Builder/Architect-Green Bay/Fox Cities Edition July-August 1997
Andrew Homes
Leading the Area in Constructing Larger Homes
By Mary Schmutzler
"Build with the Leader" is more than the company slogan of Andrew Homes, Inc. It’s a fact, Andrew Homes builds more homes in the 2,000 plus square foot category than any other builder in the Oshkosh/Fox-Cities [including Appleton and Neenah]/Green Bay/Fond du Lac market, a statistic borne out by analysis of area building permits. In the past two years, Andrew Homes, Inc. has built more than twice as many homes of that caliber than the number two builder in the market, says Len Backus, president of Andrew Homes, Inc.
In 1996, Andrew Homes built 51 homes, averaging 2,650 square feet in size; the first 25 starts of 1997 averaged 2,860 square feet.
"But what we’re even more proud of than the size of our homes, is the high percentage of our customers who say they would deal with us again on their next home," Len continues.
Andrew Homes, Inc. builds both "for sale" and contract homes, and usually has 10 model homes, each with a different floor plan, open for viewing most Sundays. After touring the models, families who are interested in working with Andrew Homes, Inc. meet with Len to discuss design, modifications and costs. "Sometimes people will want to duplicate a model; other times they have their own design ideas, Len says.
"The fun begins in our design and budget meetings" he continues. " We get creative with the customer’s lifestyle needs while working within the budget to put the dollars where they’re most important to the customer. I think we’re particularly good at doing that. Everyone we work with is on a budget, no matter what the dollar figure is. It may seem easier for the family on a $600,000 budget but they go through the same rationale, the same steps during the process."
After modifications have been made and the plan is finalized, the customer begins working with Jim Armstrong, construction manager of Andrew Homes, Inc. Len explains, " Jim has been with Andrew Homes for more than 10 years, and supervises all of our staff as well as working with customers during construction. At the selection meeting, Jim meets with customers to make color selections, and gives them a worksheet listing the decisions that need to be made, along with the sequence and time frame for decisions. We show or give some product samples to the customer, while other selections are made at the supplier’s showroom."
During construction, clients communicate often with Jim, and on the construction sites, expediters Dana Gross and Kris Boeck supervise the building process. " Our expediters take charge of a job from the day excavation begins until a few weeks before completion, when our completion coordinator Dick Kiesow, takes over. He coordinates the rather hectic pace of the last few weeks of construction, making sure that everything runs smoothly," says Len.
Among other key members of the Andrew Homes, Inc. team is Kathy Ertmer, construction administrator. She works in the office doing computer scheduling, bidding, contract letting, and cost analysis. Kathy Backus, Len’s wife helps with payroll and accounts payable. Jock Holsworth is the company’s full time service manager; supervising warranty work after a home is sold. Head of Sales and Marketing is Nancy Thurner.
Andrew Homes, Inc. has one-year warranty on the homes it builds, "But we really feel it’s our home forever. We want to maintain a personal relationship with each customer," Len points out. "In fact, we keep track of second and third owners of homes we’ve built, and add their names to our computer database. We encourage them to call with technical questions for as long as they own the home."
Relationships with customers span many years for Andrew Homes, Inc., as do relationships with subcontractors and suppliers. "We have quite a few subcontractors who’ve been with us for more than 10 years, and we feel a mutual sense of loyalty," Len says.
"As we’ve grown, we’ve needed to supplement in certain areas, to handle the volume of work. Yet we always fall back on our small group, preferring to work with the same subcontractor and with the same job foremen over and over again. They know our requirements."
Len explains, "There are quite a few requirements that we have of different subcontractors that are unlike the requirements of their other builder customers. We have set a higher standard in many ways and in some cases, we’re perfectly willing to pay for that higher standard in order to do things the way we feel they should be done."
For example, after researching engineered wood products, Len decided to use engineered wood floor joists in all Andrew Homes. "This higher quality product is engineered to be as strong as a conventional floor joist, with none of the negative characteristics of today’s dimension lumber," Len says. Newer, better performing house wrap has become standard in Andrew Homes, as have a myriad of other new products and system-quality improvements.
With suppliers, Len feels Andrew Homes, Inc. has advantages over smaller builders. "Our volume, I think, gives us a price advantage, and it probably also gives us the advantage of working with the best people. We have long relationships with our suppliers as well," he adds.
Len Backus was not born to the building industry. With a background of "three-fourths mechanical engineer and one-fourth business and economics in college," he says he had always been interested in the construction side of businesses in which he’d been involved. Because of that interest, he began building single-family "for–sale" homes in the early 1980’s in his Oshkosh neighborhood on a part-time basis.
The "for-sale" homes led to contract homes, and the business grew form Oshkosh into the Fox Cities in the late 1980s. With its expansion into the Green Bay and Fond du Lac markets in the mid-‘90s, Andrew Homes, Inc. now builds homes throughout the Fox Valley. Over the years, Andrew Homes, Inc. has built larger homes in a variety of subdivisions, including Evergreen Meadows, Maple Hills and Marshall Heights in Appleton; Berkshire Estates and Mahler Farm, Neenah; and Brushwood-Nestle and Wyldewood, Oshkosh.
The company name, Andrew Homes, Inc., stems form Len’s desire to add warmth and a human dimension to a business name. "Andrew" is Len and Kathy’s second son. "As it turns out, Andy is our child who’s most interested in construction. When he was eight, he built a tree fort in our backyard. He remodeled it the following year, adding windows and a hinged door," Len recalls.
After graduating from UW-Madison with a degree in construction management, Andy plans to work in construction in Colorado. "He’s always dreamed of living in the Rocky Mountain West, and we’re encouraging him to follow his dream," says Len.
Kathy and Len’s older son, Chris, is a graduate of psychology, and is deciding when and where to do his graduate work in the field. Daughter Barbara is a student at UW-Madison, studying marketing. In fact, Barbara’s marketing skills are already being use at Andrew Homes, Inc. A report she wrote analyzing the customer service of Andrew Homes, ranked fourth out of 140 entries in a national high school marketing club competition.
Information analyzed in the report showed that "a high percentage of our customers would build with us again," Len says. "And the report led us to search for ways to make our business even better. We’ve sent out newsletters for the past few years to keep in touch with former and potential customers. Now we’ve just take delivery of a special computer program to help us track and administer warranty and service work after the homeowner has moved in."
Using an innovative computer program to track warranty work is typical to Len’s approach to his company and communication, "I didn’t come to this business with a lot of preconceived notions. Instead, I listened more to what my customers characterize us as good listeners. We listen to what they want, and try to help them put their home budget dollars where they’re most important to them."
*Reprinted with permission from Green Bay-Fox Cities Builder/Architect Magazine, July-August 1997.
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