Mid Atlantic Real Estate Journal — Executive Women in Business — October 25 - November 7, 2013 — 15C
www.marejournal.com
Executive Women in Business
Valerie Montecalvo, Bayshore Recycling Corp I have turned a passion for recycling and conservation into a rewarding career
What unique qualities and/or personality traits do you feel makes youmost suc- cessful in your profession? My parents taught us that as hard-working Americans we can achieve whatever we strive for in life. There was never any discussion about gender being an obstacle to one’s ambitions. My sister and I were considered “tomboys” because my father al- lowed us to ride dirt bikes and play all types of sports. We were gifted physically and skied from a very early age. I never once be- lieved that there was anything that I couldn’t do. Coupled with my love for nature, my path to conservation and sustainability
I was surprised to learn that it was not the rule of thumb to create aggregate materials from recycled feedstock on job sites. After further research, I firmly believed that this was an area where our family business could be a forerunner in changing the way the heavy highway and construction industry looked at recycled construction mate- rials. In early 1995, I formed “Bayshore Recycling Corp” a NJ State Certified WBE. My com- pany purchased the processing equipment necessary to start crushing concrete and asphalt materials (debris) to a specific engineering specification and be utilized back in road building.
was molded at an early age. What challenges and/or obstacles do you feel you needed to overcome to be- come as successful as you are today? There are many challenges that all business owners face in the day-to-day operations in their corporations. Our industry was a little more challenging for me, because there were not many women in this field in the early 90’s. It was not easy to be accepted by my peers when I was younger and less experi- enced. I also found it difficult (like so many other working moms) to multi-task and fit continued on page 16C
ell us how and when you began your ca- reer in the profession Valerie Montecalvo, Owner, President and CEO Company: Bayshore Recycling Corp Years with company: 18 Years in Field: 33 Years in Real Estate Industry: 35 T you are in? While attending college and studying engineering, I met my husband Frank.At that time, he had a small trucking company. At night after classes, I would help him with his accounting and office matters. Both of us thoroughly enjoyed working together and it was evident that this small contracting business would be a family enterprise. I decided to switch my major to Business Administration and eventually, after we married, I began working full-time along- side Frank building our busi- ness. We quickly went from a very small trucking/excavation business to a complete site- work contractor that installed sanitary sewer systems, water mains, paving, landscaping and complete road reconstruction and improvements. What were some of your early goals and did anything happen in your career /pro- fession to change them? In the mid to late 80s, the construction work that we per- formed was for some of the largest real estate developers inMiddlesex County. Primarily our contracts focused on large- scale housing/condominium developments, shopping cen- ters and office buildings. In the early 90s, the building and housing market significantly deteriorated. Our company ex- perienced cash flow difficulties. This was related to the builders and developers that we worked for experiencing a credit crunch from their respective banking institutions. It was becoming increasingly difficult for us to remain positive during this economic downturn. Frank and I decided to shift our focus to themunicipal contracting arena yet performing the same type of work. Public contracting is extremely competitive, but we were confident switching focus because payment was bonded
and guaranteed. While performing these proj- ects, it was evident how much potential there was for recycling and reusing materials. Very quickly, I started looking in depth into construction mate- rial recycling across the nation.
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