Miami Empresarial Supermix Cove Story

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MiamiEmpresarial www.miamiempresarial.net

The Business Pulse of South Florida

SUPERMIX:

30 Years Providing Southeast Florida With Quality Ready-Mix Concrete & Masonry Products Bernardo Días President, CEO

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supermix at 30: building south florida with Rebeca Trujillo

Enrique Osorio, Luis Jimenez, Daniel, Bernardo and Felipe Dias, Sandra Navarro, Frank Perez, and Roy MacRobert

One could safely say that South Florida has Supermix written all over it.

Take a drive around Florida's south eastern counties and you’re bound to find a high rise, a residential community, a commercial complex, a bridge, and a main road or highway that features products from the region’s leading independent concrete and masonry supplier.

The Supermix name is branded on imposing buildings like Downtown Miami’s One Thousand Museum Tower, Coconut Grove’s Park Grove complex, Key Biscayne’s Oceana, and the striking Brickell City Centre in Miami’s financial district. In Sunny Isles, Armani Casa, Jade Signature, The Muse, and the Residences at Ritz-Carlton. Coral Springs’ City Hall,

Zaha Hadid’s One Thousand Museum Tower

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Metropica in Sunrise, Icon Las Olas, and Fort Lauderdale’s River X —to name a few of the company’s recent projects.

As Supermix reaches an important milestone, its 30th anniversary, Miami Empresarial sat down with its management team, led by President Bernardo Dias, to discover what drives this family-run firm toward success.

Bernardo Dias: It goes back to the early 1950s with my grandfather. He had a strong entrepreneurial spirit.

He started and sold many businesses in Brazil back in the beginning of last century. When he was in his early 70s he decided to get into the cement business. Despite all the adversities, he founded Cimento Portland Cauê.

That was the beginning of our family in the construction business. Fast forward to 1976, we decided to start a ready-mix concrete operation in Bra-

Brickell Heights

zil. We started with one plant in our hometown. Back then it was called Cauê Mix. That seed spread all over Brazil and in 1989 we decided to expand abroad in South Florida.

Miami Empresarial: Why Miami?

BD: First of all, thirty years ago, and still today, Miami’s upside is very high. Second, it has great weather.

Third: distance; it’s the gateway to Latin and South America. Fourth: diversity; it’s a cosmopolitan city with open doors to all races, nationalities and languages.

So we came and bought Central Concrete of Miami, a small company

Roy MacRobert, Vice President Sales and Marketing

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excellence as its core value with two plants and 20 trucks. We developed the business; eventually bought another company and continued growing.

By the early 2000’s, it was well established and fairly strong. The recession was a very painful time for the entire industry. Luckily we are a very conservative, diversified company,

weren’t operating. We now supply concrete from Florida City to Port St. Lucie.

ME: How many plants do you have?

BD: We have 17; all of our key locations have two plants at the same site.

Among others, here (at Supermix’s headquarters in southwest Miami), for example, we have two batch

The Supermix name is branded on imposing buildings like Downtown Miami’s One Thousand Museum Tower, Coconut Grove’s Park Grove complex, Key Biscayne’s Oceana, and the striking Brickell City Center —to name a few of the company’s recent projects. and we were able to come out of it stronger.

In 2012, we had the opportunity to buy the assets of a competitor, Continental Florida Materials. It was the first time I heard of an independent

plants, as we do in Downtown, by the airport, Opa Locka, East Broward, Fort Pierce, etc.

ME: And the one by the airport is also a testing site?

Acqualina in Sunny Isles Beach

Daniel, Bernardo and Felipe Dias

buying the assets of a vertically-integrated company. I think that was a great deal for both companies. The acquisition allowed us to grow our exposure and capacity, and allowed Continental to focus more on their core as a cement supplier.

Today we continue expanding.

The last few years we added or replaced close to 100 new trucks; we have over 200 total. We upgraded front loaders, bought new equipment, and activated some plants that

Bernardo Dias, President and CEO

story cover story cover story cover story cover story cover story cover story cove ve ME: Was Cimento Cauê involved at all in the construction of Brasilia, Brazil’s capital, in the 1950s?

BD: Brasilia definitely has a lot of our cement there.

Brickell City Center

BD: Our laboratory is fully accredited

by DOT (US Department of Transportation), ACI (American Concrete Institute) and other organizations.

ME: What is the function of the lab?

BD: We test concrete and raw materials for different jobs. We explore new technologies; create new mix designs. We also offer our lab to engineering students. We work with the University of Miami, Florida International University and Florida Atlantic University. Even ACI has done classes at our lab. We try to work with our community and those students are the future of our industry.

ME: What made you go into the block business?

BD: It was a natural progression as block relates directly with concrete.

We used to buy from third parties; then eventually we built our own factory and now supply our projects.

ME: Was the Superblock plant an acquisition?

BD: No, we bought the property, designed the factory and built it from scratch.

ME: Do you sell masonry products to other companies?

BD: Most of the time the blocks we produce are for our own customers.

ME: So your job at a construction site starts from the ground up?

BD: Yes, Supermix works from foundation to top off.

A fleet of Supermix trucks in downtown Miami

ME: There is a block factory, too?

BD: Yes, Superblock, on Okeechobee Road and the Florida Turnpike. We put that together in 2006.

We can produce four blocks every 7 or 8 seconds in variety of different molds.

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ME: What is it like for the new generation to be hands-on in the company?

Felipe Dias: We’re blessed to follow in Dad’s footsteps. We work hard every day.

BD: Daniel and Felipe both learned what happens in the company from the ground up. Business is always evolving. I cannot compare the technological orientation they have today with the one I had forty years ago.

They both know what happens at every level of the business and relate well with all employees. We are very proud to manage the team with respect and professionalism.

ME: Supermix Miami is technically celebrating its 30th anniversary…

BD: Technically, no. Literally! We founded Supermix Miami on May 28th, 1989.

ME: And during this time you have won many awards…

BD: Throughout the years we have earned some awards, and we remain motivated to continue that trend.

Paramount at Miami World Center

Felipe is the EVP of the company; he’s involved in all aspects of Supermix and Superblock, more so on the operations side. Dan is more involved on the administrative side, and other businesses under our umbrella.

At the management level of the company, we have Roy (MacRobert) who is the VP for Sales and Marketing, and has done a great job for 20 years. He’s got an amazing team working under his leadership.

We also have Frank Perez, our Operations VP and General Manager; he has been with us for 29 years.

We have great leaders in other departments as well.

er ersstory cover story cover story cover story cover story cover story cover story ME: How many people does Supermix and Superblock employ?

BD: In Miami, three hundred plus.

ME: What type of projects are you working with now? Mostly high rises? Commercial?

BD: We are involved in all fronts of construction. High rises, mid rises, single family, multifamily, free structure, commercial, DOT jobs, etc.

business is very dynamic and if I tell you that 30 years ago we knew where we’d be today, I’d be lying.

What I can tell you is that we have plenty of energy, plenty of will and plenty of people working very hard every day. Our door is always open to new opportunities.

ME: How do you see the construction industry today?

Concrete pour at Park Grove. Photo: Drone Permission

ME: Supermix is involved in serving and giving back to the community, especially active in your involvement with the arts.

BD: That initiative came from the new generation.

Daniel Dias: We started doing Art Basel four years ago. The silos (at the Wynwood plant, painted by local graffiti artist Daniel Filo KRAVE) was in 2017.

BD: The project we did this past year, which features Frida Kahlo, Salvador Dalí, and Jean-Michel Basquiat was done by a cousin of ours, who is an artist, Humberto Hermeto.

ME: What plans do you have for 2019?

Daniel Dias: Let’s see. We’re thinking of something new and creative.

ME: What is in store for Supermix in the near and more distant future?

BD: I would say that the concrete

BD: I think that we have had a strong construction market over the last five or six years. I believe our area has a lot of potential for new development, infrastructure, and everything that comes together with a cosmopolitan place like southeast Florida.

Graffiti art on Supermix’s Wynwood silos

ME: When times are good, we think it’s going to last forever…

BD: That’s human nature. The recession had a huge impact on the United States. Historically, the economy will fluctuate up and down. The key is how long each cycle is going to last.

ME: Why do builders trust Supermix?

BD: The profile and orientation of our company is different than others.

I believe that we can make faster decisions and problem-solve quicker than big conglomerates. Most importantly, with all due respect to other teams, our team is second to none and is dedicated to serving our clients. We have a very strong focus on the quality of our product. Our lab and quality control department helps us keep our product at the highest level.

What we offer is quality and service.

And we strive to be the best.

Bernardo Dias with sons Felipe and Daniel at his office

Top South Florida Builders Recognize the SUPERMIX Advantage

Supermix is officially the ready mixed concrete supplier for the NCL Port of Miami Cruise Terminal B project. The project will have approximately 19,000 cubic yards delivered to the site.

From Doral to Sunny Isles Beach and from Brickell to Key Biscayne, Top Builders recognize Experience, Precision and Results. So when it comes to selecting a concrete company for a tough job, they are in the best of hands with SUPERMIX™, SUPERBLOCK™ and SUPERPAVERS™.

Put our Award-Winning Team to work for you. From North Key Largo to Ft. Pierce.

We’ll stand behind your investment from the ground up.

CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS 4300 SW 74th Avenue, Miami, FL 33155 Phone: 305.262.3250 / Fax: 305.264.0973 Concrete Dispatch: 305.264.7101 / WWW.SUPERMIX.COM

SUPERMIX™ / SUPERBLOCK™ / SUPERPAVER™ Masonry Concrete Block & Paver Manufacturing Plant Block Dispatch: 305.805.3226 / Fax: 305.805.3227 11500 NW 134th Street, Medley, FL 33178

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