About
The Beginning
Universal Modular Inc.’s (UMI) story began in the early 2000s with Rick Bartolotti, a modular construction expert known as an “industry legend” among his peers. Before starting his own company, Rick worked at GE Capital for 25 years and at Vanguard Modular for another five before moving to California to work for a manufacturing company. He was serving as the president of the Modular Building Institute in 2008 when he decided to take the plunge and start a business of his own.
Rick established Universal Modular Building Solutions (UMBS) that year in Fallbrook, California, and found plenty of work early on, despite the struggles many others were facing at the time as the Great Recession began.
A Successful Launch
The first job Rick secured for UMBS was a three-year project with Lockheed Martin, which needed seven specialized modular buildings for the U.S. Marine Corps. Rick worked on the project briefly before launching UMBS, and he made a successful bid to take it over after the manufacturing company he’d worked for went out of business. His ability to meet unique project specifications gave UMBS an edge right from the start and continued to define UMBS in the years that followed as the company built its reputation of deep industry knowledge.
Following that first project with Lockheed Martin, UMBS took on another project for the U.S. Marine Corps before an opportunity to construct large two-story buildings for a solar company popped up. The sheer size of the 18-month project necessitated the hiring of a project manager. That small company growth, combined with the success of those first few projects, funneled UMBS into its next stage.
Early Challenges
Like any small business, UMBS faced early difficulties with funding. But the real challenge was cultivating acceptance of the modular industry from those outside of it. It took time to get customers to understand that modular construction projects were not limited to mobile homes and trailers. UMBS, which focused on commercial and U.S. Department of Defense projects, widened this perspective by taking customers to visit completed projects at schools and hotels so they could see firsthand what was possible.
UMBS benefited from the contacts its founder had developed over his four decades of experience, and customer awareness at large began evolving as other larger companies, such as GE Capital and Marriott, made significant investments in the industry. Though general understanding of what modular buildings can be remains a challenge, public perception is improving as time marches forward.
The New Era
UMBS was always a small operation, and in late 2022, Rick was ready to step back from his work. He connected with Zachary and Carisa Stark, who are based near the company’s starting point in San Diego, California.
Zachary and Carisa first met while interning together 23 years ago. Their friendship developed into something more when they found themselves paired on multiple projects, and they discovered that they worked well bouncing ideas off each other.
The Starks have now been married for 21 years and have five children. Over the last two decades, their goal was always to find a way to work together again—and when they heard about the opportunity to take the reins at UMBS, they jumped on it.
The company’s transition of ownership to the Starks was possible through their partnership with Modular Management Group. Now UMI, the new era of the company Rick first launched in 2008 officially began on Jan. 1, 2024. With Zachary and Carisa at the helm, UMI possesses a breadth of industry contacts and resources through Rick and Modular Management Group. The company also has an ambition to grow by diversifying its modular offerings and pushing into the classified program space, an area of expertise for Zachary and Carisa, who both previously worked at the SCIF/SAPF contractor Adamo Security Group.
The New Era
UMBS was always a small operation, and in late 2022, Rick was ready to step back from his work. He connected with Zachary and Carisa Stark, who are based near the company’s starting point in San Diego, California. Zachary and Carisa first met while interning together 23 years ago. Their friendship developed into something more when they found themselves paired on multiple projects, and they discovered that they worked well bouncing ideas off each other.
The Starks have now been married for 21 years and have five children. Over the last two decades, their goal was always to find a way to work together again—and when they heard about the opportunity to take the reins at UMBS, they jumped on it.
The company’s transition of ownership to the Starks was possible through their partnership with Modular Management Group. Now UMI, the new era of the company Rick first launched in 2008 officially began on Jan. 1, 2024. With Zachary and Carisa at the helm, UMI possesses a breadth of industry contacts and resources through Rick and Modular Management Group. The company also has an ambition to grow by diversifying its modular offerings and pushing into the classified program space, an area of expertise for Zachary and Carisa.
A Bright Future
In the years ahead, UMI aspires to remain a small company that prioritizes delivering a dependable, high-quality product and maintaining long, trusting relationships with customers. The company’s ongoing effort to diversify enables UMI to meet the needs of many U.S. Department of Defense and commercial projects, including those with unusual specifications.
UMI’s small size makes it capable of ensuring that each customer gets personalized attention. That agility also helps UMI complete the kinds of complex and custom projects that bigger companies rarely take on. Zachary and Carisa know from their years in the industry that every project is different, and they are committed to helping customers get their questions answered. At UMI, guiding customers toward the right solutions for their modular construction projects—and seeing those projects through to successful completion—is most important.