2018-04-09 - CEO Spotlight Todd Feldman

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Time out for a brand new segmentwe're going to be doing twice a month
here on PM Tampa Bay. It'sour CEO Spotlight where we feature different CEOs
in the Tampa Bay area to geta feel for how different businesses and industries
are doing in our community. Andjoining us for the very first CEO Spotlight
is Tom Feldman, CEO of H. E. Feldman and Sons. Tom,

(00:23):
How are you great? Great?It's Todd Feldman. Todd, Tod,
Todd Feldman, Todd Feldman, Thankyou so much for joining us.
So, first of all, tellus a little bit about the work that
you do in your industry. We'reactually a local building remodeling contractor and what
we do is we add on additionsand build custom homes in a Bay area.

(00:43):
Okay, and how did the companyget started? Well, actually,
my father started the company back innineteen seventy four as a building remodeling contractor
and he had the company for upuntil nineteen eighty seven. He passed away
way and I took it over fromthere. So you've been running this company

(01:03):
since nineteen eighty seven. Yes,sir, you guys have been around in
business for a really long time.You know, and as a local business,
you know, tell us a littlebit about how the industry has changed,
especially from when you took over backin nineteen eighty seven to now.
Well, the industry has changed alot. I mean there's obviously peaks and
valleys in the economy over the years, but the Bay Area has just grown

(01:27):
just leaps and bounds, and it'sjust amazing how much how many more people
are living here as just tremendous.And as a CEO, what are some
of your you know, day today responsibility more or less just coordinating the
jobs and making sure my guys aremaking the customers happen. Were you more

(01:53):
hands on in the very beginning?Yeah, yeah, I was one hundred
percent hands on in the beginning,and we've company has grown probably three times
over the period that I've had thecompany. How important do you think it
is to have that experience, thathands on experience from back in the day
as CEO? Now, uh,yeah, it's a definite must. I

(02:14):
mean, I can foresee what anyif there's anything problems are going to be
rising already, I could foresee them, so we can cut them off before
they happen. We're doing our CEOSpotlight here on PM Tampa Bay and Todd
Feldman from h Feldman and SUNS iswith us in the studio. You know,
in terms of the Tampa Bay areaand the industry the you're in,

(02:35):
I would assume this is a greatarea to be doing your kind of work
in just because of the growth thatwe're seeing, especially right now. Right.
Yeah, absolutely, the growth isit's just like I said before,
it's just gone grown, just keeps. It's just amazing to see all the
building and remodeling going on in thearea. What is the most challenging part
of the job that you do.I would say the most challenging part is

(03:02):
the customers. Is it us?So is typically going to be the customer,
Yes, it is, and justtrying to get them to make decisions
on what they want. There's justso many choices today that getting them to
make make those decisions is usually thebiggest hurdle. Delete let me ask you
this, how has Reality TV,those home improvement shows? How has that

(03:27):
affected what you do? Has therebeen any kind of an impact? I
mean, do people come in withthis idea that they've seen on TV and
then you have to say it,well, it's done exactly how it works
pretty much. I mean the biggestthing with them, they see it in
a half hour segment in something thatcould be you know, a four to
six month project, and they wantto know why we can't have it done
in you know, a few weeks. Right, So that's that's pretty much

(03:50):
the biggest thing that I hear fromclients. What has changed, especially you
know over the last decade. Hasthere been any part of the job that's
really changed in a big way thatyou have had to adjust to over at
eh Filman and Sons. Yeah,I would The Hurricane Andrew down in Miami
has changed the building regulations hugely towhere we're basically building now to one hundred

(04:12):
and fifty mile an hour winds capabilities, and it's it's changed a lot.
And the structural integrity that we haveto work with and the you know,
paperwork side of it and keeping upwith all the latest regulations and things like
that. I'm sure that's the funpart of the job for you, right,
and what you got in it for. Yeah, yeah, I mean,
the regular the paper trail that theycreate that we have to abide by.

(04:36):
It just it's seems like about everyyear or two they keep raising the
bar on it, so it justgets higher and higher the standards that we
have to abide by. And isthere anything about the Tampa Bay markets that
you're noticing these days? In particular, the prices mainly have have surged,

(04:58):
and that that's the largest thing thatI'm seeing right now. The cost of
goods and the actually the cost ofthe hot the cost of the materials to
build it, as well as thecost of the end product has gone up
significantly. Have you gone into ajob situation where you looked at it and
you said, this is going tobe interesting, whether it's an idea that

(05:24):
the customer had that they wanted orjust for whatever reason, whatever the factors
were, it was going to bean uphill climb. Well, it's mainly
just styles and that's changing and stuffthat's making coming back full circle, like
mid century moderns starting to take off. I saw it when I was in

(05:46):
the Vegas show back four or fiveyears ago, and now it's creeping its
way over to our this side ofthe country, and it's more challenging because
it's a different style of construction andpeople around here aren't quite used to it.
We're doing our sea CEO Spotlight withTodd Feldman, CEO from H Feldman
and Sons. They're builders and remodelershere in the Tampa Bay area. Where

(06:06):
can people find out more information aboutthe work that you guys do and and
see some of the examples of thethings that you've done before. They can
go to our website it's Chi Feldmandot com. We have several pictures and
of the work that we have doneover the past few years. I wish
that it took a lot more picturesearlier on before these websites were are popular,

(06:30):
but you know, we're trying tostay up to date with it.
Is there is there a home ora remodeling job or a business that really
stands out to you that you're extremelyproud of the work for whatever reason,
Maybe something that you guys did thatwas unique that stands out to you over
the course of your you know,long career from back when you took over
in nineteen eighty seven. Yeah,there's a several waterfront remodels that we've been

(06:55):
doing over the years that stand out. We've also I actually built the first
two trade your Joe's grocery stores inthe States. Those are very popular yeah
yeah, yeah, so you knowthat kind of stuff stands out. Todd
Feldman, CEO of H. E. Feldman and Sons. You can find
out more at H. E.Feldman dot com. Todd, thank you
for being our first guest on ourCEO Spotlight. Hey, thank you