March 2007 Industry Leader:

QC's Ross Urshan Pioneers Decorative Concrete in Southeast

Some might call it destiny, others would say kismet. Whatever the word, it seems that Ross Urshan was drawn to the decorative concrete industry, where his feet are now firmly planted as Southeast Regional sales manager for QC Construction Products, located in Florida.

It was his work with Florida Rock Industries in Orlando, for which he was a sales representative managing two concrete plants and providing colored concrete to theme parks, which precipitated Urshan's career with QC.

"I got interested in decorative concrete from there," Urshan recalls of his work with theme parks. "I took a liking to it." That liking paved the way for a five-year career at Florida Rock Industries. Then, fate stepped in once again in the form of a phone call.

It seems that when QC Construction Products was expanding, they were calling on people that used decorative concrete products, and one such individual happened to be Urshan's "Scofield buddy," who recommended Urshan for a job at QC.

QC then approached Urshan with an offer, and before he knew it, in August 1999, he was a QC district sales manager in Florida. By 2001, Urshan was promoted to regional manager. Today, he manages Texas, all the way to North Carolina and down to Florida, with seven sales representatives that report directly to him, as well as assists the marketing director in writing the QC technical product bulletins.

Day to day, Urshan says he's a selling manager in all of Florida (excluding the panhandle), where he works with distributors, designers and architectural firms, etc., as well as flies to other states in his territory to work with his reps. He logged 50,000 flying miles in 2006."I manage those guys and my own territory," he explains, adding, "We had zero sales when I started. I pioneered the decorative movement for QC in the southeast."

However, Urshan notes that Florida is "a different state" and about 10 years behind the West Coast in terms of decorative concrete's acceptance as an application. "It's a big paver market [here], because most of the manufacturers are local so the supply is right here," Urshan explains. "It's less expensive than stamped. But pavers themselves don't have the longevity or durability. They buckle and dip, move around and fall apart...the product life span is shorter."

So Urshan is trying to spread the word, and a couple of the ways he does so is through hands-on training and speaking to architectural firms. "I can pour it, color, stamp, overlay, acid stain, you name it and I can do it," he laughs. "Some days I'm in a suit doing presentations, and other days I'm in jeans and boots and getting dirty working."

Urshan says often the best way to show someone how to do something right is to get in there and do it with them. He says his focus is on "how to use products properly, and methods that produce quality work."

With Urshan's 13 years of experience in the industry, he says the biggest change he's witnessed is that so many contractors are jumping into it now. "Back then, QC wasn't around," he recalls. "The next thing you know, decorative concrete explodes and people pop up."

"The decorative concrete industry is growing rapidly," Urshan notes. "People are amazed at what can be done with it. It's "green." Concrete isn't covered up anymore." Urshan's passion for educating the market-both contractors and consumers-is apparent. "Bettering contractors betters the industry," he concludes.

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