This year marks the 42nd year for Upson Company as the premier roofing contractor in the Treasure Valley. Upson Company did not start off as it is now. Upson Company came from humble family roots founded on the sweat and hard work of one man, his brother, and his father, but it began as a one-man operation.

Steve Upson started roofing houses at night in 1975 to earn money to go to Bible College. After a semester at Multnomah Bible School, Steve realized he wasn’t going to be a preacher. He decided to focus on beginning his roofing business after a microburst went through Ontario, Fruitland and Payette. With the unfortunate weather, Steve was fortunate to birth a healthy, budding business. His business continued to grow and by 1976, he had three employees. By 1978, he had eight employees. Currently, there are fifty-seven employees and the company is facing its first winter hiring need and a shortage of workers.

But Steve and Upson Company haven’t always had sunshine and rainbows. In 1984, they weathered their first recession. In the first nine years, Steve’s family had grown from just himself to a wife and four children. With a family of six and times lean and hard, Steve had his work cut out for himself to keep his family and business afloat in a decimated economy. After the recession cleared, Steve was almost broke. He decided he needed to have more options and began to pursue business in the commercial roofing industry. With that addition he began working in Oregon and later in the 1990s branched into Washington and the Twin Falls area. With times still hard, Steve considered leaving the company to his partners, his brother and father. But because of his partnership he was able to grow the business. He decided to stay and continue his aggressive bidding strategy and consequently from 1986 to 1992, the business grew rapidly; and by 1994 Upson Company was the third largest roofing contractor in the valley.

Learning from the first recession, Steve was smart and had a healthy cushion to fall back on when the second recession hit. In 2007, when the post-911 failing economy erupted another recession first for contractors, Steve was prepared to weather out another potential disaster, rain or shine. He cut his overhead immediately and cut positions that could be absorbed by other employees. His remaining employees continued to work hard, and although he had more on his plate, he found ways to keep the declining economy from significantly impacting the company.

Being a smart businessman, Steve knew right away he needed to establish healthy relationships with manufactures and suppliers. Some of those relationships started as earlier as 1975 and still continue today. He followed one salesman from one supplier to the next as he paved his career path. And some metal sales representatives are now VP of Sales for their employers. If there is one thing Steve has learned is that a successful business cannot be ran by one man alone – it is built on cultivated relationships and the dedication of hard workers working as a team to achieve shared goals.