Mark Grier, founder and owner of Intrinsic Construction, was not born with a silver hammer in his hand, but by the time he was nine years old he knew how to install baseboard. The third-generation construction worker/contractor grew up in Jersey City, NJ, shadowing his father, grandfather and uncle as they worked. “They were tool belt builders, mainly residential, remodeling houses,” he remembers. “On weekends, everyone would be together, working on something.”

His mother, who ran a center for Alzheimer patients, was not exactly keen on Mark following in their boot steps. “She would tell my dad that If I learned those skills, it would be all I wanted to do. She was right! She wanted me to be a doctor or something, but the older I got, the more I loved it, the whole culture of it.”

He began working part time in the field during high school, moving to fulltime as soon as he graduated, traveling around the country and always finding jobs. He also had a professional epiphany. “I was doing all-phase remodeling and learning everything I could about construction. One employer gave me the opportunity to be project manager on a job. I got the chance not to be the guy carrying the wood up the ladder to the roof but the guy telling the guy to carry the wood up the ladder to the roof. That felt like the right next step.”

While living and working in Sandersville GA he visited Asheville and felt the calling to its mountains, hiking trails, waterfalls, food and music, all in a growing region rife with possibility. “I learned in my travels that the grass isn’t really greener on the other side. You just need to find what kind of grass you like. To me, Asheville was a perfect mix of small town and economic opportunity. “

He moved to Asheville in 2006, starting off doing general construction and carpentry for various companies in Buncombe County. Though he really enjoyed residential remodeling, when his father passed away in 2010, the grievous personal loss steered him to make a major professional change. ‘I got a job with a big company in town that did commercial work and decided to learn about that side of the industry.”

In 2020, with 10 years of hands-on experience and on-the-job education, he decided to follow his late father’s lead and go out on his own. “My dad started his own company when he was 30, and that was motivation. While I was still at the big company, I was able to do some work on the side and raised enough capital to launch my company without taking on loans.”

He was a one-man operation and started small, but as he built a portfolio of work, he added bigger jobs and more people; he now has six team members, including three women. In the past 36 months, they’ve completed 36 projects.

He found he was energized by the challenges of commercial work. “It’s not for the faint of heart,” he says with a laugh. “There are so many more steps in commercial construction, but I enjoy the process of working through it.”

A frequent diner around town, he was drawn to working with independently owned restaurants, a niche that has even more requirements. “Restaurants are one of the trickier projects to do with the city. You have to navigate ADA accessibility, ADA bathrooms, accessible counter tops, safety fire alarms, hood suppression and fire tests, the fire marshal, the health department, the ABC.”

He did the Baba Nahm buildout from the City Bakery space on Biltmore, as well as Bru on Biltmore, Quotations in Brevard and most recently, putting the upscale Andaaz Indian restaurant in the Cambria Hotel. “We had over 100 inspections in there. We put in a zero-pollution hood system in the ceiling; the exhaust system is the size of a small Volvo.”

Tight timelines are one of the biggest stressors. “If one thing fails an inspection, it can have a domino effect of delaying the rest of the work. Unlike residential, we can and will work around the clock to get the job finished.”

As an independent business owner himself, he is very cognizant of the challenges and budgets facing others and takes pride in finding ways to assist and manage costs. That includes having an inhouse architect, a network of reliable commercial contractors that align financially with the project and maintaining good relationships with city and county agencies. He purposefully builds partnerships with local non-profits and civic organizations, including AIR; Intrinsic Construction became a sponsor in January 2026.

“Ultimately, everyone is on the same team – the health dept, the fire marshal, the building inspectors, the general contractor, the subs and of course the business owners. You all want the same thing – to create a good, prosperous business that will keep everyone safe. It’s a really good feeling when I can tell the owners they’re good to go, and they can open their doors. That’s the reward.”

Written by Kay West