Written by Melissa Karen Sances

Before Steve Silverman moved to Florence, he set a few intentions. He and his wife would trade the Cape Cod shores for acres of farmland. He would “pick up a tool belt and make a hobby into a career.” Maybe he’d be a builder.

In 2004 the couple rented a house and gave themselves one year to buy a home. That September, they headed to the Three-County Fair to celebrate Labor Day. That’s where Silverman came across a posting for a 45-acre horse farm. Within a week, he’d signed a purchase and sale agreement. Now it was time to find work.

When he walked into Valley Home Improvement (VHI) that month, he and the company president, Nelson Shifflett, realized they had attended the same high school on the Cape. Then Shifflett said something even more surprising: “One day I’m going to sell my company and you could be the buyer.” He looked in Silverman’s direction, and Silverman peered over his shoulder, wondering who had entered the room. Then he turned back to his new boss, who now shook the hand of his future successor.

“Within a year, I dropped my toolbelt,” says Silverman, “and he began mentoring me to run the business. That was part of my intention, too, to find a mentor.”

But the Universe intended for them to teach each other. Shifflett was shrewd and focused, while Silverman was soft-spoken and patient. They grew together until the company changed hands in 2013.

By 2015 Silverman had created a profit-sharing plan and launched Valley Solar, the company’s energy division. When business ground to a halt in March 2020, the company president sat in his office every day, calling local construction companies to see how they were managing the pandemic.

“We couldn’t practice our profession from our couches,” he says, noting that working from home wasn’t an option – for VHI, or the industry as a whole. The company prides itself on shepherding clients through every product selection for each remodeling job, and strives to bolster the local economy by employing tradespeople from the Valley. Their business partners rely on them as much as their clients, who entrust the company with their sanctuaries, their homes, which Silverman calls “a sacred responsibility.”

By May, all 21 full-time employees were back on the payroll. Since then, VHI has managed a considerable backlog.

Silverman is quick to point out that their success is a team effort, and vice president Mitch Parker agrees. He started working for the company as a dump truck driver and was promoted in 2018.

“I want this to be a culture of learning and appreciation,” says Parker, who notes that VHI now has 7 lead carpenters, 5 of whom came in young and green.

When he looks ahead, Silverman hopes to sell the company to his employees. He’s not looking over his shoulder anymore. “I went from being like, ‘Why me?’ to ‘Why not me?’” he says. “The gratitude I have is limitless.”

It has surpassed his best intentions.