A Known Entity

A Known Entity

COMPANIES by Janet Leiser | Senior Editor

Some people say you shouldn't sweat the small stuff. Not Alan Bomstein. The founder of Clearwater-based Creative Contractors Inc. says: "If you worry about the little things, the big things always work out."

Over 31 years, Bomstein has built his general contracting business into one of the largest and most successful firms in the Tampa Bay area. The 61-employee company will complete commercial construction projects of about $70 million this year, while 2006 sales (contracts signed) are expected to exceed $100 million.

Bomstein, a Baltimore native who moved to Florida in 1973 to work for Charles Rutenberg at U.S. Home Corp., adheres to other seemingly simple rules: Satisfy your customers above all else. Keep your subcontractors and hence, your customers happy. Always do the right thing. Always tell the truth. And be kind, even when you say no.

Bomstein, 60, started his business after leaving a job as marketing director at U.S. Home, which was then the largest homebuilder in the United States, he says, adding: "It was the corporate mentality and I wasn't at home in it. I'm a hands-on kind of person."

In late 1974, the housing market, especially in Pinellas County, was slow, he says. With about 7,000 condos on the market, Bomstein decided on commercial construction.

His foray coincided with the opening of the two-story Countryside Mall, which was being built by U.S. Home. He submitted bids to tenants to finish the retail stores for them, and was rejected 14 times over about six months.

Then he won one bid. Within a month, he'd won eight more.

"I figured out how to do it," he says. "And the subcontractors suddenly paid attention to me after I won one. I was an unknown entity to the subcontractors. They didn't know who I was. They didn't know if they were ever going to get paid."

Through an electrical subcontractor, Bomstein got out word that he had a $20,000 line of credit and he'd pay on time.

"If you're a subcontractor, your biggest fear is getting dragged out on payment," Bomstein says. "I've always lived by that, even today. I tell our folks: Make sure the subs get paid on time, and don't ever take a sub whose price is too low ... because he's going to lose money and not perform well."

The underlying mantra of his business, he says, is "be good to the subs. If you're good to the subs, they're going to make you look good in the end."

No quick fix

Creative Contractors manages commercial projects from design to completion. The firm, which doesn't usually take on projects of less than $2 million, employs primarily supervisors, from superintendents to project managers to executives. All the construction work, from plumbing to electrical, is done by subcontractors.

"There's no magic to the construction industry," Bomstein says. "But I preach a high breed of ethics. I get very upset if I find one of our folks doesn't live up to that. Our reputation is the foundation of our success."

The company isn't the cheapest, nor is it the fastest, he says, adding: "Clients aren't looking for that. They're looking for someone to give them good service ... someone they know isn't going to screw them down the line somewhere."

He declined to discuss the firm's profit margin. But he says Creative Contractors has made money most years, especially in the last decade. And even in the bad years, it never really lost money.

"I never try to worry about the bottom line," he says. "The bottom line will take care of itself if I worry about doing everything right. If you get too focused on protecting your profits, you'll lose your reputation somewhere along the way."

The firm recently opened offices in Sarasota and Lakeland, where it already has existing customers, including Lakeland Regional Medical Center.

A former Mr. Clearwater, Bomstein has received recognition for his civic work, including membership in the Tampa Bay Business Hall of Fame. He has served on more than 50 boards through the years. He's presently on the boards of the Fifth Third Bank of Florida, Baycare Health System, Moffitt/Morton Plant Cancer Care, the University of South Florida Foundation and Morton Plant Mease Health Care, to name a few. He's also chair of the Pinellas County Charter Review Commission, a group that supports giving more power to the county.

Clearwater attorney Lou Kwall, who has known Bomstein for about 20 years and also serves on the charter review commission, describes him as a good-hearted guy.

"A lot of people serve on commissions and such, because as my mother used to say so they'll have a good obit," Kwall says. "Alan is on them because he truly cares."

New generation

Over the years, Bomstein rarely took time off from work. He decided that had to change. About eight years ago, he began grooming upper management to run the company without him. He took his first two-week vacation about six years ago.

In the late 1980s, the firm hired Alan Holderith, then a new University of Florida graduate, for the estimating department. After a few years, Holderith told Bomstein he wanted to return to UF to obtain an M.B.A. Bomstein offered to pay his way - if he promised to return to Creative Contractors upon his return. He agreed.

Today, Holderith, who graduated first in his class, is chief financial officer and senior vice president.

"One by one I handed off the responsibilities to him," Bomstein says. "This was long before I had any idea Josh was going to come into the business."

The youngest of Bomstein's two children, Joshua Bomstein, now 30, joined the company about 18 months ago as business development manager. He is expected to take over for his father in another five or six years. His oldest brother, David Bomstein, is in the healthcare industry.

Alan Bomstein says he expects a smooth transition - when the time comes. He'll retain majority ownership, at least for a while.

Joshua Bomstein says he's glad to be part of a team and not on his own: "If it was the other way, I'd be scared out of my mind," he adds. "The idea would be to continue to grow the company on the foundation it's on."

How to Build Quality

Creative Contractors Inc. President Alan Bomstein's first quality initiative revolved around one of the biggest problems in Florida construction: Leaky buildings and mold.

"We came to the conclusion that all buildings in Florida leak eventually," he says. "With the best-intentioned architect and best-intentioned design somehow, we'll get that call four, five, six or seven years later that there's a leak."

And there's no easy answer to the problem since Creative Contractors never builds the same building twice.

But about eight years ago, the company began holding workshops each time the envelope of a building is completed with the subcontractors and architect design team. They go through the drawings page-by-page discussing potential leaks or problems. Over the years, the firm has put together a manual that includes tips from previous workshops.

"Subcontractors will suddenly start talking to each other," Bomstein says. "And before you know we've suddenly found a better mousetrap."

The company's most recent quality initiative, started several years ago, is the quest for a zero punch list - those items that need to be fixed after the completion of a project.

Most everyone told Bomstein it wasn't possible to eliminate the punch lists, which he says are "a major pain in the butt."

The firm developed a red zero punch logo it posts throughout the work sites. And it gives a $25 Outback Steakhouse certificate to workers who reach the goal, and it pays the subcontractor that complies, even if Creative Contractors hasn't received payment.

Guess what?

On some projects, what would have been a 40-page list has been cut by two-thirds.

"I know we'll never have zero punch in some areas," he says. "But if we've cut it in half, we've made a huge dent."