A Wider Palette of Projects

What roles do each of your family members play in Alpine’s success?
Dave Scaturro: We’re a very close family and, from early on, my brothers and I wanted to work with Dad. However, he didn’t cut us any slack for being family. We started out doing grunt work, helping out on school breaks, and worked our way up while learning all aspects of the company.

Later, we each found our niche that focused on our strengths. My brother Ben Jr. works with our project-management team while my brother Sam serves in our operations and industrial-sales departments, and my uncle Steve serves as vice president and CFO. We recently had my uncle Chet join the project-management ranks, and my cousin Andrew is working to grow our shop division.

With so many family members working for your company, how do you maintain personal and professional harmony?
DS: First, we all have the same drive and work ethic, so we all put in 110 percent. We also maintain a corporate-like environment, with a clear organizational chart that assigns measurable goals to everyone’s performance. As a result, we each know specifically what we have to do to be part of the company’s success, which greatly reduces issues resulting from lack of professional focus or understanding of your role in the business.

Alpine has tripled in size while others have gone under. How did you achieve such aggressive expansion?
DS: We consistently and strategically examine our employee talent, available resources, and markets. As a result, we’ve added more than 50 different services and currently work in 50 markets across five states.

Ben Scaturro Sr.: We have a highly skilled, specialized work force, which, combined with our specialty equipment, allows us to perform work many contractors cannot. For example, we have specialty crews certified by different paint and equipment manufacturers as approved applicators. There’s a big difference between maintaining a commercial office building and a municipal water tank, but both require specific training and experience, and our clients can find that expertise at Alpine.

What about Alpine’s construction services?
BS: Construction has always been a part of Alpine, but we’ve had to move with the market, so in the last five years we’ve focused more on painting and other niche services. Moving forward, we hope to focus on the construction division, especially renovation and restoration work. Our goal is to be a turnkey, one-stop shop for our clients.

So tell us about that elephant.
DS: One of our niche services is historical restoration, and we’d heard about how Lucy the Elephant, a national historic landmark on the New Jersey coast, was in great need of repair. We offered our help and wound up completing the full restoration. More than 130 years old, Lucy required many special considerations, from the type of paint used to the financial impact on the community during the restoration. The end result was a huge success, and the community support was phenomenal.

With the continuing sustainability trend, what has Alpine done to make itself a green business?
DS: We consistently promote environmentally friendly options to our customers, educate them about alternate coatings, and promote our crews specially trained in the application of low- and no-VOC products. We also are proactive within our business to be green. For example, we have a special solvent-recycling system that allows us to reuse solvents and eliminates the need for disposal.

Tell us about your relationship with Benjamin Moore.
BS: A strategic partner since Alpine’s conception, Benjamin Moore goes out of its way to support us. We test new products from them, and they work with us on pricing so we can remain competitive. Most of all, they offer phenomenal products that make our work easier. ABQ