Flooring underpins all of the other elements in a room. Whether it’s hardwood, laminate or carpeting, it’ll help set the space’s tone.

Dennis Stone, the owner of Wilsonville-based Techsource Enterprises Inc., recognizes the importance flooring can have on a first impression. Whenever people walk into a space, he said, it’s the first thing they notice.

Flooring “brings the room to life,” he said.

Before construction, Stone spent 16 years as a computer engineer. He traveled the U.S. and overseas troubleshooting computer systems. Stone said he longed for the day he could work for himself. Then a client offered Stone a contracting opportunity – which he accepted.

Later, in 1996, he started Techsource Enterprises as a contractor. Early on, he rehabbed foreclosed properties. Eventually, Stone transitioned his business to focus solely on flooring, which was his favorite part of the rehab process.

“It’s almost like you’re the closer,” he said.

Flooring is one of the last components of a project. By then, infrastructure has been set, plumbing and electrical portions have been fitted, and the paint has been applied.

“It’s the final piece,” Stone said. “It’s your touch to that space.”

Techsource Enterprises started out installing residential flooring and then 11 years ago shifted to commercial projects. The feeling of transforming an office space and bringing it to life has never faded, Stone said. It was what first attracted him to flooring, he added.

As with any endeavor, Stone said, money has been a challenge. At one point, he said, he sold his vehicle in order to make payroll and pay his employees.

“Getting the capital and getting people to believe in you,” he said, has been the most challenging part.

But along the way, Stone has been able to build more relationships.

One day, when eating breakfast outside of a restaurant in Lake Oswego, Stone was stopped by a man.

“I don’t know (if it was because) both (of us) being Black, he asked what I did,” Stone said. “I said, ‘I do flooring.’”

The man gave Stone his business card. It turned out to be Hermann Colas Jr., founder of Colas Construction. Stone later made a phone call and was able to get back-to-back contracts with Colas Construction.

“I am very grateful to him,” Stone said.

This past year, Stone worked on his first major project – the Meyer Memorial Trust headquarters. The building has 19,800 square feet of carpet tile, hardwood and vinyl. O’Neill/Walsh Community Builders was the project’s general contractor.

Stone “just has a really solid business and accruement on the way he approaches the work,” O’Neill Construction Group owner Maurice Rahming said. “He knows the business and comes up with good recommendations. He usually has the answer for you – and different options.”

Rahming said there was a good indication that Stone was a team player, and then he proved it.

“Really solid guy and really solid company,” Rahming said.

So far, Stone said some of his most memorable projects are the Yacht Harbor Club Apartments, a job for Toyota of Corvallis, and hospital work for Kaiser Permanente and Veterans Affairs.

During this past year, even during the pandemic, the company has continued to grow, Stone said. He has six full-time employees and is bidding on projects nonstop.

Techsource Enterprises is one of the only African American-owned commercial flooring companies in Oregon. But that hasn’t widened the door of opportunity, according to Stone.

“Has it advanced me?” he said. “I don’t see that.”

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