A giant sumo wrestler statue is visible as soon as you enter the Forte Specialty Contractors manufacturing facility in southwest Las Vegas.
The acrylic statue, which is roughly 7 feet tall and roughly 9 feet wide, will eventually grace the entrance to a restaurant within the Resorts World complex under construction on the Strip.
It’s one of the many projects Scott Acton’s upscale construction company tackled during the pandemic. While many industries across the valley were dormant or half-busy last year, Acton says his company hasn’t slowed down.
Business is booming, he proudly proclaims.
“I think there are a lot of people with money thinking about how much time they have left during COVID-19,” Acton said. “I think there are a lot of boomers who have changed their thinking. Maybe they got sick or they were worried about getting sick. There are many people now who want to make their dream come true. “
Fortes luxury home construction is so busy these days that no new clients will be hired for the next two years. The company’s business has doubled since the pandemic broke, Forte said.
While Acton, 53, jokes he’s going to take on an “anyone with a check” project, the company’s clients include famous Las Vegas casino businessmen for the past 40 years.
His work is visible up and down the Strip, including pirate shipping on TI, the project that brought him to town from Southern California in the 1990s.
Acton built a 13,500-square-foot mansion for Wynn Resorts founder Steve Wynn in Summerlin and last year won the Southern Nevada Home Builders Association’s award for the design and architecture of a $ 13 million four-bedroom, eight-bathroom home in Las Vegas Valley.
Forte was founded 11 years ago and builds around a dozen houses every year. The company is currently working on 10 luxury homes, most of which cost more than $ 10 million.
The company is not only known for building houses, however.
Commercial construction or remodeling projects include Gordon Ramsays Hell’s Kitchen at Caesars Palace, the French restaurant Bardot Brasserie at Aria, and numerous attraction projects in theme parks from California to Texas and beyond.
Growing up, daughter Samantha Acton said her father kept saying, “If there’s a will, there’s a way,” she said. “I think that’s part of what makes him such a great visionary.”
Acton’s grandfather, Hubert Acton, started a company called Acton Animation after working on projects at Disneyland for nearly two decades.
After Hubert’s death in 1995, Ken Acton, Scott’s father, relocated the company from California to Las Vegas to benefit from a shift in the city’s gaming industry towards more family-friendly and imaginative design concepts.
After breaking into the family business, Scott Acton moved to Las Vegas in the early 1990s to work on building the pirate ship attractions on Treasure Island.
“I’m a ginger, so I thought I’d only live in the Las Vegas desert for about a year,” Acton said. “But it’s been 28 years and I’m still here. Vegas was good to me. “
Forte employs approximately 150 people, including designer Sean Feely, whom Scott Acton met when Feely was teaching his children visual arts at Bishop Gorman High School.
Feely operates one of the company’s main tools, a 3D printer, which allows customers to easily create a miniature model of a house for them to review. With the detailed models, customers can easily confirm what their idea is for their dream home.
The machine cost $ 600,000 – but it was worth the investment, Action said. After all, changing designs can quickly get expensive when a $ 12 million project is at stake.
“I like that Forte is the kind of company that always does the right thing,” Feely said. “That’s because Scott will always do the right thing. Unfortunately, in the construction business, there is always the option of standing up or choosing not to be completely transparent to a customer. We succeed because customers know what kind of company we are. “
But Acton admits it wasn’t always easy.
He is open to any setbacks he has encountered – he dropped out of 10th grade, was hit hard financially during the 2008 recession, got divorced and had to take stock of his party lifestyle.
“This city can be dangerous if you allow it. it can bite you, “said Acton. “But I firmly believe in the universe and in God. I believe it will all work out if you are open to it. That is fun. I’m 53 years old, but I feel like 23. This company is ten times the size I ever imagined. “
