Linked Solutions, Inc. completed a modern conference room for Red Cedar Investment Management, a firm with offices in Cincinnati.

Brian O’Neill is the President and Executive Project Manager of Linked Solutions, Inc.

Linked Solutions, Inc. is a construction management, general contracting, design and facilities maintenance company located in Blue Ash, Ohio. The company primarily serves restaurant, office, and medical and wellness industries throughout the Cincinnati, Dayton and Northern Kentucky region.

From the outside, the company looks like many other construction management firms. But speak to Brian O’Neill, Linked Solution’s President and Executive Project Manager, and you’ll find a client-first-and-focused company based on radical transparency, expert communication and a passion for solving problems.

To understand where the company’s ethos originated, one has to travel to the beginning.

The year was 2007, and Brian had been in the construction management and development industry for a decade. He had traversed the country for years, managing over 150 construction projects since he graduated from The Ohio State University. He was successful but tired, recently married and starting a family. He was frustrated by seeing contractors “not want to finish the last 10% of a project,” as he calls it. While he loved his job and enjoyed making relationships in Cincinnati’s business communities, he needed something different.

Something More

There were many factors that were part of Brian’s explanation of why or what happened that made him commit to starting Linked Solutions, but he knew what he was good at and what he wanted to change. And, most importantly, he wanted to do things his way. “I wanted to create an ethical business that put people first, paid subcontractors on time, did more than they committed to, and proactively protected our clients’ projects and facilities,” he explains.

“When I started Linked Solutions I was looking for something, I was bored; I wanted something more,” Brian says. “I needed a challenge. I needed to reshape my entire life. I really went through a professional, personal and lifestyle change at this point, and I had a lot of good people help me with this transition, including my previous employer.”

So, in 2007, Brian opened Linked Solutions. “I built the business on solving problems,” he adds. “When I was in college, we were taught that industrial designers exist to solve other people’s problems. So that’s what we set out to do.”

Growing Up

Soon, the company specialized in design-build and renovation projects. Its passion for the construction industry was “palpable,” Brian says. “Our team truly enjoys every aspect of construction, from conceptualization to strategic design, planning and budgeting. We believe in delivering a product that speaks for itself.”

Everything was going well—great, in fact—until 2016, when Brian began to feel uneasy. “I had two young daughters and just didn’t feel stable,” he says. “It’s hard to articulate because the business was strong. I could have walked away and done nothing for a few years and been happy. But, something was off. I blamed the construction industry because it can be unpredictable, but in all honesty, I lost my confidence.”

For the next year, Brian vacillated between closing shop or continuing the business. “I was miserable. I just couldn’t imagine sitting behind a computer screen for the rest of my life. I lost my direction,” he explains. Brian was at a crossroads. “Eventually, a family member told me I should talk to someone. I got help from a professional. And, by working on myself, I realized my struggle was never about the economy or the career path I followed. It was about me being me and accepting myself for who I am.”

With that realization in hand and his compass reset, Brian came back with a vengeance.

“I recommitted myself to the business,” he explains. First, he bought a proper brick-and-mortar building. “Something about having an office made it real for me,” he says. “Then, I hired an in-house CAD designer. After that, we started to take on bigger projects.”

Soon, a bevy of work came into Linked Solutions. “Because we aren’t chasing corporate clients and don’t travel, we can spend a lot of time with the local private business community,” Brian says. “We get to know our clients as people. We understand their goals and visions, and how to translate a designer or architect’s grandest plan into something within their budget. We’ve developed a whole new level of intimacy with our clients, which in turn allows us to provide a better level of care and depth of services.”

Off the Back Burner

“With a new energy and a focused vision, we began churning out bids,” he says. “The local food and drink industry really accepted us, and my history of working with restaurateurs taught me the importance of trust, empathy and communication.”

He explains, “Many times, people pour their life savings into their restaurants. This is a monumental experience for their career. My team and I are very protective and understanding of that; so, we see ourselves as the ultimate responsible party. From note-taking to permit applications to punch out, we are there for them.”

This feeling of responsibility also makes Linked Solutions more creative, as was the case with Oakley Fish House in Cincinnati. The client had leased space in a historic, strategically located building that was in generally poor condition. On top of that, the permits had been delayed for months. “It wasn’t that the project was on the backburner, but we just couldn’t move forward. So, we took on more projects while we waited for the permits to go through,” Brian says. “Then, out of the blue, the permits were approved, but we didn’t have anyone freed up to manage it.”

Brian, with no available staff, came up with an ingenious solution. “I had a former client and colleague who had a restaurant owner and operations background, and I asked him to come on board as the construction manager,” he says. “Now, my new construction manager had no construction background. None. But he knew how the restaurant industry worked, and he understood the client’s very specific needs and the importance of the correct layout in the front and back of the house.”

Brian became the construction manager, and his former “client turned co-worker” led the project. “I’ll admit it was a roll of the dice,” Brian says, “but he came through spectacularly! He asked the right questions and made great suggestions. The client appreciated his level of restaurant experience, and they worked so collaboratively, by the end of the job, it was like they could read each other’s minds.  By far, it was one of the better hiring decisions I’ve made, because he understood the client’s needs inside and out.”

Brian continues, “An additional payoff, even though I’ve managed the construction of probably 45-50 restaurants and learn something new on every project, I never stopped learning on this one. This project, and my construction manager, taught me how to think like a day-to-day restaurant operator.”

The project was finished within budget, and ultimately, when the owner was able to operate, expectations by all were exceeded. “Creativity and problem-solving can be a game changer,” Brian says. “You have to be willing to work harder than anyone else on the project, solve one more problem, adapt and change your thinking to understand your customer in order to best serve your clients.”

Cool Industries

Though restaurants are sometimes Linked Solutions’ bread and butter, the company isn’t just a restaurant specialist. Recently, it has gained experience with wellness brands, including the franchises Elements Massage, HI FI YOGA and Restore Hyper Wellness + Cryotherapy. “More wellness brands are coming to Cincinnati, and we want to build them all,” Brian says. “It’s been a very exciting development for our business.”

One of its highest-profile clients is the boutique fitness and wellness company Orangetheory Fitness (OTF).

“We were fortunate to earn the contract with the first and most successful Orangetheory franchise owner in the Cincinnati market,” Brian says. “The franchise owner’s referrals to other regional franchise owners led to Linked Solutions building out all the OTF’s in the Cincinnati, North Kentucky and Dayton areas.”

Brian continues. “One of the local franchise owners sold their studios in February 2020 to a California-based fitness company. The California franchisee, who owns more than 50 studios, wanted two Cincinnati studios to be updated, which we did,” Brian says. As the relationship developed, Linked Solutions began receiving calls from the studio managers for service and maintenance. “During a call about some recent work at one of their studios, they asked if I knew of a company that could manage their facilities,” Brian says. “What they didn’t know was that starting a facility maintenance division had been one of my long-overdue goals, as we had been servicing and coordinating repairs at previous customers’ facilities for years. I told them that we could do it, and because of our relationship, they accepted. So, in 2020, we started our new facilities division.”

Linked Solutions is proving that doing the right thing pays off. “I took all of the lessons learned from my two previous employers and past project experiences and brought them to my business,” he says. “I pay hired subcontractors on time. I finance projects between draws and when the banks and owners don’t make timely payments. We prioritize the cleaning of work sites so subcontractors can do their jobs efficiently. It’s all about treating people the way we want to be treated.”

He pauses. “We are proactive and not reactive. I think that’s the most important thing—being able to look ahead and see problems before they happen.”

Today, the company continues to grow. It recently has added Nostalgia Wine & Jazz Lounge—a popular wine bar in the equally popular Over-The-Rhine, or OTR, neighborhood—to its client roster. It now has six full-time staff (including Brian): Mike Woods, the in-house Design Manager; Steve Hodges, a Facilities and Construction Manager; Bob Adams, a Senior Construction Manager; Jim St. Pierre, the General Manager and Business Development Manager; and Zach Chalupa, a Senior Project Manager. “Zach has been with us since his internship 12 years ago,” Brian says. “He is the longest-serving employee and one of our most valued assets.” The company intends to hire another construction manager this year.

“My goal when I started Linked Solutions was to make a salary to pay the bills, but to do it my way,” Brian says. “And that’s exactly what I’m doing and what we’re doing as a team.”