J. Lennox Scott began painting signs and gardening for the business his grandfather, John L. Scott, started in 1931 and his father also ran, John L. Scott Real Estate.

As a boy, he never doubted he would become the third generation to lead the company. Real estate was in his blood and on the tip of his pen. In college, Scott wrote his term papers on real estate.

He took over running the company in 1980 at the beginning of a decade characterized by high unemployment, high interest rates and inflation. The company survived the 1980s and went on to build a regional empire of 120 offices over the next 13 years. Under his watch, Scott grew the network of John L. Scott offices to 3,224 from 350 in 1980.

Scott, 49, isn’t stopping there. The Bellevue, Wash.-based company, with offices in the Northwest, including three offices and 43 agents in Central Oregon, is in the expansion mode.