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Rodney Brown fell into the construction and remodeling business by accident.

Brown said he'd been an electrician for 15 years when he injured his shoulder on the job. Four surgeries later, he turned his career focus to construction, a field he'd known for two decades, starting Brown/Ryan Construction in about 2004. The company is co-owned by Michael Nichols.

"I had a pickup truck and a trailer, and it was me and another helper," Brown said. "We've gone from that to seven to nine trucks on the road, several trailers and about 15 to 20 employees."

Brown/Ryan Construction recently finished their most elaborate project, totally renovating the Concho Village Apartments on Bell Street.

"With the right staff in place and the people I've employed, it's really made this business bloom," Brown said.

Standard-Times: How extensive was the Concho Village project?

Rodney Brown: (We remodeled) 204 units, a laundry room and office facilities. There were other subcontractors involved, but we pretty much did all the outside, the inside, pretty much a little bit of everything.

How do you get new customers?

We have more word of mouth than we do anything else. We do radio advertising. We have some things we give away like matchbooks and bottled water that have our name on it, but I think we get most of our business through word of mouth and our quality of work.

What is your most common type of work?

We're not into the new construction; we haven't gone into that yet. Our biggest part right now is total house renovations, cabinets, countertops, baths and kitchens. We do a lot of total house renovations.

What would you say your specialty is?

We specialize in remodeling, cabinetry, countertops, shower stalls. We specialize in kitchen and bath renovations and solid surface countertops.

We also do some commercial work which is through the City of San Angelo, Hirschfeld Steel, United Blood bank.

What's helped your business grow?

We've grown about 300 percent in the last year. We had a lot of help, knowing a lot of people in the public. Dierschke & Dierschke Realtors are good friends of ours and have helped us with a lot of the dos and the don'ts. Most of it has been word of mouth and support from the community.

What would you say is the biggest challenge you face in your job?

Time. It really gets to be strain on you when a customer (whose home) you're remodeling elects to live in the house, so time is our biggest enemy.

How long does it take to completely remodel a home?

Depending on the integrity of the home, based on the three (homes we're remodeling) right now, we're looking at three months per house. We're able to handle all three (homes) at the same time. With average kitchen install, bath install, fabrication of the countertops and fabrication of the cabinets, you're usually looking at 30 to 45 days.

What made you decide to start your open business instead of working for someone else?

This is what I know best. I've been fortunate to find the staff I needed that helps me along.

It just kind of built from that, with that one trailer and "I don't know what I'm going to do and where I'm going" to this.

The Brown/Ryan Construction File

• What: Construction, repair, remodeling.
• When: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
• Where: 1216 W. Beauregard.
• Contact: (325) 653-7162.