Builders is a multi-faceted, family-owned firm based in Kearney, Nebraska with additional operations within the state and in neighboring Colorado. The company sells building materials, construction tools, and other wares, runs manufacturing facilities, and has big plans for the future.
Professional contractors make up the bulk of Builders’ clientele, followed by “homeowner/DIY customers and what I would call traditional retail customers who may be coming in to buy a power tool,” CEO and second-generation owner, Stacy Andersen-Bivona, tells us.
Clients at the company’s flagship Kearney store can select from an array of building materials such as roofing, lumber, drywall, fencing, decking, siding, paint, and doors and windows (everything from sliding windows and patio doors to casement windows, storm doors, garage doors, and more). Small appliances and kitchen wares are on offer as well, along with power tools and hand tools, and staff can create computer-generated drafting designs and provide assistance with estimating. The Kearney location also boasts a showroom where customers can inspect cabinets, countertops, lighting, and other home décor.
“Our showroom in Kearney has gotten an overwhelmingly positive response,” says Andersen-Bivona with pride.
A second Builders location, based in Grand Island, Nebraska, offers the same combination of building materials and products and a customer showroom. Grand Island is also home to Central States Component Systems, a Builders facility that manufactures roof and floor trusses, stairs, walls panels, and floor cassettes. Previously called Spelts Schultz Truss until a recent rebrand, products made by Central States are shipped nationwide.
Back in Kearney, a Builders business called Edge and Stone Countertops (formerly Spelts Schultz Countertops until it too was rebranded) manufactures custom countertops, while another company enterprise called Nebraska Installed Sales installs insulation and a Rocky Mountain State branch makes floor, roof, and wall systems. Builders Colorado, as the latter outfit is called, offers engineering and project design services as well. Across all segments, the company’s work is generally self-performed, while certain duties such as cabinetry and flooring installation are handled by trusted sub-contractors.
For a company with such a vast network of locations, products, and services, Builders’ origins are exceedingly humble. The firm owes its existence to Myron Andersen, Stacy’s father. Myron worked in construction throughout college but then found himself drafted into the U.S. military. It seemed he would have to serve a term as a soldier, but then active conscription ended in early 1973 and his draft status was revoked, and Myron decided to open his own construction firm in Kearney.
The budding entrepreneur attended a Texas conference hosted by motivational speaker and trainer Zig Ziglar and came away inspired. Author of several bestselling books, Ziglar stressed core principles applicable to businesses such as setting goals, planning, positivity, continuous learning, and helping others.
Motivated as he might have been, Myron Andersen soon butted up against some deep-rooted practices within the construction industry. He discovered that some building material suppliers in central Nebraska were “not being completely fair,” recalls Andersen-Bivona. These suppliers offered long-term customers competitive prices but charged different rates to new clientele.
Myron pondered the matter, then decided he would open his own building materials warehouse in Kearney. Established in 1977, the Payless Building Center, as it was originally called, catered solely to professional contractors at first. The young firm operated on a shoe-string budget from a 2,000-square-foot retail/office space and an adjoining 8,000-square-foot delivery yard. There were only four employees in the beginning, and a somewhat less-than-state-of-the-art vehicle fleet.
“[My father] had a World War II flatbed truck. They would jump-start it in the morning and he would never turn it off during the day, because he was never sure if they could get it going again,” shares Andersen-Bivona.
The business met with success, however, and quickly outgrew its original location. The company moved into bigger digs in 1985 and the corporate name was eventually changed to Builders Warehouse. During the 1980s, the firm also expanded its clientele beyond just contractors.
The 1990s marked a period of rapid growth, with the opening of the Grand Island design center/showroom and a series of corporate acquisitions. During this decade, Builders purchased two manufacturing firms: the aforementioned Spelts Schultz Countertops in Kearney and Spelts Schultz Truss in Grand Island. In 2008, Builders Colorado—featuring a lumberyard and manufacturing plant—was opened in Denver. This branch was also a success, and moved to Aurora, Colorado in 2016, where it remains to this day.
Builders, as the firm is now known, currently employs about 400 people across all segments. Stacy and her brother, Chad Andersen, are co-owners of the company along with their father. Chad also serves as President of the Board of Directors and is a leading salesperson for the firm in Colorado. Myron, for his part, is officially retired but keeps very busy.
“He just stepped down recently as the Chairman of our Board of Directors and remains a member of the board and very active,” says Andersen-Bivona. “He still lives here in Kearney. We’ll see him coming through the Kearney [location], whether it be in our contractors’ office or through the store—shaking hands, talking to customers. He loves it. The company is him. It’s very near and dear to his heart.”
Given the ownership structure of Builders, it’s no surprise that the company culture “is very family-oriented… We take care of our team and take care of our customers. We value our team members’ time [and the importance of] work and family balance,” she continues. “I would also say we’re a Christian-based company. A lot of times… at our top management meetings, a board of directors’ meeting, and some of our large team gatherings, it would be normal to open with prayer.”
This people-centered ethos extends beyond just staff and clients. Builders also forges close relationships with its vendors, an approach that benefited the firm greatly during the COVID pandemic. Having strong bonds with suppliers meant “we didn’t have the impact that some other people had in the industry,” when the virus closed businesses and sparked price hikes and supply chain chaos.
In the same spirit, Builders routinely participates in community and charitable endeavors, offering support to schools, veterans, and first responders in particular. The firm donates 10 percent of its profits each year to various philanthropic causes.
“We are very involved in the community. I serve on the Board of Directors for the local Chamber of Commerce. We have other people in the company—management and supervisory figures—that also contribute or volunteer for boards,” says Andersen-Bivona.
Successful as Builders has been, the company has faced its share of challenges. “Along with everybody else in our industry [we’ve been] chasing the fluctuations in the lumber and building materials markets—navigating that ebb and flow.”
Recruiting talent is another industry-wide issue that has impacted the firm. Across North America, skilled tradespeople are reaching retirement age and insufficient numbers of young people are entering these professions to replace them. To remedy this situation, Builders places a strong emphasis on retention: “We’re trying to strengthen our bench. When we do get an entry-level person in the door, we want to grow [with] them. That is always our goal,” states Andersen-Bivona.
To retain and support its employees, Builders offers ongoing training and a personal touch. The company also has ties to local high schools and universities and uses these connections to encourage young people to join the firm. The University of Nebraska in Kearney offers courses in construction management and interior design, which gives Builders access to “fantastic people that are coming right out of the universities after graduation,” Andersen-Bivona tells us.
Going forward, recruitment could become even more important as the firm continues to grow—but it’s a good problem to have. Builders is updating its Grand Island showroom and considering enhancing its Colorado operations. “We’ve had some Colorado custom home builders who have been to our Nebraska location. [They say,] ‘I love that you can get absolutely everything you need to do a custom home or to build a home all through one supplier. We want to work with you in Colorado.’”
Options include establishing a design center in Aurora, either by buying an existing firm or constructing a new site from the ground up, and there have also been discussions about expanding the company’s brick-and-mortar presence into other states. Given the wide reach of Builders’ distribution network, the groundwork for such a move has already been laid.
Thanks to “relationships that we’ve built up over time with contractors,” the firm is often “the first on the list for supplying materials—trusses specifically” to companies based as far afield as Rhode Island and Montana, says Andersen-Bivona. “We have a plan of growth. We have our one-year, three-year, and five-year strategic plans that are in place. Growth and diversification into some additional services is [a focus],” she continues.
Within a few years, she forecasts that the company “will have expanded beyond our two state borders. In five years, we should be strongly within five markets for sure.”
