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Council Provides the Answers for Home Builders Considering Rounding Out Their Businesses

At our spring meeting in April, we heard what was on the minds of the council’s members, and those who attended received first-hand information on how to cope with the rising price of steel and materials shortages; how NAHB is working with OSHA to ensure that some of its proposed rules ensure job site safety without being unnecessarily burdensome; and how to avoid getting fined by the Environmental Protection Agency for minor infractions. You can read more about these topics in the current issue of Commercial Builder magazine.

Every bit as valuable at these meetings are the terrific opportunities for networking. Many of the council’s members are old pros who have spent years building a variety of light commercial projects — from banks and office buildings to mini-storage facilities and strip centers. At the same time, we are seeing more and more men and women in the council who have been primarily involved in the residential side of construction and want to round out their business opportunities. Our meetings provide an unbeatable setting for the exchange of ideas and expertise among these industry professionals.

Our members have joined the council for a variety of reasons, and here are some that I commonly hear:

• What goes up eventually goes down, and this applies very much to residential construction despite the booming markets of recent years. Economists today are forecasting a rise in nonresidential construction, and home builders want to balance their activities by adding commercial to the mix.
• In the field of commercial construction, projects are primarily in the hands of professionals, and builders don’t have to worry about telephone calls from panicky home owners at all hours of the day and night.
• Builders who have mastered the fine art of home building are ready to move on to new challenges.
• Builders working in a small market who find that it is becoming saturated with residential contractors find that the commercial arena is less crowded.
• Commercial projects are larger in scale and hold the potential for bigger profits.

For builders who have toyed with the idea of diversifying their business but feel that they need more information before proceeding, or for those who have dabbled in commercial with one or two small projects and are now wondering if it’s the time to step up to something bigger, the National Commercial Builders Council is the place to find the answers they are looking for.

For information on joining the National Commercial Builders Council, e-mail Petra Beane-Moore or call her at 800-368-5242 x8433.

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