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April 7, 2025
APPLETON – According to Mark Ihlenfeldt – founding partner and co-owner of MJI Building Services – said transparency, trust and teamwork are the three pillars that have allowed the Appleton-based company to grow from a one-man operation to a team of nearly 20 people in a span of just 10 years.
Ihlenfeldt said he started the general contracting business – which specializes in new construction, remodeling and design to build projects – in December 2014 because he “didn’t see a lot of integrity in the industry.”
“I was working with a couple different contractors, and I just wanted to be able to sleep at night,” he said. “I wanted to be able to do the best for my customers and also build a legacy business for my employees that they can take over and be proud of.”
When he started the business, Ihlenfeldt said he was MJI’s sole employee, serving customers out of the back of “a Mazda 3 full of tools – going out and framing houses.”
“I had a new house and a new baby, and my wife at home looking at me like, ‘okay, we’re gonna get this done,’” he said. “She’s like, ‘I have faith in you, just go do your thing,’ and she’s been very patient with that, and very proud of where we came from as well.”
Two years after starting the company, Ihlenfeldt said he brought on his now long-time business partner, Brian Van Boxtel.
“Bringing Brian on as a partner was instrumental,” he said. “He allowed us to be able to do things in a field that I was never able to do myself, and go back to those roots of where we came from and explain that to people.”
Ihlenfeldt said the history of MJI is integral to the company, as they “weren’t handed something on a silver platter.”
“Everything we have here was built from zero, so we try to always maintain that humble approach to things and think of it as our customers – as if we’re the ones in their shoes,” he said. “It’s their money that we’re spending for them, and we want to make sure we take care of it like it’s ours.”
MJI’s services
In 10 years, Ihlenfeldt said MJI has grown from a one-man operation, to a “true design (and) build firm.”
“We have a registered architect on staff here, we have an interior design person and we also have a field crew,” he said. “The field crew does anything from concrete to demolition to framing steel work – things like that – and some finished carpentry as well.”
Focusing mainly on commercial work, Ihlenfeldt said MJI has assisted in the design, construction and renovation of “bars, restaurants, churches (and) office buildings” – only recently taking on more residential work.
“We tend to take on the more difficult (projects),” he said. “So, we have a lot of very unique projects. Tight timelines is something that we kind of specialize in.”
Remodeling food and hospitality businesses, Ihlenfeldt said, typically involves a tight timeline to minimize lost revenue.
“We take on things like remodeling a restaurant in 20 days – shutting them down for 20 days, and doing a whole restaurant remodel in 20 days – things like that,” he said. “Bars and restaurants – that’s one of our things we hung our (hat) on.”
As a small business itself, Ihlenfeldt said MJI empathizes with its small business clients, and strives to fulfill their needs without emptying their pockets.
“We tend to work with a lot of smaller businesses, and (ones) that we know are growing in the market,” he said, “We’re growing, too. We understand what they’re going through, so we try to take on that responsibility of coming (up with) that special recipe that’s going to work for them – that’s going to hit their wants, their needs and also their budget and timeline.”
An example of that, Ihlenfeldt said, is MJI’s partnership with Stadium View Sports Bar & Event Halls in Green Bay and its owner, Bob Watson.
“We’ve been working with him for seven or eight years now – every addition that he does, every remodel that he does, we get to be part of,” he said. “He says, ‘Hey, this is my idea,’ we put it on paper, we make it happen and he trusts us.”
Speaking of tight timelines and trusted partnerships, Ihlenfeldt said he was recently enlisted by Watson to complete a remodeling project on the restaurant and event venue ahead of the 2025 NFL Draft.
“Those are some of the tight time frames,” he said. “We just started about under a month ago… but he trusts us. He knows that we’re gonna get it done, (and) he knows we’re going to do a great job.”
Ihlenfeldt said he used MJI’s work with Stadium View as an example because Watson’s business is his “favorite” type to partner with.
“(They’re) another family owned business that (is) growing, and they do phenomenal work,” he said. “That’s one of my favorite types of people to work for – a family owned business that loves to grow. We have mutual trust for each other, and we get things done.”
Transparency, trust, teamwork
Being able to deliver on tight timelines – like with the Stadium View project – Ihlenfeldt said, is achieved through MJI’s “team approach.”
“It takes our architect working some extra hours getting his plans done,” he said. “It takes our project manager’s extra time and extra days to make sure they’re coordinating everything, being there on the weekends to make sure everything’s buttoned up because (Stadium View is) still open – they’re not shutting down. So, we’ve got to work around the customers, too.”
Every member of MJI’s team, Ihlenfeldt said, is focused on one thing: doing “the right thing for our customers.”
“We try to focus on them, focus on what they need and doing the right thing and being honest with them,” he said. “One of our big taglines that we have right in our logo (is), ‘Transparency > Trust > Teamwork.’”
The transparency aspect, Ihlenfeldt said, lies in being honest with the customers to ensure expectations – and budgets – are understood.
“(We) share with them, ‘this is how we came to your budget, this is what’s included, this is exactly where your money is going… and here’s what we’re making money on,’” he said. “We all have to make money, otherwise we don’t survive, right? So, we all understand where their dollars and cents are going, so they can actually make wise decisions within their project.”
Trust, Ihlenfeldt said, is inherently built with the customer through the act of being transparent.
“Just for being transparent, you get that trust, and that allows us to work (and) move forward as a team,” he said. “Our big thing is helping our customers get down the path of a building project so it meets their needs, fits their budget and fits their time frame.”
The final, and Ihlenfeldt said arguably the most important part of MJI’s business, is teamwork – something easily achieved with the right team.
“That’s where (Chief People Officer) Sarah (Robertson) comes in,” he said. “She helps us build people, and we focus on the entire person as an employee. That’s helped us push past some barriers, I think, other people might have – we really develop our team.”
Robertson said MJI’s leadership team is three-pronged with herself, Ihlenfeldt and Van Boxtel heading different aspects of business operations – ensuring its success as a whole.
“(Brian) handles the operational side of project managers, the crew building and how the progress of the construction piece is going,” she said. “Mark is instrumental on our sales side of it. He’s got the relationship development done. Then I’m coming in, and I’m developing the emotional intelligence of each and every person – all the way from executive down and crew up.”
Homage to history
Standing on such virtuous pillars as transparency, trust and teamwork, Robertson said her job is to make sure every MJI employee “truly can walk that walk.”
“We want our team to feel rock solid in who they are, in representing MJI and doing a great day’s work,” she said. “I think maximizing the strengths and optimizing the productivity of (our) people is really where we’re seeing our business take off.”
Robertson said every person on-boarded at the company is taught about its history and origins.
“I mean, 10 years isn’t that long, but it’s long enough to let them know what the history is, what we do well and what we want to continue to do well,” she said.
The next step, Robertson said, is to assess what the new hires’ strengths are.
“We definitely want to capture what their strengths are, so we’ll do a StrengthsFinder assessment,” she said. “I will work (with them on) their strengths.”
Robertson said with employees who have been with MJI for a few years, she helps them think about the future.
“What does that career mapping look like for them?” she said. “Are they a shining star and (are) really wanting to go someplace? Are they loving what they’re currently doing, and we need to empower them and put great things around them to have them succeed?”
Providing growth opportunities to those who are committed to MJI, Robertson said, is a priority to ensure employee satisfaction and longevity for the business.
“If they do want to excel and move (up)… (visualize) where they can go with MJI, I think it’s a much more powerful opportunity to promote from within than to necessarily hire on the outside,” she said.
Robertson said it’s always important for seasoned employees to share their knowledge and experiences with other members of the team.
“We want them to share their wealth of knowledge and do a lot of knowledge transfer, because there’s a reason that they got to where they’re at today,” she said.
The transfer of knowledge between MJI’s more experienced employees and those of younger generations in combination with development programs, Robertson said, is another contributing factor to the company’s growth and success.
“We have leadership programs we put together for each level of the different areas of the business,” she said. “We’re developing foremen, emerging foremen and we’re developing project managers. We’ve got estimators that are senior estimators, and newer ones coming on board (our) sales teams.”
Ihlenfeldt said MJI’s company pillars are built off four sub-areas of focus: “faith, family, fitness and finance – in that order.”
“That’s (how) we power our company – through those beliefs,” he said. “In your faith and then your family, those are two very important things. Fitness is a big thing for us here at our company, and also then we obviously look at finance.”
From a leadership perspective, Robertson said she, Ihlenfeldt and Van Boxtel help “sow into each other” those values every day – never taking their “day to day for granted.”
“We’re there to coach and help each other (with) those four areas,” she said. “How are we walking our walk with that? But then more importantly, how is our team feeling about our business when it comes to transparency, trust and teamwork? Is there anything we need to shore up or any gaps that we need to make sure that they feel empowered to do their best work each day with and for us and for the customer?”
Above all else, Ihlenfeldt said he never wants the MJI team to “forget where we came from.”
To learn more about MJI Building Services, visit buildwithmji.com.
