The Great Recession that started nearly a decade ago wiped out many home building businesses, but South Coventry’s Rotelle Development has managed to survive and grow over the years, writes Jane Von Bergen for the Philadelphia Inquirer.

“We revamped ourselves, I think, to take a step toward a more conservative business model in a risky business already,” said Peter B. Rotelle, the owner and president of Rotelle.

Rotelle added that one of the reasons his company managed to survive the recession was that, even before 2008, he was against growing too fast just to satisfy his ego.

“I watched a lot of companies my size double or triple, quadruple,” he said. “All of them disappeared.”

Rotelle grew from 20 to 100 houses a year, but then made a calculated decision not to expand its inventory further.

“At some point, I looked at our inventory and I said, ‘We have enough inventory right now. I don’t think we should be purchasing any more ground to put into land bank.’”

Read the entire interview in the Philadelphia Inquirer here.