The M&C Legacy | The Grand Cannons

Founded in Florida · 34+ Years of Growth · Now a National Enterprise

Unexpected & Unique Interview

In the late 80s, my brother Claude and I decided to move from NC to Florida, looking to get out of the small town of New Bern. Looking for a job, I answered an ad for an assembly position, expecting it to be factory work like I had done back in NC.

That interview would turn out to be unique in every way and lives as the defining point in my life that would lead me to starting my own company that has now thrived for more than 34 years, as of 2025, and still going.

The address for the interview was at a Toys R Us and held in their breakroom.

Confused but curious about how this might be an assembly line type job, I filled out the application anyway.Then, this person sitting right next to me who was taking forever to fill out his application, was finally ready to sign his name.

All of us at the interview were waiting on him to finish and when it was finally time for him to sign his paperwork, I noticed his signature. It was the brother of my former best friend in NC, Mitch.

Someone I knew from NC, who just happened to be looking for a job the same time I was in FL, who sat right beside me during the interview — that had to be more than coincidence.

Clifton and Wyatt unveiling the first M&C office sign

Our first official logo sign for our first legitimate office space. My son Wyatt and I uncover the sign my wife, Dixie, got for us — ready to install onto our office front.

Friends to Founders

Mitch and I teamed up as we lived on opposite ends of the Tampa Bay area. If he got work in Tampa, I would go help and the same if I got work in Pinellas. The company that hired us concentrated on bike assemblies but in times bikes were not available, we had permission to hit the local Home Depots, Scotties, Builders Square's, etc.

Largo HD was super happy that I showed up and kept showing up, so much so they provided me with so much work I made them a weekly schedule. Mitch would come over to help when his Tampa workload was light. Largo HD provided more than enough work to keep us both busy.

Tampa Bay Times, 1998 — Early feature on M&C Assemblies' rapid Florida expansion.

After a few months in 1990, things took a turn when the assembly company we worked for did not like the arrangement that Mitch and I set up with the Largo store — instead of talking to us about it, they just fired us.

Since we were fired, the Largo Home Depot ended up getting neglected again. Christian, the Largo HD garden supervisor, and Bill, the store manager, reached out offering me the chance to provide assembly services for them directly. They offered support until my former contract was satisfied, informed me on HD policies and vendor requirements, and helped me register with their corporate office. I brought Mitch in as my partner because I knew I could not do this alone.

By 1991, Mitch and I had met all the HD vendor requirements and M&C Assemblies, Inc. was official. We started small, with just the Largo store as its first account, but by 1992, word of mouth led to rapid growth throughout the state so I had to convince my brother Claude to leave electrical, which he was great at and loved doing, and join me.

Our success snowballed, and by 1993, M&C had expanded throughout Florida, reaching nearly 100 stores by 1995.

By 2002, Mitch wanted to sell. For several reasons, but the main one being that he was looking for a more religious path. At first, I considered selling but realized that even with the financial challenges that came with running M&C solo, I would not find another job that would fulfil me the way that M&C did.

I bought Mitch's half of the company. The next several years had its financial challenges but I was able to identify and apply solutions that eliminated them.

It's also about this time I updated our logo, from a hand drawn one…

…to a text/font only…

…to its current version. I'm very proud of this design.

“From a Toys R Us breakroom to leading a business spanning decades and reaching nationwide proportions — this journey has been anything but ordinary.”

Innovation & Digital Transformation

Soon after, in 2013, I envisioned the need for custom-built assembly software to streamline our processes as the digital and paperless age was gaining popularity. I worked with several developers to help build this newly desired software — eventually the building blocks of what is now the Assembly Toolbox.

In 2015, we bought our first office and warehouse. This is pivotal as not only was it our first company-owned property, but the former office resident introduced us to a developer whiz kid who would become our CTO — who would build the software to such new heights that our two largest clients now require all their assembly providers to use our software and pay us to do so.

In 2018, we decided to separate the software from the assembly side of the business, launching officially Third Party Solutions, 3PS and fully migrating the Assembly Toolbox under this new structure.

Bringing in the Big Guns

The following year, I convinced my wife, Dixie, to come on board as M&C's CEO. I knew her extensive corporate experience would be a game-changer — she had built an impressive, long, and highly successful career as VP of International Sales for a major beauty company based in Detroit.

Once she joined the team, Dixie completely transformed our company's management structure. She introduced sales-focused models and performance-based incentives for our new leadership team, which instantly threw our growth into high gear.

As of this posting, we're still growing strong and thriving thanks to her outstanding leadership, clear vision, and strategic direction. Couldn't be more grateful to have her by my side both in life and in business.

Unbelievable Heights

The early 2020s marked one of our biggest milestones. By 2023, we acquired Assemblers Inc., our most aggressive competitor at the time, rebranding their in-home operations as Assemblers International.

Later that year, friendly competitor Hickman Assembly reached out asking us to acquire them as well — a testament to the respect we'd built across the industry.

Looking back, it's incredible how chance encounters and small decisions set the trajectory of a life.