Meet Jim Attrell | Small Business Owner and Mentor

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jim Attrell and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jim, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
The market was demanding products that the industry was not offering. To provide those products required a blending of construction techniques that no large supplier was willing to undertake due to the increased risk and the need for highly trained managers and employees.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
In 1998, after 28 years of working in an industry I loved I formed Nortex Modular Space and embarked on a 12-year journey growing the company from its start at a small desk in my home to a manufacturing, construction and rental business with upwards of 100 employees and $25 million in annual sales. None of our major competitors and very few of our small competitors provided turnkey modular construction and no competitor took the risk of leasing custom-built modular office and classroom buildings to Government accounts. Our biggest challenge was obtaining small business bank loans in order to build our rental fleet and then finding a large banking partner to take us to the next step once we outgrew our small bank supplier. Our largest growth spurt happened during the economic downturn from 2007-2010 when many levels of government and our military needed to expand but could not come up with the capital for new office and classroom buildings. We not only met those needs but also took advantage of new depreciation regulations for capital investment and small business growth to market our products where they were needed. Our success came from a philosophy of looking for a three-partner win-win-win where customer, supplier/vendor, and Nortex each came away from each and every project with a feeling of gratitude from the experience. When everyone feels like they have won they will always want to repeat the experience.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I sold Nortex in 2010 to a publicly traded Canadian competitor, then systematically acquired 25 residential real estate properties through a new business called Marluc, LLC. In 2016 I purchased 188 acres near Possum Kingdom Lake in North Texas and started developing the property into a Family Nature Retreat and named it Lake Godstone after the place where we grandfather was born in Surrey, England. It is here that I would take my best friends (and I do that now already). It is a wonderful place to relax and enjoy nature with a large lodge, guest home, cabins, campgrounds, sports fields, lake and ponds with eight docks and rental golf carts, UTV’s and watercraft.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
As a founder of Biz Owners Ed, a non-profit training and mentoring organization, I met some of the brightest and best successful business owners; some of who built and sold several businesses and then gave of themselves to help others do the same. Collectively we trained many small business owners from many types of businesses.

Website: https://www.LakeGodstone.com

Linkedin: www.Linkedin/Lake/Godstone

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LakeGodstone

Youtube: https://youtube.com/@lakegodstone?feature=shared