Current Florida Swimming Pool Association (FSPA) treasurer
Maurice Bushroe’s success as the owner of Blue Ribbon Pools wasn’t overnight
and it wasn’t even close to planned.
Bushroe started off cleaning his mother’s and next door neighbor’s
pool when he was a kid. It was a kind
gesture and a way to help out and lend a hand.
Bushroe never once thought he would be doing this as a profession down
the road.
“I finished off college and then landed a job in the
commercial printing industry,” said Bushroe.
“I did this for over 21 years as a sales and manager executive, managing
over 500 employees.”
After two decades in the printing industry, Bushroe was
ready for the next challenge. He moved
to Florida in 2002 and was ready to purchase a printing company and become a
business owner, one of his lifelong goals.
“The deal ended up falling through,” said Bushroe. “I saw the east central Florida market as
being underserved in the commercial swimming pool sector and I decided to buy a
small swimming pool company, Blue Ribbon Pools, instead.”
Bushroe would trade in his suit and tie for a t-shirt,
shorts and a pool skimmer. After three
weeks of training from the company’s previous owner, he jumped right into the
field.
“I remembered nothing from the training,” said Bushroe
citing that at first, being a pool professional did not come easy. “I had 40 residential pools and 9 commercial pools
to start off.”
Bushroe, with his one part-time employee, were focused on
building up their commercial pool roster.
During the process, Bushroe recalls a moment when he realized he would
be successful as a business owner.
“It was during the major hurricanes in 2004,” said
Bushroe. “We worked 31 straight days to
get our customers up and running and we took every measure possible to do so.”
This effort made it apparent that Blue Ribbon Pools’ view of
customer service was different from everyone else.
“We were using our pick-up trucks and chains to pull trees
out of people’s pools during those hurricanes,” said Bushroe. “That’s when I realized people valued our
dedication to customer service and that was a big part of our success.”
Today, Blue Ribbon Pools is one of the largest integrated
pool companies in east central Florida.
They clean, repair, renovate and build commercial and residential pools
and have a retail store.
It may not have been the plan 30 years ago, but Bushroe has
no regrets jumping into the swimming pool industry and still loves what he is
doing.
“I can talk swimming pools all day,” said Bushroe. “I love what I do.”
Bushroe currently serves on FSPA's executive committee and is a member of the FSPA East Central Chapter.