Sal Ferro, Alure Home Improvements

National gold award, 2008, Individual/Organization Profile, American Society of Business Publications Editors Annual Awards of Excellence (80,000-plus circulation)

1. remodelingmag.com00 Remodeling September 2008
Photo: Peter G. Svarzbein / WpN
Friend in the Business
S
al Ferro isn’t the complaining type, and you
can understand why. He takes great pride in
his 105 employees at Alure Home Improve-
ments, a 62-year-old, $50 million company
that completes 2,000 jobs a year. He adores his wife
and three children and gets tremendous pleasure from
helping other families through charitable activities
including ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,
on which he and his team have appeared an unprec-
edented seven times.
Not only does Ferro have season’s tickets to
his beloved New York Mets, but he got to throw the
first pitch in 2006 and 2007. On any given weekend,
his golf buddies might include former pro hockey
players or movers and shakers from New York’s busi-
ness community.
More reasons to smile: Ferro serves on a growing
list of boards and has a wall of awards. He’s never had
to lay off anyone. He also seems to simply relish the
little things in life: competing in fierce backyard sports
games; chatting with strangers who recognize him at
airports; joking around with staff; showing he can still
break-dance at age 44; and, especially, watching other
people flourish in their own lives.
But there’s at least one thing Ferro dislikes, fer-
vently. And today, midway through a painful year for
the construction industry, it is on his mind.
“I hate to lose,” he tells 17 members of his basement
sales team on this morning in early July. The group is
assembled in a room of Alure’s corporate office, in a
nondescript office park on New York’s Long Island.
The word “lose” is an overstatement; one of the most
successful remodeling companies in the country, Alure
Home Improvements has had consistent double-digit
sales growth and profits since the mid-’90s, when
Ferro began transitioning into the CEO role long held
by his friend and mentor Carl Hyman.
Even in the down year of 2008, two of the four divi-
sions that make up the Alure brand — home improve-
ments and kitchens and baths — are on track to grow,
and the newest division, sunrooms, is holding steady.
Basement sales, however, are 15% off. Alure pio-
neered the franchising concept for Owens Corning
Basement Refinishing Systems in 1997, and consider-
ing that the company sold $22 million worth of base-
ments last year, any slowdown could have an impact
on the whole company.
Ferro’s pep talk, delivered without notes but with
a clear logic, meanders from the Mets’ maddening
inconsistency to his golf handicap at a notoriously
tough course to the paralyzing impact the credit crunch
and mortgage meltdown are having on “luxury” invest-
ments such as basements.
But whereas the Mets’ wounds are self-inflicted,
This boy from the Bronx runs a $50 million company
and has a heart of gold. He is unparalleled, say those
who know him well, in leading by example and
inspiring others to be their best.
The Fred Case R emodeling E ntrepreneur of the Year A ward

2. remodelingmag.com Remodeling September 2008 00
Friend in the Business
leah thayer Senior Editor

3. remodelingmag.com00 Remodeling September 2008
Friend in the Business
Ferro says, “Our challenges are outside. You
are still outperforming the market,” the com-
pany’s finances are solid, and its management
second to none. He then lays out a litany of
steps he is taking to kick things up, includ-
ing beefing up training, extending call center
hours, and the previous afternoon’s “blitz”
of having managers personally visit jobsites
with Alure yard signs. He urges his audience
to step up the energy as well. He asks: Who’s
planning open houses in the next few weeks?
Who’s been networking? What ideas do you
have for the group?
“It’s very easy to invest in a company
when things are great,” Ferro concludes.
“We’ve got a history of expanding in tough
times, and when this cycle is over, we’re
going to come out smoking.”
Paying It For ward
It’s that combination of optimism, transpar-
ency, and steely determination that makes
Ferro such a winning businessman. He’s not
just admired; people who know him well
say he embodies a fundamental decency
that has a “pay-it-forward” impact on just
about everything he touches, including Alure
Home Improvements’ stellar reputation as a
company that takes care of people.
“He’s a guy with a heart as big as the
building industry,” says Paul DiMeo, a star
of Extreme Makeover, to which Alure has
donated hundreds of thousands of dollars’
worth of labor and materials to rebuild the
homes of people in need. Besides Ferro’s
generosity and sheer competence as a con-
struction manager, DiMeo distinguishes his
extraordinary “commitment to the players
in his company. He takes care of them and
they in turn take care of him,” he says. “He
can ask them to work 36 hours straight [on
an Extreme Makeover project], and they will
because they know he’s right there in the
trenches with them.”
“I think Sal’s greatest quality is that he
treats everyone with respect,” says D.S.
Berenson, a construction attorney who
has represented Alure for many years. “He
always makes you feel as if he’s listening to
your opinion and weighing it conscientiously
and seriously. That engenders a loyalty and
goodwill that is very, very rare” among
highly successful businesspeople.
“Sal treats people extremely fairly, and
he’s definitely an optimist,” says Lisa DiFil-
ippi, an Alure vice president who came on
board as a bookkeeper 13 years ago. “He
sees the best in people and builds on it,” not
only finding ways to promote employees
far beyond their initial positions but help-
ing them identify and execute solutions to
challenges. When referral rates drooped,
for instance, it was his and Hyman’s idea to
launch “PartnerPoints,” an enormously suc-
cessful referral program that rewards clients
and staff alike for bringing in business.
The program’s ultimate reward is an
all-expenses-paid Caribbean vacation with
Ferro and other Alure staff and trade part-
ners. In four years, 57 couples and 30 Alure
employees have been treated to this sun-
Timeline photos: courtesy Alure Home Improvements
Career and Business Highlights
1984
Receives
degree in
business
administration
from SUNY
College of
Technology at
Farmingdale
(now Farm-
ingdale State
College). In
2007, is inducted into the college’s Business
Hall of Fame. Shown here with his father, Sal,
and brother Timmy.
1989
Hired by Carl Hyman as a junior
production manager at Alure Home
Improvements, then a 43-year-old,
family-owned business.
Photo: opening of previous Alure show-
room, early 1980s. The current show-
room opened in 1990.
1990-94
Assumes growing responsibility
as Alure’s sales manager and
general manager.
Ferro, left, with long-time Alure
employees Mike Camastro and
Chris LoCascio, in the early ’90s.
Leading the charge toward
an Extreme Makeover.
Other contractors involved
in the program “let Sal
run the show because
he knows how to do it.
Failure is not an option
with this guy,” says Paul
DiMeo. “These jobs are
done in extremely difficult
conditions.”

4. remodelingmag.com00 Remodeling September 2008
Friend in the Business
drenched celebration of the tropics — and,
more subtly, of the Alure culture. (See video
testimonials on www.alure.com.)
Even when the news is difficult, Ferro has
an almost mystical ability to deliver it in a pos-
itive way. “Sal never kicks somebody when
they’re down,” says Mike Camastro, a 29-year
Alure employee who now manages the 200 or
so trade partners that do the bulk of the com-
pany’s production work. “He’s got a unique
way of giving you the bad but making you feel
inspired to go out and do better.”
Hyman, whose father, Sol, founded Alure
in the 1940s, says Ferro is “a strong, inspi-
rational leader, especially in tough times.”
After the attacks of September 11, Ferro
gathered the team in his office, where he
managed to both respectfully share the grav-
ity of the situation and rally the Alure team to
support one another and emerge stronger.
“His team will run through a brick wall,”
Hyman says.
“One thing Sal says is, ‘When you need
me the most, you’ll have me the most,’” says
Mike Kuplicki, manager of Alure’s basement
sales department. “He doesn’t just dump
problems on your head.” Nor does he avoid
confronting them. A few years ago, Ferro
invited Kuplicki to join him on a drive. After
a while, “he turned to me and said, ‘Mike,
how do you think the ladies in administration
feel about you?’ I figured they loved me,”
Kuplicki responded.
They didn’t, he learned. “Sal said, ‘Would
you be surprised if they think you are a little
tough to work for?’” He then itemized a few
examples. Kuplicki was briefly stunned, then
defensive, “and then I got into my recovery
mode because Sal is great at getting to that.
1994
Establishes agreement with Carl and Bob
Hyman to transition into growing ownership/
leadership role at Alure over seven-year
vesting period. Takes official title of president
in 2002 and president/CEO in 2006.
With co-owners Bob (left) and Carl Hyman.
1997
Leads partnership
with Owens Corn-
ing to develop a
drywall-alternative
basement finish-
ing system and
franchise program.
Alure’s Owens
Corning Basement
Finishing System
franchise is now
the second-largest
in the nation, with
$22 million in rev-
enue in 2007.
Shown here with basement sales manager
and co-owner Mike Kuplicki, receiving award
from Owens Corning.
2001
Reads Raving Fans by Ken Blanchard and
attends related training program that
inspires him to develop Alure’s vision
statement and customer service philoso-
phy. Today, every Alure employee knows
the vision statement by heart and has a
copy of the book.
Alure team members are expected to
embody the brand on and off the job.
S
al Ferro is the second winner of The Fred Case Remodeling Entrepreneur
of the Year Award, established and endowed by the founder of Case
Design/Remodeling, one of the largest full-service remodeling companies in the
U.S. The award comes with a cash prize of $12,500 ($10,000 plus $2,500 for
each of the four finalists, including Ferro).
Three judges evaluated nominees based on three principal criteria: their
business acumen and their company’s financial strength, their community and
industry involvement, and their entrepreneurial spirit.
“Sal represents not only entrepreneurial thinking but entre-
preneurial action,” says Mark Richardson, president of Case
Design/Remodeling and a judge. Besides Ferro’s generous
charitable work, Richardson cites his lead role in developing
the Owens Corning basement franchising program, his inno-
vative approach to “packaging” bathroom remodels at different price points,
and his use of design-imaging software to differentiate Alure Home Improve-
ments from its competition and distinguish siding and other exterior products
as much more than commodities. “Alure is a breeding ground of ideas,” Rich-
ardson says.
Fred Case, though not involved in reviewing nominees, is “very impressed with
[Ferro’s] professionalism, his work with the basement franchise, and the adminis-
trative systems that he’s developed,” Case says. “He runs a sharp operation in a
very competitive market,” and Alure’s diversification and name recognition have
helped him take intelligent risks and grow at a manageable pace, he adds.
To learn more about The Fred Case Remodeling Entrepreneur of the Year
Award, visit www.casedesign/com and click on “press.” —Leah Thayer
About the Fred Case Award

5. remodelingmag.com00 Remodeling September 2008
Friend in the Business
He gave me a huge tune-up in the car, and he
helped me see that my job is to motivate and
inspire people, not to dominate them.”
Leading With His Chin
One of the better-documented accounts of
Ferro’s motivational skills took place in New
Orleans in March. Ferro had flown in 22 staff
members and trade partners, including base-
ment installer Robert Viola, to participate
in the rebuild of a storm-battered church
and home for the Extreme
Makeover sea-
son finale. The project kickoff was held in a
packed church, and the owners of the 12 key
companies involved
in the makeover had
been asked to say a
few words.
Ferro would speak
last, and Viola wor-
ried that his friend
would wilt under the
pressure of the crowd
and the TV lights and
cameras. “By the time
the mike reached Sal,
I was sweating for
this guy,” he remem-
bers. “What could
he say that hadn’t
already been said? I wanted to hug him.”
Viola’s fears vanished the minute Ferro
began speaking. “I couldn’t believe what Sal
pulled out of his hat,” he says. “He gave the
most beautiful speech. People were in tears.
By the end, he had the entire place giving
him a standing ovation.”
That’s par for the course, say others who
have observed Ferro at high-powered char-
ity and networking events. “Some people are
ubiquitous at these events,” says Jed Morey,
who runs a marketing and media company
on Long Island. “The difference with Sal is
that he is the room when he enters it.”
But although Ferro is an inordinately
good schmoozer, he is selective about the
causes he supports, which run the gamut
from local hunger-relief organizations to
a green communities initiative to the Boy
Scouts. And when Ferro is passionate about
something, his room-filling warmth is both
genuine and charismatic, which contributes
beautifully to Alure Home Improvements’
overall success.
“Their marketing works because Sal is
the figurehead,” Morey says. “He believes in
his products and leads with his chin, and if
you see the TV commercials” — on which
Ferro himself appears, as he does in nearly
all Alure marketing — “you know he is for
real. Everybody’s got a contractor nightmare
story. You want to work with this guy.”
But don’t mistake Ferro’s nice-guy
demeanor for softness, says David Yoho Jr., a
speaker and consultant with many construc-
tion clients. “This man has gone out of his
way to build relationships to the degree that
few people can find fault with his business
behavior,” he says. “What’s interesting is that
although Sal likes people and is a hugger, the
man sets standards, and you’re going to meet
them. He has an intensity and a competitive-
ness. There isn’t a second in this man’s day
that isn’t about winning.”
2004
Alure is selected as lead contractor to
remodel the apartment of NYC fire-
fighters for ABC’s Extreme Makeover:
Home Edition. Alure has completed
seven major projects for the show
and was lead contractor on six, with
Ferro on-site manager of each.
With Extreme Makeover star carpenter/
designer and friend Paul DiMeo.
2006
Launches Alure’s Home Per-
formance division in partner-
ship with Energy Star and
Long Island Power Authority.
Helps to spearhead Green
Levittown, aimed at reduc-
ing the town’s carbon foot-
print by 10%.
2007
Alure is named best remodeling
company on Long Island; revenue
exceeds $50 million. Ferro’s extra-
curricular honors include awards for
humanitarianism, business leader-
ship, and “Legend of the Industry.”
The Ferro family in The New York
Times’ “Habitats” feature.
2006
Launches Alure Sun-
rooms. In 2007, partners
with Owens Corning
SunSuites Sunroom
system and opens a
sunroom division in Bal-
timore, Alure’s first true
remote location.
Shown: Alure staff volun-
teering for the Interfaith
Nutrition Network.
No fair-weather
fan, Ferro has
followed the
New York Mets
all his life; twice,
he’s thrown
out the open-
ing pitch. He
weaves sports
analogies into
his conversa-
tions and pep
talks as both
a motivating
device and a
point of com-
mon interest.

6. remodelingmag.com00 Remodeling September 2008
Friend in the Business
Making It Happen
To understand Ferro’s intensity, consider a
few defining moments in his rise to the posi-
tion of corporate CEO.
Salvatore Ferro was born in the Bronx in
1963, the fifth of eight kids of a taxi and limo
driver and a housewife, both of whose parents
had emigrated from Italy. In 1971, the family
moved to Long Island, drawn by its schools
and suburban promise, with Sal senior work-
ing two jobs to support the move.
When Ferro was 10, his oldest brother
was killed in a car accident. Eight years
later, his father died the same way. Ferro left
college after just one semester to help his
mother and siblings, working construction
for his two brothers-in-law.
His father’s loss both matured Ferro and
gave him direction. While holding two jobs,
he returned to school and completed his
studies at SUNY Farmingdale. To this day,
he attributes his accomplishments there —
honor role, business club president, home-
coming king — to convincing himself that
he “could achieve anything,” he says.
Another defining moment came when
Ferro was 25. Newly married, and fresh off
a miserably brief career as a stockbroker,
he was again juggling two jobs (one for his
brothers-in-law) and considering starting
his own construction business. On a lark, he
called Alure Home Improvements first.
Then largely a painting and wallpaper
company, with revenue in the $3 million
range, Alure was just getting into the home
improvement sector. The position advertised
was junior production manager, and the first
person to screen his call was Freda Krackow.
“He was so cute,” recalls Krackow, who still
works part-time, at 71, surveying clients
about their experience with Alure. (She loves
her job, she adds, because the average rat-
ing is 9.37 out of 10.) “I asked why he didn’t
want to stay with his family business, and he
said, ‘They don’t take me seriously.’”
Hyman did take Ferro seriously, and the
young hire quickly proved invaluable. In the
recession of the early ’90s, for instance, which
unfortunately coincided with the construction
of Alure’s showroom, “Sal worked his tail off,”
Hyman says. “Most of
the staff didn’t get that
we were losing money.
Sal got it, and he rolled
up his sleeves to make
things happen.”
Among his accom-
plishments was resur-
recting the company’s
new but founder-
ing kitchen and bath
division. He created
systems, a pricing
structure, and a team. “And guess what?”
Hyman says. “Within six months he totally
turned K&B around.”
“We were incredibly different in a lot of
ways,” Ferro says of his relationship with
Hyman, “but we were both passionate. He
was brilliant and forward-thinking, and I
was the charismatic sales guy” who also hap-
pened to be good with numbers, honest, an
outstanding delegator, and action-oriented.
“It was clear he had a business owner’s
mentality,” Hyman says, and in the mid-’90s
the two men worked out a seven-year plan
under which Ferro would transition into the
CEO role with a growing ownership stake.
(Hyman is now semi-retired; four minor-
ity owners include Kuplicki and Hyman’s
brother, Bob.)
Getting It
In those seven years, protégé and men-
tor accomplished much. They worked with
Owens Corning to franchise its basement
refinishing system, and then developed
the sales and installation processes for the
system. They pioneered a proprietary soft-
ware program that has the stunning effect
of letting clients visualize their home with
hundreds of exterior combinations, all on a
42-inch screen in the Alure showroom. They
assembled innovative pricing structures and
expanded Alure’s presence into Westchester
County and New Jersey.
Other defining moments were Ferro’s
alone. In 2001, at a week-long training semi-
nar with Raving Fans author Ken Blanchard,
Ferro had an epiphany that guides Alure
today. Essentially,
everything about the
company — sales
and marketing, con-
struction, warranty,
employees’ behav-
ior on and off the
job — would lever-
age and reinforce the
Alure brand as the
most trusted home
improvement com-
pany in its markets.
That same week, Ferro wrote the Alure
vision statement: a 70-word ode to a culture
of customer service, high ethics, and “supe-
rior results.” Today, all Alure employees
carry a wallet card printed with the statement
and can recite it with a sincerity that suggests
they actually believe in the words.
Berenson says they do. “Alure is one of
those operations that really gets it,” he says.
“If a customer has a problem, they take care of
it” rather than squabbling over a few dollars.
This attitude inspires incalculable goodwill
that is perpetuated through repeat and refer-
ral business, a virtually spotless complaint
record, and happy and loyal employees.
In fact, certain phrases are part of the cul-
ture at Alure. All start with Ferro and find their
way into the entire team’s vocabulary and
work ethic. “Having skin in the game,” for
example, reinforces how even minor efforts
can postively impact everyone else, includ-
ing companywide profit-sharing. “Always
be promoting” is a reminder to promote and
represent the Alure brand in every interaction
possible, even when out of uniform.
And then there’s this: “Be their friend
in the business.” The goal, Ferro says, is to
make genuinely positive connections: by lis-
tening, helping, and being there for people
long after their remodeling project is com-
pleted. Behavior is key, he says. “We’re
always being watched in this industry.” Think
of everybody as a future client, he says, and
it starts to come naturally.
R
Piece by piece,
Sal accomplished
things and earned
respect. He could
do any job in the
company.
Carl Hyman
For more about Sal Ferro and
Alure Home Improvements, visit
www.remodelingmag.com.