THE BUILDER | Jay Smith

Growing up, Jay Smith did odd jobs for his grandfather and father’s company, Ajax Building Corp., on weekends and during the summer. Little did he know at the time that one day he would become vice president of the company, which now has offices in seven Florida cities.

Smith said that the opportunity to join the family business, which the late J.B. “Block” Smith started in 1958, was always there, but that no one pushed him.

“It wasn’t something that my family said I had to do,” Smith, 32, said.

In his position, Smith oversees the day-to-day operations for all of North Florida for the company, which has been named as one of the Top 200 private companies by Florida Trend magazine.

After Smith graduated from the Maclay School in 1992, he went to the University of Florida and earned a B.S. in business. While there, he worked in Ajax’s Gainesville offices.

Smith decided to return to Tallahassee and continue the family legacy at Ajax. He began as a project engineer in 1997, and by 2004 he had worked his way up to the position of vice president.

“It’s an honor to have this unique opportunity to step into an executive role in something my father and grandfather started,” Smith said.

Ajax is involved in commercial construction and construction management throughout the Southeast, generating revenues of $152 million in 2005. Specializing in education, health care and correctional facilities, the company recently completed Florida A&M University’s new recreation center and currently is constructing Florida State University’s $60-million chemistry building.

Smith said he believes Leon County has done a good job of balancing smart growth with preserving our historic structures and landscapes.

“As a city and a county, we should learn from similar areas in the state and see what they have done right or wrong,” he said.

Outside of the office, Smith has found time to serve on several boards and committees of professional and charitable organizations. He and his wife, Bri, have been married for seven years and have two daughters, ages 4 and 2.

Smith said he’s proud of the legacy Ajax has in Tallahassee and around the state, and that he looks for that tradition to grow and continue.

“In the family-business world, for a business to last into the second generation is great, and now we have successfully beaten the statistics to make it into the third generation,” he said. “Ajax will continue to prosper, and hopefully we will see a fourth generation with one or both of my daughters in the business.” – Mackenzie Turberville