Eighteen years ago, Jeff Young decided to take a leap of faith. Thanks to advice from close friends and family, in February 2006 Young had the desire to start a small business to grow and expand his construction expertise.
He went from selling Caterpillar equipment with Mustang CAT to becoming a founding partner of Enterprise Commercial Paving Inc. (ECP). In 2016, after years of hard work and perseverance, Young became the sole owner of ECP —what is now a family business.
ECP’s first location was a small Houston warehouse on Glenmont Drive. This location could only hold one truck and one piece of equipment. A close friend from Young’s Mustang days was ECP’s first salesman, and they were soon joined by equipment operators, operations management and an accounting staff that formed a solid foundation for a healthy business in the Houston construction market.
Paving a path of success over 18 years
ECP completed asphalt at a refinery near the Texas Gulf Coast.
As a growing business, ECP initially focused on small commercial real-estate projects. ECP’s first job was conducted at a Hobby Lobby parking lot in Deer Park, Texas, owned and managed by Smithco Development. Many of the early projects like this included patchwork for asphalt parking lots and small concrete jobs, with Young working alongside ECP crews. Raking and shoveling asphalt was not considered the highest and best use for Young’s time but was always a big part of ECP’s culture and mission. Young would always say, "Whatever it takes to get the job complete."
ECP stayed in this market for much of 2006 and 2007 but was quickly sidelined by the 2008-2009 financial downturn. At that time, ECP shifted its focus to the petrochemical market, and its first asphalt job in this industry was a tank ring and access road within a plant in Texas City, Texas. After more than 15 years working in the petrochemical industry, ECP continues to maintain a .06 EMR with safety being its highest focus. ECP has come a long way since those early days and now services multiple petrochemical and industrial markets with its talented and loyal employees. While the company has expanded its offerings over the years, asphalt, concrete, site work and striping remain its core project base.
With ECP’s growth, it has also expanded its real estate footprint. Following two years on Glenmont Drive, ECP quickly outgrew the space and purchased a property on Stokes Street in Houston in 2009, which served ECP’s needs for many years. The company officially outgrew that space in 2021 and purchased its current location at 13020 Donegal Way. ECP’s new location is a 16-acre property with multiple buildings and structures that allows the company to operate effectively. The company is currently in the process of building a 20,000- square-foot warehouse to house all of its trucks, trailers, equipment and tools used in the operation of its business. The new warehouse will also allow room to increase office space to accommodate ECP’s continued growth, particularly in the petrochemical and industrial arenas.
As Young looks back on the last 18 years, he is thankful for the company’s success amid such challenges as the 2008-2009 financial recession, Hurricane Harvey, the COVID-19 pandemic and the Texas freeze of 2022. ECP is thankful for its long-standing friends, customers and loyal employees, he added.
"A lot has happened in the Houston landscape since 2006, and we are grateful for our small business growth and perseverance. We look forward to another 18 years of growing our team and tackling new projects in Southeast Texas, Greater Houston and surrounding areas," Young explained.
For more information, visit ecpaving.com.
