JM Family embarks on project
Company plans to add dining hall green spaces, sports complex to Deerfield HQ
Brent Burns, JM Family Enterprises CEO, and Chairman of the Board Colin Brown pose for photos during their company’s groundbreaking ceremony.
JM Family Enterprises has employee benefits and amenities that are the envy of many.
It has a Deerfield Beach headquarters that provides day care, a health clinic and more to workers.
And it is consistently featured in Fortune’s “100 Best Companies to Work For” rankings.
But that’s not good enough — not for the automotive giant built by entrepreneur Jim Moran under the philosophy that employees are a company’s most important asset. That’s why the private company is embarking on a grand-scale expansion project intended to further its mission, cater to its workers and attract new ones.
JM Family’s $150 million expansion, which was announced in April in celebration of the company’s 50th anniversary and had its groundbreaking on Thursday, “will make this a world-class campus that we think will drive the kind of innovation we will need in order to excel,” said Brent Burns, who was named CEO in April. “We’re putting even deeper roots into South Florida and Broward County.”
Plans include three new office buildings; a two-story dining hall; 20,000-square-foot sports complex; 900-vehicle parking garage; and 55,000-square-foot conference and training center.
The idea is to keep elements of the iconic campus while making it more pedestrian-friendly, with green spaces where employees can work and a sports complex for fitness.
One reason JM Family said it is redesigning its campus is to appeal to younger generations of workers. The company collaborated with its 1,700 workers in Deerfield Beach on its plans for the updated campus.
A survey was sent out asking workers about the type of food they want in the cafeteria, seating in dining rooms, technology in their workspaces, types of fitness classes and other choices. JM Family got more than 3,000 comments from more than 600 workers who asked for open spaces as well as private ones for meetings, the ability to work in multiple spaces on campus, more natural light and sit/stand desks, according to spokeswoman Christie Caliendo.
Deerfield Beach has been the home of JM Family’s headquarters since 1981. The private company in automotive sales, finance and service had more than $15 billion in revenues in 2017 and 4,200 employees across the country.
On Thursday, government officials at the groundbreaking lauded JM Family for the investment and for being such a “good corporate citizen.”
“This is a major project, a huge investment in the state, county and this city,” said Deerfield Beach Mayor Bill Ganz.
State Sen. Gary Farmer, D-Fort Lauderdale, said he grew up in many ways with JM Family, recalling his parents’ home being near the original JM Family headquarters in Pompano Beach and hanging with his buddies at JM Pontiac, admiring the Firebirds and “pretending we were Burt Reynolds.”
He said JM Family is an example of “what it means to be a good corporate citizen” through both its financial support of the community and volunteerism.
“In every segment of life and the community, JM Family has not only been a great contributor — it has led the way,” Farmer said. The state senator said he is especially impressed with JM Family designing “a work space and environment that places so much emphasis on its employees’ personal comfort, enjoyment and benefit. Great companies have great relationships between the ownership, management and their employees, and no company does it better than JM.”
The campus is being renovated while the company is still operating off Hillsboro Boulevard and Jim Moran Boulevard — named after the company founder who died in 2007 at age 88.
The campus’ original architecture was a nod to its Japanese business ties, as the exclusive distributor of Toyotas in the southeastern United States in 1968. That’s when Moran brought his business to South Florida from Chicago.
Jacksonville architect Robert Broward, an apprentice of Frank Lloyd Wright, designed the campus’ master plan.
For the renovation and expansion, JM Family has hired Kaufman Lynn Construction of Delray Beach, which is working with PGAL Architects of Boca Raton.
Frank White, president of Kaufman Lynn, said the project is the largest the firm has undertaken in which employees remaining at the site during the construction process. After new buildings are constructed on the east side of the campus near Interstate 95, workers will be transferred to existing buildings while other structures are knocked down and new ones are built.
White said Kaufman Lynn has tackled such projects before, for example in schools where the students have remained on campus. Working around people takes special planning and projects can take longer to finish.
The JM Family project, which he said will take more than two years, “has been a very collaborative effort working with JM. We’re looking forward to great results.”
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— Doreen Christensen