About Us
A Story of Self-Reliance
The Beck family has been a part of Southwest Florida since the early 1900s, beginning in Lakeport, Glades County, on the shores of Lake Okeechobee. Derek Beck, a sixth-generation Floridian and founder of Beck Companies, credits the brand’s growth to business practices of the five generations that came before him. From its earliest days in Florida, the Beck name was closely associated with farming, commercial fishing and ranching. The family also built, owned and operated a general store in Lakeport.
Seeing the commercial potential of the general store’s location adjacent the Harney Pond Canal, they constructed a bait-and-tackle shop in the early 1980s. In 1983, Derek’s father wanted to add a gas station to the general store. But given there were few, if any, qualified builders in rural Glades County to do the job, they constructed that as well. They would go on to build a convenience store and gas station down the road in Buckingham, due to the same absence of qualified contractors. Ultimately, the Beck chain of convenience stores and fuel stations grew to six.
Filling Unmet Needs, Serving Unserved Markets
The Becks added a hardware store to their Lakeport property in the 1990s. There were also few capable real estate brokers in the area. So Derek’s father got his real estate brokerage license; Derek followed suit, getting his license in the early 2000s.That allowed the Becks to branch into the property brokerage business—selling, leasing and managing the homes, condos, apartments and businesses they built
Derek formalized Beck Construction as a builder in 2003. He took it upon himself to acquire all the necessary licensing and became the qualifier for the business, including HVAC and plumbing services. Derek’s father-in-law, a licensed electrician, qualified them for electrical services. It was the right time to enter the construction industry. Glades and Hendry are two of the most economically challenged counties in the state. And in 2003, despite a housing shortage, very few homes were being built there. So, they started building spec homes. The quality of their work spread word-of-mouth, and soon, they found themselves in a building boom.
When the recession hit in 2008 and onward, they survived on home building projects for the Seminole tribe. Not only was Beck Construction building single-family homes, they also built multifamily dwellings and communities along with projects for U.S. Sugar and Southern Gardens Citrus Processing.
The Right Way to Do Business
The Beck brand epitomizes honesty, integrity and fairness. By remaining true to their core values over six generations, they have also become trusted subcontractors of the most respected household name general contractors in Southwest Florida on high-profile commercial projects such as charter schools, gated community clubhouses, banks and restaurants. It was the company’s reputation for ethics and candor that made Beck Construction the buyer of choice for Bryant Roofing, a renowned roofing contractor since the 1980s whose owners saw shared values in the people at Beck. When they purchased Bryant Roofing in 2018, it became a division of Beck Construction.
Someone once said, “If you want something done right, do it yourself.” This long-established idiom is true for Beck Companies. In rural communities that lacked qualified talented builders, HVAC techs, electricians, plumbers, real estate brokers and roofers, the Becks did it themselves, while never compromising on methods, materials, products or principles. It has paid them back in growth, expanding from Glades and Hendry into Lee, Charlotte and Collier counties. And it has led to the creation of Beck Companies, to encompass all the diverse business and service lines it provides today.
A Story of Self-Reliance
The Beck family has been a part of Southwest Florida since the early 1900s, beginning in Lakeport, Glades County, on the shores of Lake Okeechobee. Derek Beck, founder of Beck Companies, credits the brand’s growth to business practices of the five generations that came before him. From its earliest days in Florida, the Beck name was closely associated with farming, commercial fishing, ranching and a general store in nearby Moore Haven—and remained primarily in fishing and agriculture for decades.
In 1983, Derek’s father wanted to add a gas station to the general store and bait and tackle shop they owned. But given there were few, if any, qualified builders in rural Glades County to do the job, they took on the project themselves. They would go on to build a convenience store and gas station down the road in Buckingham, due to the same absence of qualified contractors. Ultimately, the Beck chain of convenience stores and fuel stations grew to six. And building them officially put the Becks in the construction business.
Filling Unmet Needs, Serving Unserved Markets
Tired of relying on other contractors for their construction jobs, Derek Beck, a sixth-generation Floridian, formalized Beck Construction as a builder in 2003. He took it upon himself to acquire all the necessary licensing and became the qualifier for the business, including HVAC and plumbing services. Derek’s father-in-law, a licensed electrician, qualified them for electrical services. It was the right time to enter the construction industry. Glades and Hendry are two of the most economically challenged counties in the state. And in 2003, despite a housing shortage, very few homes were being built there. So, they started building spec homes. The quality of their work spread word-of-mouth, and soon, they found themselves in a building boom.
When the recession hit in 2008 and onward, they survived on home building projects for the Seminole tribe. Not only was Beck Construction building single-family homes, they were also building multifamily dwellings and communities. As true in construction and skilled trades, there were few capable real estate brokers in the area. Since Derek and his father are licensed real estate brokers, they branched into the property brokerage business—selling, leasing and managing the homes, condos and apartments built by Beck Construction.
2The Right Way to do Business
The Beck brand epitomizes honesty, integrity and fairness. By remaining true to their core values over six generations, they have also become trusted subcontractors of the most respected household name general contractors in Southwest Florida on high-profile commercial projects such as charter schools, gated community clubhouses, banks and restaurants. It was the company’s reputation for ethics and candor that made Beck Construction the buyer of choice for Bryant Roofing, a renowned roofing contractor since the 1980s whose owners saw shared values in the people at Beck. With the purchase of Bryant Roofing, it became a division of Beck Construction in 2018.
Someone once said, “If you want something done right, do it yourself.” This long-established idiom is true for Beck Companies. In rural communities that lacked qualified, talented builders, HVAC techs, electricians, plumbers, real estate brokers and roofers, the Becks did it themselves, while never compromising on methods, materials, products or principles. It has paid them back in growth, expanding from Glades and Hendry into Lee, Charlotte and Collier counties. This growth has led to the creation of Beck Companies, to encompass all the diverse business and service lines it provides today.