Andrew Roby

Andrew Roby, Inc

Roby featured in American Builder Quarterly summer 2009 issue

Jun 01, 2009

While many businesses are struggling to keep their doors open in these tough economic times, Andrew Roby, Inc. is one of the few that continues to grow. Yet growth means more to this 60-year-old, family-owned, custom residential contractor than just its 25 percent increase in revenues in 2008. It means adding to its existing 70 in-house employees, instituting staff benefits, creating a new construction division, expanding geographically, and giving back to its community through charitable causes.

“We made a push this year to try to grow from within,” says vice president Trent Haston, who along with his brother Travis is the third generation of Hastons to manage the operations of Andrew Roby.

After experiencing a 10-year-long construction boom, this Charlotte, NC-based company was poised to give back. To demonstrate its commitment to its staff, some of whom have been with Andrew Roby for decades, it established a 401(k) program with a four percent company match, the first of its kind in the company’s history. Additionally, in the face of other businesses cutting staff, Andrew Roby continues to hire, and potential employees “are knocking our door down,” says Haston.

However, being an Andrew Roby employee is more than just having the ability to renovate, remodel or build new. “Our people have to work in our client’s homes while their kids play in the back yard, watch our client’s dog while they run to the store, and pick up their paper when they walk up the sidewalk each morning,” says Haston. “That is our legacy.”

A combination of superb craftsmanship and strong relationships is key to Andrew Roby’s success. Those in its handyman division, and sometimes even the Hastons themselves, are known to deliver firewood to a devoted customer the week of Christmas, fix a window on the same day the call comes in, or secure a tarp over a leaking mid-renovation roof at 11 p.m. “I tell our young project managers that I want our clients to call us when their barber dies and they need a hair cut,” says Haston.

This devotion to not only its industry but to its customers stems from its 15-member executive team whose job description includes forming relationships within the community whether that be through coaching Little League, chairing a local fundraiser, or teaching a trade course. “We believe strongly that we are only going to do as well as our industry does and that is evident in our involvement,” explains Haston.

While it has always strived to give back, in 2008 Andrew Roby dedicated itself to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s “Light the Night Walk,” raising $30,000 at its first annual “Pitchin’ Corn for a Cure” cornhole tournament. This year, not only has Andrew Roby upped its goal to $40,000 but Haston has been asked to serve as chairman of the 2009 “Light the Night Walk.”

“This is a cause we can hang our hat on,” says Haston.

By demonstrating its loyalty to the community, Andrew Roby hopes its customers will return the favor and be loyal for life. Its four divisions—handyman, remodeling/renovation, new construction and Roby Electric—prove that the company can handle any project from small fixes to renovating historic homes to building a custom single-family home.

But the company’s talent doesn’t stop there. It is also capable of constructing multi-family structures. A $3 million, four-unit townhome project, finished in early 2009, is a showcase of Andrew Roby’s ability to provide high quality aspects to more than just single-family homes. “We only want discerning customers who feel we are building their homes and not mass producing,” Haston explains.

Meanwhile, its remodeling and renovation division, has earned the company a new reputation as 2008 Regional Remodeler of the Year by the National Association of the Remodeling Industry as well as opened new possibilities, including the likelihood to expand geographically. Its recent renovation of 27 therapy clinics for Brookdale Senior Living, Inc., spanning from Charlotte to Raleigh, proved to the company that it could manage multiple projects ongoing throughout the state. Its goal now is to set up satellite locations so it can better service its clients who have vacation homes in other North Carolina locales.

To ensure that communication remains accessible, Andrew Roby is working on equipping all its superintendents with laptops in the field. It also hopes to have a webcam available on each site so a remote customer can view the progress being made on their home. “With technology and the proper people on staff you can give the customer comfort,” says Haston.

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