Estimator Clint Whitman
Plaskoff Construction
Tarzana, Calif.
Company owner and president Matt Plaskoff didn’t think he’d ever find a good estimator. “It’s the most difficult position to fill in a construction company. No question,” he says. A great estimator melds “a big-picture, result-oriented, production-type mentality with a narrow-focused, task-oriented individual.” During the past 18 years, Plaskoff has tried “training people without experience, training people with sales experience, training bean counters. Nothing worked.” But 2 years ago, he found Clint Whitman, whom he calls “as close to the perfect candidate” as he could find.
After 20 years in the industry, Whitman has wide experience ranging from construction to sales and estimating. “I’ve seen everything,” the enthusiastic Whitman says. “When people look at drywall, they see paint. I look through it and see the foundation under the wall. I have a good sense of visualization and can walk through a house and understand it.”
That knowledge makes its way to a 790-line-item template and then to a detailed estimate of 20 to 30 pages. Yet Whitman never gets too caught up in figuring that he “can’t close the deal,” Plaskoff says. “He balances quality with speed.” Whitman is also able to communicate his findings to everyone from vendors and carpenters to the company owner and clients.
Just as Plaskoff had hoped, Whitman’s hands-on experience and business acumen give him great success at hitting the numbers: About 90% of the time, Whitman is within 5% of his preliminary budget.
To keep everything organized and under control, he says a mentor taught him to see a project “like a pygmy eating an elephant —one bite at a time.”
Interior Designer and Head of Interior Design Department Kary Ewalt
Anthony Wilder Design/Build
Cabin John, Md.
After 25 years as an interior designer, 11 of them on her own, Kary Ewalt felt the need to be around more people and have more variety. So she answered an ad in an ASID (American Society of Interior Designers) newsletter and hit it off immediately with Anthony and Liz Wilder, owners of a high-end residential design/build company in the Washington, D.C., metro market.
Ewalt brings years of experience, extensive product knowledge, great multi-tasking skills, and a lot of patience to her work. Her job requires that she is be diplomatic with clients and respects their wishes, while gently guiding them toward timeless — “not trendy,” she says — design that is within their budget. “It’s important to do up-front interviews,” says Ewalt, who takes copious notes on every job.. “Everyone wants it to work out well and to have fun with it.”
Anthony Wilder Design/Build projects average $700,000 to $800,000. There may be a 500-item list for a $4 million project, Anthony Wilder says. Ewalt strives to get every detail — including interior finishes for floors, walls, and cabinetry, as well as plumbing, lighting, and electrical fixtures —selected before construction begins. She, along with two assistants — one design, one administrative — works simultaneously on 30 projects in various stages.
Although Ewalt is not responsible for selling, her selections work almost inevitably leads to interior design consultations on everything from sofa fabrics to draperies to artwork. A good listener who can clearly convey her clients’ needs to others in the company, Ewalt is grateful for the support of the team and recognizes that everyone is always under deadline pressure.
“If someone at a jobsite shouts at me over the phone,” she says, “I have to take care of it right away because he’s probably up on a ladder trying to figure something out.”
Project Manager Mike Mackison
D.G. Liu Contractor
Dickerson, Md.
If company owner Jerry Liu had anything negative to say about Mike Mackison, it would be that Mackison worries more about projects than he does. “I have to protect Mike from Mike,” Liu says, “to ensure he doesn’t let projects interfere with his personal life.”
Mackison agrees with his boss, but he loves his job and believes it’s up to him to “manage the crews and make things easier for them so they enjoy work more,” which leads to a better, more profitable company for all.
Mackison came to Liu as a carpenter’s helper 15 years ago while still in college. When he graduated, with a degree in biology and environmental management, he wanted a job right away and liked working with his hands. “I like the feel of a project coming from nothing to a structure,” Mackison says.
He eventually became a carpenter, then a lead carpenter, and, once Liu dropped that system, he saw Mackison as a natural project manager.
Although Mackison misses hands-on carpentry, he likes the daily challenges of being a project manager. When he doesn’t know something, he researches it. He’s forthcoming with suggestions for improvements and will stand up to Liu on things he’s passionate about. “We don’t hold [Mike’s] hand for a blessed thing,” Liu says. “He’s meticulous.”
Mackison is the main contact with clients, negotiating change orders and collecting payments. He is in charge of the siding, trim, and framing specialty crews. His organizational skills and detail-oriented nature help him handle four or five jobs at the same time. In terms of leadership, his hands-on construction knowledge gives him street cred, and the crews know him as easygoing yet demanding. Liu says, “A nonperforming trade contractor has every reason to fear Mike.”