships there.”
Longtime relationship building is reflected on room names in the office space. Conference rooms and communal spaces are named after people who have supported them over the years.
“They reflect different people who have been important in our journey,” Steve Risley said.
As their journey continues, they said they want to bring a new generation along for the ride.
“We built this for our friends and family to work here,” Steve Risley said. And they do; both Steve Risley’s and Padula’s children work for the company, as well as other extended family members of other employees.
“We work because we know we each have a different set of skills and know when to stay out of the way,” Jim Risley said.
Padula added, “Our skills are different, but our values are the same.”
Read more stories on Manufacturing:
Growing Firm’s Owner Shares His Take
Manufacturing Group Looks to Future
Connected Companies Find Room to Grow
