RBA Builders CEO Robert Anderson says the company’s north star is investing in its team, and employees who responded to the Top Workplaces survey gave it high praise for that very reason.
“RBA offers training and a career path that suits my desires,” one employee wrote in the anonymous 2023 Top Workplaces survey. “They are willing to invest in me and everyone at RBA. The benefit package as a whole is equal to or greater than larger companies in our same industry. People matter and they invest in people.”
The Fountain Valley company is a general contractor that focuses on commercial work, including the industrial, entertainment, educational, aerospace and medical fields.
Anderson created the company in February 2007, armed with a folding chair and table, after working for other general contractors.
“I gave notice on a Thursday, and by Monday I was incorporated, had my license, had an office and was doing business,” Anderson said. “It was literally that fast.”
Anderson said the company has extensive training in benefits. RBA Builders recently hired a leadership/management coach who spoke to every person individually in the company to understand their needs across generations.
“He’s helping us close that generational gap,” Anderson said. “He’s helping us as managers understand what those needs are.”
We spoke with Anderson about the company’s culture, and broadly how he viewed how the economy is looking for the construction industry headed into 2024 as it navigates challenges like high interest rates.
Q: Can you explain what it means for the company to value “Do The Right Thing Even When It Is Inconvenient?” How does that play into everyone’s day-to-day work?
Let me give you an example. When a subcontractor is struggling on a job, the owner is mad at the subcontractor. (The owner) wants us to kick them off. What we do is we try to keep the team cohesive. We’ll try to fix the problem and keep this subcontractor on board because it’s in the owner’s best interest, not just the subs or our best interest, but we try to look out for what’s best for everybody.
It’s sometimes the easy thing to do and I’ve worked for contractors that just say, ‘OK’ and they throw people to the side like they’re not valued. Doing the right thing, even when it’s inconvenient, is about valuing each other. It is about understanding that sometimes you need to do things that you just don’t want to do because it’s the right thing to do. And we do that across the board for our customers, for our associates, for our subcontractors, our professional partners, and our vendors.
Q: How’s it looking for the construction industry in 2024 economically?
It’s funny, I am not one that follows trends. My president does. My CFO had just gone to a seminar on financial forecasting. And the forecast from what I hear is a recession is coming and things are gonna start to tighten up.
I’ll tell you, in my view I am the eternal optimist, and the people that I’m talking to are seeing new and different opportunities coming. I don’t think it’ll be a booming year. I think it’ll be somewhat of a flat year, but it will be a different year.
For our markets, we won’t be doing stuff that we’re doing today. It will be the same clients, but it will be doing different types of work, and that’s still yet to be seen what it is.
Q: Do you feel rising construction costs are coming down?
I think they’re leveling out. You know, one thing that I do know, I’ve been doing this long enough, and in an election year, you never know what to expect. Elections do crazy things to our economy, to our business, to all of it.
There are some (costs) that are continuing to rise. Concrete is continuing to rise. That’s the one area where I do see it continuing to rise. The rest of it I see pretty much leveling out for the most part.
Q: How are you navigating the high-interest rate environment?
A: Yeah. It’s been tough. What’s happened is our customers have all gone to longer-term payments, because they’re holding on to cash, and they’re now earning money on their cash. So it has put a strain on us. Everybody’s a little gun-shy if you will.
We’ve seen some projects shelved because of the high interest rates. If a job was going to be financed, they shelved it. Luckily, we don’t have a ton of that, because we do a lot of work for a lot of blue-chip companies. But we do see it.
So yes, it is having an impact on us and the way we’re overcoming it is we’re creating stronger partnerships with our subcontractors base, our vendors, our banks, and our professional services. It’s all about partnership. We’re all in this together, and we know that.
RBA Builders
Founded: 2007
Headquarters: Fountain Valley
Industry: building construction
OC employees: 107
Website: rbabuildersinc.com
Quote: “Doing the right thing, even when it’s inconvenient, is about valuing each other.” — Robert Anderson, CEO of RBA Builders
