McCarthy Fabrication
Leading a small business can be one of the toughest jobs in the world. Customers rely on you, employees depend on you, competitors chase you, and the pressure to grow and stay profitable never relents. And for many owners, the saying “it’s lonely at the top” rings true—there are just some challenges you simply cannot share with your team.
For Charles McCarthy, founder of McCarthy Fabrication (MFAB), and general manager Eli Ramirez, staying isolated wasn’t an option. They turned to the Florida Small Business Development Center at the University of Central Florida (FSBDC at UCF) and its award-winning CEO XChange program to help them guide their fast-growing company.
MFAB occupies a unique space in Florida’s metal fabrication industry. The company is large enough to handle major commercial, government, and industrial projects, yet nimble enough to deliver small, quick turn jobs cost-effectively. With the ability to 3D scan, design, engineer, fabricate, coat, and install—all under one roof—MFAB offers customers a true “one-stop shop” solution. “We’re great problem solvers for our customers,” shares Ramirez. “That’s what has earned us really good relationships with them.”
McCarthy launched the company in 2015 and soon realized that he needed help managing its rapid momentum. He called his college roommate, Ramirez, to take a look. Ramirez remembers walking in and seeing the phones “ringing off the hook.” His reaction: “Dang, this guy solves the biggest problem I had when I was trying to run a business: finding customers. I’m in.” From three employees at the start, MFAB has grown into a multi-million-dollar operation with 36 team members.
Growth brought complexity, and a friend recommended the FSBDC and CEO XChange as resources to help them navigate it. McCarthy and Ramirez reached out and quickly saw the value. One of the first things that stood out was accessibility. “Something that’s important to us in our relationship with the FSBDC is that it’s no cost,” Ramirez explains. “It makes it a lot easier to seek out resources when you don’t have to have the pressure of asking, ‘What’s the bill going to be?’”
The CEO XChange soon became an essential part of their leadership toolkit. Designed for second-stage companies, the program provides a confidential forum where CEOs and owners can discuss challenges, opportunities, and trends with peers who understand the weight of leadership. For MFAB’s leaders, that peer perspective has been invaluable.
“The CEO XChange has been very helpful for us,” affirms Ramirez. “Just giving us additional perspectives from other business owners and helping us solve problems that maybe we were stuck on. You get so accustomed to listening to yourselves that you get stuck. Having that outside perspective from someone who can actually relate to the stress and the pain and the triumph you’re going through—it makes it all easier.”
McCarthy agrees. “Those couple of hours at the CEO XChange are some of my favorite hours every month because I am able to take off the armor for a little bit and get good advice on difficult problems. You have nobody selling you anything, nobody trying to pitch something to you, and you’re able to get honest answers where people truly care about your success.”
For information about McCarthy Fabrication, please visit https://www.mccarthyfabricationllc.com/.
