Austin Cornell

President
MSC Enterprises
Lee’s Summit, Mo.
Projected 2023 Revenue: $4 million

On joining a network of peers: I joined the board of the National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI) Kansas City when I was 24 years old and then became president when I was 30. What I learned from the people in that group was priceless. It was quite honestly the first stepping stone of taking our company from a small mom-and-pop shop to becoming one of the leaders in our market.

Some of the members had been in business for over 40 years. I learned how they review financials and how they handle this issue or that issue. That prepared me for taking on a leadership role in our company.

Advice on finding people: Finding loyalty in the workforce has been a challenge for everyone lately. My wife was a school teacher. She resigned in the middle of February 2020 before we knew what COVID was, and she joined our company. She came to me with the idea of looking into school teachers as potential employees. The thought was that teachers are typically underpaid, so I could give them a raise to come to work for me. Plus, they’re good communicators, which is huge for us.

We currently have two school teachers who are very interested in joining us, but they can’t leave until their contracts expire this summer. We feel that they’re going to communicate a lot better than somebody who already kind of feels like they know everything about the industry.

Podcast recommendation: The Modern Craftsman

Unveiling the Forty Under 40 Class of 2023