$300 million construction firm builds smooth succession plan

In the mid-2000s, Steve Shimp was 58 and beginning to think about retiring from his role overseeing the Florida unit of Owen-Ames-Kimball, a Michigan-based commercial builder.

The challenge? Shimp had spent the previous 25 years hyper-focused on building O-A-K into one of the leading Southwest Florida construction firms, with projects in health care, education, airports and more. That concentration paid off: starting from when Shimp opened the branch in 1982, Fort Myers-based O-A-K has become one of the largest locally based builders in the region, posting $310 million in revenue in 2020. That’s up 6.9% from $290 million in 2019. An employee-owned firm, O-A-K has some 70 employees.