Byline: Samantha Stainburn

In the past 10 years, Graycor Inc. has built the Promenade in Bolingbrook, 63 CVS stores across the Midwest and five factories in Mexico for clients like Toyota Motor Corp.

That's a long way from the sandblasting and concrete-breaking company Edward Gray founded in Chicago in 1921. "When a good client asks for our help, we think long and hard before we say no,'' says Matthew Gray, Graycor's chief operating officer and Edward's grandson.

That philosophy has led to ventures like pushing into Mexico in 1997 when Ford Motor Co. asked Graycor to upgrade its plant in Juarez. After finishing the project, Graycor stuck around, opening an office ...