Roers Companies joined the most successful private companies in the Twin Cities in this year’s 2020 Fast 50 list by the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal. The list ranks privately held metro area businesses by revenue growth over a two-year period.

Roers landed at No. 33 on the 2020 list with a growth rate of 78.03% from 2017–19. The team celebrated this impressive achievement during a virtual awards ceremony on October 22.

Prior to the awards celebration, the Business Journal reached out to Owner Brian Roers to learn more about the success of the business. Here are some excerpts from that interview:

What are some business decisions your executive team made that were critical to your company’s growth from 2017 to 2019? 

As we diversified beyond small, rural developments, we needed to align ourselves with the type of urban and suburban product we’re now known for, so we rebranded our property management division as Core Living from Bison Management. That diversification in terms of the size and location of our buildings was vital to our growth. We also invested in a strong leadership team starting in 2018 to support and drive our rapid expansion.

What’s the biggest challenge facing your company right now? 

As with many multifamily companies, keeping up with our growth from a hiring and retention perspective is an ongoing opportunity. With smaller pools of candidates in our industry, this is a big focus for us given the size of our team and pace of our growth. We seek out individuals who are passionate about what they do, and we make time to celebrate successes — whether minor ones or epic wins — regularly.

What are your top goals for the year ahead?

In our industry, occupancy drives profitability, so that’s always goal No. 1. We are on par with last year’s occupancy percentage across the portfolio, even with the addition of many new communities this past year. We plan to focus on third-party management opportunities and building our local footprint in this space. We’re broadening our development approach with new product types, new locations and more projects than past years.

Subscribers can view the full list here. View our Roers Cos. Fast 50 profile here, including additional Q&A with Brian Roers.