FIU Alum Builds Multi-Million Dollar Construction Company

By: Neeraj Konathan / Staff Writer

Oscar Morejon, an FIU alum who majored in construction management, and founded John Bell Construction Inc., a multimillion-dollar construction company, broke the mold and followed his true passion to succeed.

The South Florida Journal featured Morejon on this year’s “40 Under 40 Awards” that recognize 40 South Florida leaders under the age of 40 making an impact in the community and economy.

Morejon credits his success to the simple teachings of his father, who is a Cuban immigrant.

“I was 15 years old and asked my dad if he can please give me a car, and he said that he was going to buy me a Ferrari,” said Morejon.

The next day, when Morejon woke up, he was surprised to find a new pressure cleaner in his house, his dad then said, “if you clean enough driveways, you can get a Ferrari.”

Following his father’s advice, he opened Pressure Cleaning Pro, a pressure cleaning company. From the age of 15 to 17, Morejon cleaned driveways, buildings, and pools every weekend.

Four months after opening his business, Morejon bought a Ford Ranger pickup truck. After graduating from South Miami Senior High, he paid for his classes at Miami Dade College.

His experience as a business owner from a young age brought him clarity of his abilities and goals in life.

“I always had my own little business, and I always knew the flexibility of having your own business, but I always also knew how hard it was…to run a business,” Morejon said.

After two years at Miami Dade College, he transferred to FIU to earn a bachelor’s construction management.

During his time as an undergraduate student at FIU, he landed an internship at Suffolk Construction after attending an FIU job fair.

“I stopped running my own business, and I realized that I need to work for other people and I need to work [on] big projects that are complicated and projects that really challenge me and make me better,” said Morejon.

He worked on average 50 to 60 hours a week at Suffolk while also taking five classes every semester at FIU towards his major.

He wanted to learn how to become a professional in the construction industry and gain experience from people who had been in the industry for 30-40 years.

Two of his colleagues made a big impact during Morejon’s time at Suffolk, Armando Diaz II, and Jerry Snell who were general superintendents.

Armando Diaz II was also named in the South Florida Journal’s 40 under 40 in 2018.

“What I learned the most from Armando Diaz II and Jerry Snell was how to properly run a project and how to proactively plan ahead with your trade partners,” said Morejon. “The 5 P’s, Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance.”

After graduating from FIU in 2013, he was promoted to assistant superintendent and finished a 24 and 32 story residential project for Suffolk in 2015, and was moving on to the next project.

At the time, Morejon was still receiving a lot of phone calls from his pressure cleaning clients looking for contractor recommendations to renovate their offices, homes, and swimming pools.

Morejon says many South Florida contractors were always late, quoted high prices, and many never kept their true word regarding the projects. At 25 years old, Morejon opened his own construction company

“I told my wife, I said ‘you know, a lot of people call me and maybe this is something that we can do, maybe we can make an open a construction company,’ said Morejon.

After getting married in November 2015, he quit his job at Suffolk and opened John Bell Construction Inc.

After Morejon resigned, the newlywed couple moved in with a friend who had four kids. They lived in their living room for four months to save money to start the business and hire employees.

“We only had $2,000 in the bank…we decided to resign and we had no work, zero, like we didn’t have any jobs, we had zero employees”, said Morejon.

On his first day, Morejon went knocking door-to-door looking for clients and in no time received calls to renovate offices, bathrooms, and kitchens.

Afterwards, he partnered with his childhood friend and aspiring entrepreneur Albert Faz III, who had a master’s degree in accounting.

One of the first big projects Morejon’s construction company undertook was a historical residential house in the city of Coral Gables.

“We had never done a historic house before,” he said. “[We] cannot change the facade of the building, [we had to] bring the house up to code, but also [while] keeping it aesthetically preserved.”

After that project, John Bell Construction Inc. was registered as a contractor in the city of Coral Gables. They were hired to renovate the Venetian Pool of Coral Gables that was over 100 years old.

Four years later in 2020 with more than a dozen projects under its belt, such as renovations to the Paramount Miami World Center and the New River Yacht Club in Fort-Lauderdale, COVID-19 struck Morejon’s company.  

During the pandemic, Morejon’s construction company faced new challenges such as keeping projects and office dynamics. 

“We’re like a family in our company…I enjoy hanging out and going to lunch with people, and [when] you remove that personal aspect of your job, it can become mentally exhausting,” said Morejon.

But Morejon was prepared for a recession from his experience in running Pressure Cleaning Pro shortly after the 2008 economic depression.

“The day that we started the company, I always wanted to make a company that was, I consider like recession-proof because one of the things that I used to ask different mentors of mine are things that we should do to make a successful business”, he said.

His company tackled remote work by promoting virtual communication even before the pandemic and also providing their employees with the best technological equipment.

This move helped his company as they were awarded six new projects during the pandemic.

Morejon says his father’s lesson of hard work molded him to be the entrepreneur he is today.

“Hard work gives you the opportunity to appreciate what you have,” Morejon said. 

“When things are handed to you, and things are given to you, you don’t struggle and it’s hard sometimes to appreciate what you have and also what you don’t have,” he said. “Yes, hard work pays off…you start maturing a lot faster, and you start realizing, what’s important in the world.”