Entrepreneurs of the Year | Chris LaFace

Why we chose him:
The last economic recession claimed many, including some once-prominent construction companies. Yet Ripa & Associates made it through to the recovery, and is now almost to the point of turning away work.

“The market is what it is, and everybody was going through what we went through,” says Ripa President Chris LaFace. “It was important for us to keep the team together and just hope there was another side.”

Ripa is a utilities contractor, the first workers at a construction site ready to complete ground and underground projects. It's been busy with projects ranging from subdivisions such as Starkey Ranch in Pasco County to larger jobs like the Amazon.com distribution center in Ruskin.