When Craig Torrance took over the reins of MCS in 2021, he was faced with the daunting task of rebuilding a commercial real estate company hit hard by the global pandemic and preparing it for the future during unprecedented times.
CEO Torrance and his team continued the Lewisville, Texas-based company's longstanding mission as a national maintenance provider of residential and commercial properties to mortgage servicing companies. Within two years, the company had expanded and diversified, adding several new lines of business and growing its employee base from approximately 300 to 500 employees.
The company’s efforts were recently recognized with a Gold Award for Most Innovative Corporate Strategy at Commercial Property Executive magazine’s 2023 CPE Influence Awards event.
Also see: CPE Announces 2023 Influence Awards
Founded in 1986, Mortgage Contracting Services had established a nationwide team of experts and a network of third-party vendors. But in the midst of the pandemic, the company's leadership knew they needed to reinvent the wheel to survive.
An MCS service technician enters a self-service center in Phoenix. The branch is one of 25 regional centers established by MCS. Image courtesy of MCS.
The first step was to rebrand to MCS in 2021 with the tagline “Making Communities Shine” and position the company across multiple business lines. Torrance joined the company as CEO later that year, having previously held leadership roles at Brightview, where he led a business unit providing national commercial property maintenance services to large portfolio accounts across multiple commercial segments.
One of the company's goals, Torrance recalls, was to bring a culture of entrepreneurship to the company as it began looking for new ways to grow. The company had already built a national team of experts and a network of third-party vendors. But a key part of the transformation process was identifying what it did well and what other companies would benefit from its expertise.
“I think that's how you craft your vision and set your tactical goals,” he said. “It really starts with thinking: Do I want to do this? Do I really want to turn this business into something different from where it is today, or do I really just want to do something better?”
Torrance said MCS management was in favor of doing something different and reinventing the business.
“At the end of the day it's about having the right mindset and building the right team that can execute what you want to do,” he said.
The team includes Chad Mosley, president of Mortgage Services, Andrew Nolan, president of Commercial and Rental Services, and Martin Urso, who joined MCS as chief information officer in 2023. An industry veteran, Urso oversees the continued development of the company's cloud-based software suite designed to deliver solutions that meet enterprise and field service objectives.
MCS Service Center Map. Image courtesy of MCS
Torrance Top Tips
MCS CEO Craig Torrance's recommendations for reinventing and future-proofing your business:
Be open-minded and willing to adapt and change. Know what you do well and who can benefit from your expertise. Assemble the right team to execute your plan. Listen to your team's ideas. Leverage technology.
Strategic Moves
While focusing on protecting and enhancing its core product line, MCS established a new single-family rental property service line in 2022 and added other new commercial property services including landscaping, snow/ice management, electrical/lighting, plumbing and other general maintenance for residential and commercial properties, including offices, retail stores and restaurants.
The SFR business line, which includes property inspections, renovations, ongoing maintenance, and tenant turnover, has grown rapidly: In May 2023, MCS served 45% of the top 20 SFR owners. By the beginning of this year, market share had jumped to 70%.
“We have a really good business development team and they've built a lot of relationships that continue to grow,” Torrance told CPE.
In 2022, MCS established facilities with their own local service centers, project management and service technical teams to support their growing customer base. Now with 25 service centers, this hybrid model combines local partners with our own expertise and use of technology to maximize efficiency, ensure transparency, enhance quality control and improve code compliance.
MCS also offers inspection services in many markets and continues to add service centers. The goal is to continue expanding and adding more licensed professions such as plumbers and HVAC technicians. MCS already has company service centers in Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona; Dallas, Houston, Austin, San Antonio, Denver, Minneapolis, Chicago, Atlanta, Las Vegas, Orlando, Jacksonville, Tampa, Florida; Nashville, Tennessee, Memphis, and Columbus, Ohio.
Image courtesy of MCS
Torrance said MCS plans to open service centers in response to customer demand, opening a facility in Memphis last year and this year in Albuquerque, N.M. Other locations slated for expansion in the next 18 months include North Carolina, South Carolina, the Northeast and the Pacific Northwest.
The company strengthened its facility service offerings to commercial customers with the acquisition of Chain Store Maintenance, a leading national commercial facility services company, in 2023. Added services include handyman, electrical, locksmith and plumbing. The acquisition also added more than 30,000 new third-party service vendors to the MCS network, enhancing support to SFR and asset maintenance clients across the United States. Beginning this year, all commercial facility maintenance services will be sold under Chain Store Maintenance, a subsidiary of MCS.
Also last year, MCS expanded SHINEscapes, a commercial landscaping company serving businesses in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, with plans for further growth in the Sunbelt region. Last year, MCS expanded into direct-to-consumer home improvement services with a successful pilot in Phoenix, with plans to expand in 2024.
Torrance said this year MCS hopes to provide more facility maintenance services at U.S. government facilities.
The company already services more than 1.6 million properties annually through a network of more than 30,000 certified service partners, and has plans for further growth. Asked whether MCS had secured its long-term viability, Torrance likened the various business lines to threads twisted together in a single rope.
“If one thread is weak or struggles, the others will carry the business,” he said. “That makes us stronger. That ultimately future-proofs the business.”
MCS has undergone significant growth over the past few years, with rebranding and expansion, including:
2021
* Rebranded from Mortgage Contracting Services to MCS to better position itself across various business segments.
* Craig Torrance appointed CEO
2022
* Launched a nationwide SFR service platform for refurbishment, maintenance and inspection, currently serving 70% of the top 20 companies.
*Started a commercial real estate services business including landscaping, snow and ice management, parking management, electrical and lighting, and plumbing services
*Establish a local self-managed service centre with a locally staffed project management service team
2023
*Continuing expansion of service centers – now in 25 markets
* Acquires Chain Store Maintenance to expand and strengthen its facilities services offering to commercial customers, including stores, restaurants, offices and lodging facilities
* The company has hired Chief Information Officer Martin Urs to drive and continue development of the company's cloud-based software suite, which provides solutions to meet enterprise and field service objectives.
* Expand and launch new service lines in local markets, such as commercial landscaping companies in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and direct-to-consumer home improvement services for remodeling and light construction projects in Phoenix, with plans to expand nationally.
Read the March 2024 issue of CPE.