The R.D. Merrill Company, parent company of Merrill Gardens, was recently featured in an article in the Puget Sound Business Journal highlighting our company's long history and future growth plans.
R.D. Merrill Co. President Bill Pettit shared information about our expansion into the senior housing industry in China where we now have four operating communities with more in development.
"We envision (launching China) very similarly with how we launched Merrill Gardens in 1993 in the U.S.," said Pettit. "I don't know that China will ultimately be any bigger but certainly we'll be looking for the same kind of quality characteristics in China that we have evolved here."
The article also expanded on the company's recent announcement of our sister company Pillar Properties joint venture to develop the Sammamish Town Center (above) which will include a Merrill Gardens community.
LESSONS LEARNED
Pettit, who has been with Merrill Gardens since its inception, was also asked to share some of the lessons he has learned along the way.
1. Take a quality first approach to building businesses. Be patient, build the right culture around the right people and place quality ahead of pace of growth.
2. Be aware of the power of a disciplined culture and how it permeates every aspect of the team and the mission.
3. Value integrity demonstrated through the practice of 'doing what is right' regardless of what any contract says. It builds long-term business relationships strengthened through truest and confidence.
Click HERE to read the entire article in the Puget Sound Business Journal.