Q+A with Mary Forristall

Q: What do you think about becoming the Exchange’s first female chairperson?
A: The time has come, and I just happened to be at the right place at the right time. It’s extremely exciting to lead. I think what I do best is developing relationships. As the president of our demolition company, I used to do estimating. What I found was my niche was business development. I see that as the same thing here. I’m trying to look down the road, maybe even 10 to 15 years. That’s what I love to do. I’m a big-picture thinker.

Q: What do you see as some of your objectives and goals for 2015?
A: We need to talk to public officials about a regional approach to economic development. Impact fees will be looked at again. Impact fees are assessed at the county level based on their cost estimates for growth. Sometimes, they use variables in formulas that can vary from county to county; we want to make it so growth isn’t being penalized, but it is sustainable…We really need to address the transportation issue. How do we develop a coordinated effort to create much better services for (areas like UTC) and any growth centers? Right now, for people who don’t have a car, it’s very difficult for people to travel county to county.

Q: Are there any initiatives you plan to continue during your term?
A: The Proud to Build Campaign started last year under Russ Bobbitt, past chairman. That focused on the companies and projects that make our community really great. The buildings we work on are iconic structures of our community. The Veterans Memorial (at Patriot’s Plaza) is a great example. You’ve also got (University Town Center), the Charlotte County Sports Complex, Ed Smith Stadium. These buildings in our community are significant. Every month, there was a vignette on our Facebook page talking about the individuals and the companies and the projects that they were proud to work on…We may have a little more focus on the individual and how having a job in the construction industry has impacted (his or her life).

Q: How did you get into the demolition industry?
A: My dad was a salvage man in Miami. I met my husband (Stephen) through my father and my brother. We initially started in salvage when we first got married in Miami. We moved up here in 1981 and tried to do salvage, but it didn’t take off. Stephen eventually got into demolition.

Q: What was your work like when you first started, and how did it evolve?
A: It was really just him and I and another employee. I actually worked on a lot of jobs — manual labor, not in the heavy equipment, but floor grinding, chipping, hammers, wrecking bars. We needed somebody to bid jobs and another division to do the work. We had to bifurcate our energies. That’s when I got involved in the estimating. I’m a people person and I like building those relationships. I did that for 10 or 12 years. As part of that, it became a natural progression as you’re out talking with people with projects in the conceptual phase. We ended up hiring other estimators — I still did some estimates — but I began building relationships.

Q: When you aren’t working, what do you like to do?
A: I love to exercise. I work at the Lakewood Ranch YMCA part time, substituting classes — spin, cross train max and yoga.

Q: Forristall Enterprises is in its 25th year. What’s next for you?
A: Our son and his wife are poised to be the next generation, so hopefully Forristall will stand the test of time and be a generational business.

– Pam Eubanks