By Paul Milde, CIP Finishes president
CIP Finishes has spent nearly four decades “sweating the small stuff” and focusing on the details that make apartment homes the attractive, comfortable places renters want to call “home.” The multifamily housing communities we work in play an important role in providing adequate home inventory in some of the largest housing markets in the Mid-Atlantic region. From our headquarters, we are sending products and installer teams out to jobs throughout the Greater Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, as well as the Richmond and Hampton Roads markets.
As we serve these large population centers, we are proud to be headquartered in a region that doesn’t always get as much attention, but demonstrates what it means to be a place that businesses want to call home.
Stafford County, Va., is part of the Greater Fredericksburg, Va., region. While we are not a standalone metropolitan statistical area, and don’t even have our own broadcast television station, this region has been recognized as the fastest-growing area in Virginia for the past five years.
As the most populous county in the Fredericksburg area, Stafford County offers us the perfect blend of proximity to major metro markets—we are halfway between our nation’s capital in Washington, D.C., and our state’s capital in Richmond—and a comfortable pace of life that helps us maintain a dedicated workforce who are ingrained in the schools, churches and other community organizations that make this a great place to build a life and raise a family.
I’ve said before that executives have an important leadership role to play in helping governments at all levels solve problems. As a member of the Stafford County Board of Supervisors from 2005 to 2017, I was part of a team that made strategic decisions that laid the foundation for the Centreport Parkway corridor—accessed from exit 136 on Interstate 95—to become a hub for light industrial businesses. In 2019, CIP Finishes broke ground on what is now our headquarters within this growing employment zone. In the years since we have moved in, we have watched the vision our board had many years ago come to life, as Amazon, FedEx Ground, the Stafford Regional Airport and many other enterprises have thrived in this corridor.
Just as the project owners we work for are highly selective about the finishes that go into their communities, we at CIP Finishes are equally selective about the details that make a community a great place to do business. In Stafford County, we appreciate working in a locality with a business-friendly attitude, no business and professional license tax, and a strategic approach to building employment hubs in places such as Centreport Parkway and the Quantico Corporate Center, while protecting the rural character that both longtime residents and newcomers appreciate.
We are fortunate to be able to take an active role in many of the groups that contribute to our region’s quality of life. We are proud members of the Fredericksburg Regional Chamber of Commerce, and both myself and our Director of Business Development Jen Fousek have participated in the Chamber’s Leadership Fredericksburg program. We support local charities including Empowerhouse, the Fredericksburg SPCA, the Gwyneth’s Gift Foundation, Mary’s Shelter, Loisann’s Hope House and more.
We are thankful to live and work in a community that welcomes those who want to get involved with open arms. The solid home base we have established in Stafford County enables us to maintain our focus on constantly improving the service we provide to the general contractors we serve in the multifamily construction industry.
Whether it’s the finishing touches on a new apartment, or the touchstones of a strong community, we at CIP Finishes have a great appreciation for what it takes to make a great home.