Salvatore “Sam” Cottone is a successful businessman and developer in Oakland County, who owns Twin Lakes Golf Course in Oakland Twp. with his son, Matthew, and RESCO, Inc. with his wife Michelle, supporting the home building industry.

Sam Cottone’s father came to America from Cinisi, Sicily, and his mother grew up in Detroit. Sam spent his childhood in Wyandotte, and after high school attended Walsh College, where he received a degree in Public Accounting and became a CPA.

“I went to work for a mechanical contractor in Farmington who was bought out by John Carlo, Inc., and from thee we started developing residential real estate together with the two Carlo brothers. In 1988, I went off on my own and continued to develop property with several partners, including Mike Chirco, Mickey Shapiro, and Dominic Moceri.”

“So I bought the land [to develop] Twin Lakes in 1985, because I figured, ‘how hard could it be?’ Then I found out how hard it could be! We opened in November of 1996, then four years later added the clubhouse and swim club.”

According to Sam, “My brother was a foster parent, who took in children who were victims of abuse and neglect, along with some that had developmental disabilities. When he lost his job at McLouth Steel, he moved to Alabama and adopted the five kids that he still had. They’re all a real success story, and that’s what inspired me to get involved with St. Louis Center.”

Sam Cottone & Lisa“Mike Chirco visited SLC with Jack Tocco, St. and they got me involved. One day after we had just opened up the golf course, we started planning the firs touting. We had some sandwiches and a few beers, and Mike said, ‘I’ll pick up the tab for the food, and we’ll donate the money to St. Louis Center.’ We raised about $3,000 at the time, and we all thought that was a great in our first year.

Then we started meeting and planning the outing, and it got bigger and bigger. Being in the business, I could see how other people were doing their fundraisers. So I said, “let’s get some sponsors.” and that’s worked out very well for us. It’s very rewarding, and we’ve raised over $1 million so far. We’ve also had great support from Mickey Shapiro, along with his father Asa and Mickey’s brothers. Of course, Mike Chirco and Joe Maniaci are always very generous with this event.” “So my motivation [in helping SLC] has been seeing how much my brother… has suffered… in caring for his family. I talked to Joe and Mike about it, and since we can’t physically go out and help these kids, we can be here to financially help them.”

 


 

Dad & Lad Golf Outing

The Dad & Lad Golf Outing remains a popular annual fundraiser for St. Louis Center every year, and we couldn’t be more grateful!  Click here to learn more about this year’s event.


This story was originally published in the 2020 St. Louis Center Annual Report.