From basement beginnings to billion-dollar success

In 1975, from the basement of that home, the family started MS International. Across the decades since, it’s grown from a regional stone company to a leading supplier of flooring, countertops, and hardscaping products in North America.

Not in the plans

A common story has been told hundreds of times in real life, on television screens, and in theatres. Parents start a business, their kids grow up around it, they’re told at an early age they’ll one day be in charge, so they begin preparations for that day.

Except, that’s not how it went for the Shahs.

“Taking over for my parents was never in the plans,” said Rupesh Shah, now Co-Chief Executive Officer of MSI alongside his brother Rajesh. “It was just always a small business to us, something my mom did in the basement. We honestly never thought it would get to where it is.”

Today, MSI has more than $2.5 billion in annual revenue, more than 3,000 U.S. employees, and is responsible for helping create more than 400,000 jobs around the world across its supplier base.

“My parents never pushed us to come back to the business,” Rupesh said. “They would always tell us to go where your heart pushes you.”

For college, the brothers’ hearts pushed them to the University of Pennsylvania where they studied economics and finance. Upon graduation in 1996 and 1999, they both secured roles at global financial services firms.

And that’s how things were going to stay, until they saw how well their parents were running MSI, the increasing popularity of the industry, and the growth potential of the business.

“After four years of working finance for me, and seven for my brother, we saw so much opportunity at MSI,” Rupesh said. “We asked our dad for a job and quit the ones we had on the same day in 2003. It’s as simple as that. For me, after working in finance I wanted to get involved with a company that makes products and creates things.” The transitioning of a family business from one generation to the next sometimes takes a circuitous route.

Don’t mess it up

Manu Shah arrived in the United States from India in the late 1960s. All he entered the country with were the clothes on his back, $210 in cash, and $2,000 he secured with a loan.

His goal in his new country? Become an engineer and use technology to secure a job in the competitive American job market.

“He wanted a better education, so he found a way to get here and then graduated from Purdue University,” Rupesh said. “He came to the U.S. with a ton of optimism, not worrying about what can go wrong.”

When MSI was in its infancy, Manu Shah worked full-time as an engineer at a now-defunct manufacturing company during the day, before returning home to sell natural stone — mostly granite — to U.S. manufacturers mostly in the monuments industry.

In 1981, the Shahs landed their first big contract, while still operating out of the Fort Wayne basement. They secured the right to supply the black granite for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.

“When they first started the business, it was with a high-tech mindset,” said Andrew Moy, managing director and head of Commercial Banking Client Growth Segments for Wells Fargo. “They were exporting microprocessors and chips to India from the US. Rika was looking for a business to fully commit to, one where the family could bring a high-tech mindset to a still-evolving industry. That’s why they chose flooring, countertops, and hardscaping products.”

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial helped propel the business forward, eventually pushing the Shahs to leave Indiana for the ports and access of Southern California. By the time Rajesh and Rupesh joined as adults, the company was a well-oiled machine.

“It wasn’t hard to jump in or manage the transition to joining MSI,” Rupesh said. “We were very lucky that we joined at the same time and had each other to lean on. More than that though, all we really had to do was not get in anyone’s way and not mess it up. There were so many different areas the business could grow that we focused on those new opportunities and let what was working, work.”

Long-term relationships

In addition to the adaptability Manu and Rika stressed to their sons and infused into their company, there are three tenets that are like sacred texts to MSI and its employees:

• Purpose: Make dreams attainable.
• Vision: Achieve growth at double the industry rate, while expanding the size of the market.
• Mission: Achieve sustained growth.

“When me and my brother joined, we were only selling natural stone,” Rupesh said. “We wanted to grow, and since then we’ve added porcelain, luxury vinyl flooring, quartz, granite, marble, artificial turf, and on and on. We’ve kept expanding channels, product lines, and gone from three locations to 52 locations.”

And that kind of sustained growth, over the course of more than 20 years, can’t happen without a trusted financial partner. For MSI and the Shahs, it’s been Wells Fargo most of that time.

MSI’s strong partnership with Wells Fargo spans multiple products and services, from treasury management and checking accounts to collections, disbursements, and credit card processing.

“We’re loyal people and we believe in Wells Fargo,” said Rupesh. “The support it’s provided us has been vital as we’ve sought to fulfill our mission of growing at double the industry rate.”

“Their business savvy is only half of their effectiveness,” explained Relationship Manager Kim Striegl. “MSI has hundreds of ships bringing materials into the United States from all over the world. The family manages the entire process, and they are just as efficient as a logistics company as they are in their primary business. They are experts in scale and operations, and they’re always looking for new and innovative ways to solve industry-wide challenges.”

Added Manishi Parikh, Wells Fargo group senior credit officer, Commercial Banking: “We’ve been MSI’s main bank for a long time and are its largest provider of debt capital. Rajesh and Rupesh really expanded our long-term relationship, and we were with them through several economic downturns.”

Loyalty, much like adaptability, has defined MSI. You might imagine that parents and children working together will naturally present challenges — even more so with brothers as the company’s senior-most executives.

Except, that’s not how it goes for the Shahs.

“It’s kind of like a marriage,” Rupesh said. “If we both don’t agree, we don’t do it. If we do, we double down, and one person takes responsibility. My parents were extremely comfortable with us running the company. They would let us run when we needed to run and provide support where they could. That gives us a huge advantage because we can move with a lot of speed.”