Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
You've heard me say many times that the Houston Business
Journal does extraordinarily good work. If you are not a subscriber,
I highly recommend it. I read the Houston Business Journal
every week. I don't always get to read every article
in there. I think they do a much better job
than the Houston Chronicle at telling you what's going on
(00:22):
in our community, particularly as it relates to business and trends,
and they have for a very long time. I was
friends with John Beto back when he was the publisher
of the paper, and then when it changed hands. I've
talked to them over the years about a partnership. I've
talked to them about ways I can help them more
(00:42):
and they can help me, And how they can help
me is more introductions to business leaders because I like
to have folks on our show. We are very much
in the throes of an election right now, which means
we're talking election stuff government stuff all day every day.
But I've alway said I don't just want to be
a political show. I want to be a variety show.
(01:04):
And one of the things that I find very interesting
is business leaders.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
Now.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
I have put the word out over the years that
I would love to talk to more business leaders. And
I find that with the really big companies, particularly public companies,
they want no part of a conversation, even though I
don't intend to talk politics. They just kind of keep
their head down. They don't want anything to do with that.
But when you get the really entrepreneurial type companies, they
(01:34):
love to tell their story. They're evangelical about telling their story.
So the Houston Business Journal does something every year called
the Fast fifty, and it's the fifty companies that have
had the greatest year over year growth over a two
year period in the region. So I used to reach
out to all the companies not on this list, but
on the other lists, and they would never respond, and
(01:57):
I think they probably thought I was trying to sell
them something, which is everybody else is trying to sell
them something.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
So fine, But.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
I just posted on Facebook and said, hey, here's this list.
If you know anybody on this list that would be
interested in telling their story. I find these stories fascinating.
The Fast fifty is much more a list and a
group of folks that are getting some real success and
(02:23):
it's happening quickly. They're very entrepreneurial in nature. One of
the things I noticed on that list, and this says
a lot about what's going on in our economy is
how many of them were in the construction industry in
one way or another. And that is number eight on
the list. Corvus Construction. Will Thornton is their president.
Speaker 3 (02:44):
Welcome to the show, sir, Hey Michael, good morning.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
Do you having Why do you think it is that
there are so many construction companies on this list?
Speaker 3 (02:57):
Construction has uh, I mean it comes in waves. I
mean it's a it's a whole lot of it, or
or none at all. So we have, you know, years
of growth, and then we have years of trying to
figure out how to keep these guys busy. We developed
these these teams, and you cannot be in business without
(03:17):
the right team behind you. So we spent a lot
of time just trying to figure out ways to uh
to keep our folks busy and uh and then of
course stay in front of the work and find those opportunities.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
Well, what I find interesting is if if it's not
just you, if you were the only construction company booming,
it might just be that y'all are really really good
at what you do and uniquely, you know, you might
have a specialized industry. But if several folks in your
industry are doing well, that's a good sign for growth
and development in our region. What are you seeing? I
(03:55):
know that y'all do industrial warehouses. What do you think
is driving all this?
Speaker 3 (04:00):
Is?
Speaker 1 (04:00):
This is not nationwide growth? What's driving it here in Houston?
Speaker 3 (04:07):
You know, the market has certainly changed. You know, people
are are investing in industrial buildings right now. That is
that is for us, you know, so I mean our customers.
You know, they are investing their money into industrial buildings,
and we are, you know, trying to to keep up
with them, and and and then of course you know
(04:29):
we are offering them different services. But the industrial warehouse
boom has been very strong.
Speaker 4 (04:38):
In Houston.
Speaker 3 (04:39):
And uh, you know we do have you know, slow
downs and dips, but uh, you know, the demand is there.
We certainly think that it's a that our customer sees
it as a as a strong study investment.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
Let's talk about what exactly y'all do if if you
get the call, what why does somebody call Corbus?
Speaker 4 (05:03):
What?
Speaker 2 (05:03):
What? What project do they need done?
Speaker 1 (05:05):
I noticed your your h your tagline is Corpus Construction
on on.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
Time, on budget.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
But if somebody calls you what what is most likely
that what what is the one sweet spot that you're
most likely to be doing?
Speaker 3 (05:20):
Uh for our customer. We will do anything for our customer.
I mean, we build the warehouse, we build out the
in tiers, we have the service department that uh that
services those in tiers, and and and and and the
maintenance and the capital improvements. But if you're one of
our customers, you know, we don't want to only do
a little.
Speaker 4 (05:39):
Bit of your work.
Speaker 3 (05:40):
We want to do all of it.
Speaker 4 (05:41):
And do all of it very well.
Speaker 3 (05:42):
So I think what's unique about about what we do
is that we uh, you know, we try to pick
up every call. We are there for for our customers.
You know, early in the prim in the primary budgeting
part of it, we are I mean, I mean my
father he liked to to to tell me, regardless of
(06:05):
the size, treat every project with the same urgency and
uh and when there's a problem, you attacked the problem
without blinking. And I mean that has been our success.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
So you grew up in the business, yes.
Speaker 3 (06:20):
Sir, Yes, sir, I should have my father and and
and my wife's Steve and Sara and Sarah Thornton. Here
we we run the business together.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
So did your did your dad start the business?
Speaker 5 (06:39):
Actually, the business was started and and Michael, this is Steve,
good morning. Uh, the business was started by Trammel Pro Company.
And there's a long, convoluted story about how that happened.
But I was actually hired by them to run the company,
(07:03):
and fairly soon thereafter purchased it from Trammel Pro Company.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
And how long ago was that?
Speaker 5 (07:13):
My higher date was January first, nineteen ninety two, and
I purchased a company in ninety four.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
It would be my dream. I won't tell them they
need to do it.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
I don't push them to it, but if that was
how it turned out, it would be my dream that
my sons, who are presently seventeen and eighteen, would want
to join me in my business and that we could
work together all the way.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
I think that is.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
I see that a lot of restaurant families do that.
I see that, and I think it is you get
to spend time together. I know it's hard, but you
get to spend time together in a way that's very hard.
If you have different if you have different jobs in
different places, you know it's not all positive and it
can create you know, some difficulty and maybe some awkwardness
(08:04):
at Thanksgiving on occasion, but that would be my dream
is to get to do that whole with me. For
just a moment, we're talking to Will Thornton of Courvis Construction.
If you are not a Houston Business Journal subscriber, I
think you can still go on and find.
Speaker 2 (08:19):
The Fast fifty.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
It's interesting to see what industries the guys are in
that are seeing great success right now in construction.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
This one in particular.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
There are several companies on there which I think boes
well for our region.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
More committed one.
Speaker 6 (08:36):
Is the day of everyone thinking they could actually live
the American True.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
The Michael Berry Show. Will Thornton is our guest.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
They are number eight on the Fast fifty with the
Houston Business Journal, and Will Thornton is the president of
the company.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
His whole family works there. Will.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
I can't help but notice you have a stutter, and
yet you have absolutely no fear doing an interview.
Speaker 3 (09:02):
Honestly, I think my stutter made me a great salesman.
I used to bother me when I was younger. It
was it was the you know something that I hated
doing when when when I was younger, I believe that
people that are successful that you take a weakness and
you turn it into into something good.
Speaker 4 (09:26):
People they trust me.
Speaker 3 (09:28):
I think that maybe that stutter is a part of
it that they see that I.
Speaker 4 (09:33):
Don't have a big ego.
Speaker 3 (09:34):
I'm not super proud. You can talk to me, you know,
you know, take something and make it good, take everything
and make it good.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
Well.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
What I find interesting about that is there were other
people in the company who could have done the interview,
and you stepped up and did it. If you told me, Michael,
this year I added three hundred million dollars to the
company's bottom line, I would be less impressed by that
than the fact that you stepped up said yep, I'll
(10:05):
do the interview for our company. You had to know
that at some point in the conversation. This is radio,
which is a lot harder if you're in person. You
can use your hands to get to get a sentence finished,
and you're not the first person I've told this to.
It's just something that I deeply admire for you to
do that and know that at some point in the interview,
I'm gonna go humhm, this guy's got a stutter, and
(10:27):
not everybody deals with that very well I have. I mean,
I could not tip a bigger hat to you. I
admire that so much, I really do. And I've said
this to many people who if they call in callers,
know that if you call our show and you have
a stutter, you're getting a little extra time and a
little extra pat on the back.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
Because that's brave.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
Like that would be like me trying to get out
in the middle of the floor and dance and everybody
what because I cannot dance, and yet just saying, you
know what, I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna I'm gonna
push through and do it. Did you say there was
a young lady there with you? Is she she's part
of the group too.
Speaker 3 (11:05):
Yes, Sarah here she's in charge of kicking her but
every day.
Speaker 7 (11:08):
That's how I want to And what's her.
Speaker 6 (11:13):
Vice president and council?
Speaker 1 (11:14):
Okay, So so she's the lawyer and that's Sarah. Is
that Sarah with an H or no age?
Speaker 7 (11:21):
Okay?
Speaker 2 (11:22):
With an age with an H?
Speaker 4 (11:23):
Ramon? All right?
Speaker 1 (11:24):
And then we got Will he's the president. Then we
got Jock ewing A ka Steve, he's the.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
Dad, he's this is he the CEO?
Speaker 4 (11:35):
Oh?
Speaker 1 (11:36):
Yes, okay, and then was there one more?
Speaker 4 (11:40):
No judge the three of us Okay, yeah and there Uh.
Speaker 5 (11:44):
They do have the next generation though they've got a
ten year old and a six year old.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
Start them early.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
My boys have been coming into our studio recording with me,
hanging out with Ramon and Ramone's boys come here. In fact,
during the summer, they spend every day with us here
and they're coming in and out and we make them
record stuff. And the earlier you can start young kids.
(12:12):
I ask people all the time when I meet their kids,
I will say, what does your mom do for a living?
And she might be the head of a law firm
and they have no idea, And I scold them on
that because your kids need to understand. Guess what that
trip to the theme park and those clothes you buy
and the house you live in that has to be
paid for somehow? Understand what you do? Will let me
(12:34):
go back to you. I spoke to Mueller, Inc. Which
is one of my show sponsors. They're in the steel
building business. They fabricate stell buildings, and he said that
they are just booming right now. I spoke to him
a couple of days ago and he said they're booming
right now, and he said a lot of this was
pent up demand and the thought that Trump might win
(12:57):
has caused people to say, you know what, if Trump wins,
the floodgates open and we're not able to get stuff
for months. So people are on that bet starting to
open up the lower fifty basis points down in the
in the interest rates, several things working together. Well, how
much of what you're seeing in y'all's business is because
(13:19):
of is because the economy looks to be turning around
if Trump wins, versus interest rates versus just long standing
clients that just happened to be building something right now.
I'm trying to get a sense of where that demand
is coming from.
Speaker 3 (13:36):
Sure, yes, I mean so we see you know, different
sides of it, you know, doing the interiors there there
there's also a lot of a renewal work that that
that happens. Regardless, my customers are starting to build against
I mean, I mean over the last year, you know,
(13:56):
everyone did slow down. There was a lot of uncertainty.
The interest rates did you know, kind of squeeze the
margin out of out of being able to develop a
building and make any money. We we we are hoping
to see you know, more growth in the manufacturing US.
(14:18):
Being in Texas and in Houston has has been very
good to us. We've been seeing a lot of companies
from out of Texas, you know, coming here, very very
interested in investing their their money here. It's a little
bit of a it's very much of a mixed bag.
It's not coming from from from one source of revenue.
(14:42):
But we certainly do see the momentum right now, and
we are hoping for a very business friendly UH leadership.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
Talk about UH hiring, talk about employees, because that seems
to be for a lot of folks, the restaurant industry especially,
but everybody. Hiring skilled labor seems to be the biggest
challenge to growth right now.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
Hiring skilled labor is very difficult right now for.
Speaker 4 (15:17):
Us to do what we do.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
We decided many years ago that we had to control
the labor. So we actually have a self performed arm
of the business that where we're running you know, one
hundred and to to one hundred and fifty hourly guys
for our self performed work. And the reason why we
have to, you know, to to do that as opposed
to summon it out, is that If you don't have
(15:40):
control of the labor, you cannot control the speed of
a project.
Speaker 4 (15:44):
You cannot control the quality of a project.
Speaker 3 (15:46):
When you need to to get labor quickly, it's too late.
So so so you have to to always be hiring,
always be be building your labor force. We are trying to,
you know, train up some of the of the young
(16:06):
foreman to take uh bigger positions in the company. I
mean those will become our future superintendents and then and
then and then and then and then our project managers.
But labor is the most difficult and expensive part of
this business.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
And where do you find that labor?
Speaker 3 (16:29):
I'll find them. A lot of it is word of mouth.
If I talk to any subcontractor during the day, I'm
always asking them who who is good?
Speaker 4 (16:39):
Who who might be looking? Uh.
Speaker 3 (16:42):
We have a lot of a lot of folks that
will start through a third party group and and we'll
see if they are a good fit for us, and
then then we will hire them out.
Speaker 4 (16:53):
All right.
Speaker 3 (16:54):
We have a lot of people that have also come
to work with with with their family, and a lot
a lot of young guys that have come to work
for for their family. So in the in the field
side of it. You know, we have several, uh general,
several generations of of a skilled labor coming out of
(17:18):
the field and and we very much encourage that, and
we very much you know, try to pair our more
skilled u foreman with some of the lesser skilled entry
level guys that we see potential in and then and
then we will give them their own crews.
Speaker 2 (17:39):
Hole with me for just a moment.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
We're talking to Will Thornton, the president of Corbus Construction,
Steve Thornton, the CEO, and Sarah Thornton with an H. Ramon,
the vice president and council Corbus Construction number eight on
the Houston Business Journals Fast fifty.
Speaker 2 (17:56):
More with them, Joe Biden became mentally impaired.
Speaker 7 (18:00):
The Michael Berry.
Speaker 5 (18:01):
Kamala was born.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
That way, We're talking to the Triumvirent that leads Corvis Construction,
which came out number eight on the Fast fifty Houston
Business Journals list of the fifty companies seeing the greatest
year over year return for.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
Two solid years.
Speaker 1 (18:21):
And Corvis Construction is in industrial warehouses and interiors of warehouses.
Will we were taught Will Thornton is the president. Will
we were talking about labor and particularly the skills, the vocations,
the trades. What are you find in the most trouble
(18:42):
attracting right now? I'm assuming y'all sub a lot of
that out. But when you're looking for where to get
things done, which tends to be the one that brings
you the most difficulty, the greatest challenge, which trade?
Speaker 4 (18:56):
Sure?
Speaker 3 (18:57):
I mean what I mean this may not be across
the word for everyone, but when we struggle with are
are our highly skilled dry wall.
Speaker 4 (19:07):
Foreman? Uh?
Speaker 3 (19:08):
Those those those are the type that can lead crews.
I mean I mean that that that can lead you know,
ten twenty people on the job site who can do
do do do the layout very very very precisely. The
guys that that could run production uh uh track costs? Uh,
(19:29):
you know, maintained that at the the production rates that
we went and into our price with guys that can do,
you know, very high quality work and do it quickly.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
Well, let me ask you this. I never heard of
supply chain being a degree that you can get in school.
But it sounds like Sarah, at least of the three
of you, isn't Aggie maybe more I'm not is she
I am? I figured I figured with the howdies you
must be where do you do you do you hire
(20:06):
these kids straight out of school? Or where do you
find the folks that understand project management in this sort
of thing.
Speaker 3 (20:15):
We we would prefer to hire guys out of school
that that have not been contaminated and do not have
the ego that a lot of that a lot of
folks do coming out of really you know, big companies.
We we want guys that that can hustle. We want
guys that can follow up. We want guys that can
(20:37):
be persistent and I can teach them anything if if
they can have those simple qualities.
Speaker 1 (20:44):
So for parents out there, Will Thornton is the president
of Corvus Construction. They were number eight on the Houston
Business Journals Fast fifty of fast growing companies. For parents
out there who have a kid, boy or girl who's
a teenager and they say, you know, I could see
this being something my son or daughter grows up to do.
(21:04):
What would you encourage people you all have kids between
you there, what would you encourage parents to start teaching
kids in their teenage years and for young people to
start developing skills.
Speaker 3 (21:15):
In any type of actual work. I mean if they could,
if if your kid likes to build something, such as
there and mine, I mean, I mean my six, my
my my ten year old who at age six started welding.
They kid loves to build stuff. I don't know if
(21:36):
he's going to be the one that we send off
to college, but I'm certainly going to be uh encouraging
him to uh to come on board, uh and build
out his own spot.
Speaker 4 (21:48):
But uh, kids.
Speaker 3 (21:49):
That that enjoy being outside, that enjoy uh uh making
things happen, accomplishing something. I mean, it's as if you
can teach them how to finish something, you know, finish
a day's work, and I mean they can and come
(22:10):
back and do it again and again and again until
they see something built and see something that they're very
proud of.
Speaker 4 (22:16):
I strongly encourage that.
Speaker 1 (22:19):
Steve Thornton is the CEO of Corpus Construction. Steve, when
you were growing up, if I'd asked you when you
were eighteen what you wanted, what you were going to
be when you were fifty, what would.
Speaker 2 (22:29):
You have said?
Speaker 5 (22:33):
At eighteen? Let's see, my first major in college was
marine biology that lasted through the first field trip down
to the Florida Keys. My second major was physics and
(22:56):
that lasted maybe a semester, and then I went into
construction management with an emphasis on construction and surveying. I
thought I wanted to be a land surveyor until I
graduated and saw the economic benefits of going the other
(23:21):
way and going into actual construction instead of surveying.
Speaker 2 (23:25):
Where'd you go to school?
Speaker 5 (23:29):
Southern Technical College in Marietta, Georgia?
Speaker 1 (23:33):
And did you so? Did you start there with marine biology?
They had marine biology there?
Speaker 2 (23:39):
Transfer?
Speaker 5 (23:40):
No, I transferred. My mother was She was an English
professor and was very insistent that if we went out
of state we go to a private college, and if
we went in state, it had to be as a
state school. So I actually started at a little school
(24:06):
called Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida, and quickly found
out that I was one of the very few, if
not the only, kid without a trust fund waiting.
Speaker 2 (24:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (24:25):
Yeah, I had to go learn how to do.
Speaker 1 (24:27):
Something that's always kind of kind of an awkward moment.
Speaker 2 (24:33):
What brought you to Houston work?
Speaker 5 (24:38):
After I graduated, I got a job in a place
called East Lake, Ohio, which is on Lake Erie, and
that's the one and only lake I've ever seen freeze
so I got a call from a headhunter who said,
(25:00):
would you like to interview for a job in Pasadena,
which immediately it's out California, and it's now it's in Texas.
But I had two older brothers who were here in
the war business, and so I took the interview to
come get a free weekend to come hang out with them,
(25:23):
and enjoyed it so much that I accepted the job,
knowing that it would be a short term.
Speaker 2 (25:31):
Pull with me right there, just get me here.
Speaker 1 (25:33):
The Thornton family are the triumvirant leadership of Corvis Construction,
number eight on the Houston Business Journals Fast fifty.
Speaker 5 (25:39):
More than we will restore the American republican.
Speaker 6 (25:45):
Your support, we will make America powerful again.
Speaker 1 (25:51):
Will, I'm going to go back to you and ask
you the question. Will Thornton is the president of Corvis Construction.
They were number eight on the Houston Business Journals Fast
fifty companies that are seeing explosive growth Right now. When
you guys are looking to hire for people out there
considering a career change, I know you'd like to hire
(26:13):
kids straight out of college. The law firms take the
same approach. They want to be able to teach you
from the earliest stages. But for people out there looking
and saying, and I say this all the time, get
out of retail, get into things that you don't think about,
things that you don't interrupt, interact with the warehouses, the
(26:33):
commercial construction. These types of businesses have a lot more
money to pay you in a lot more upside. But
when you talk to folks out there that are looking
to make a career change, what kind of people are
y'all hiring right now as lateral hires, as folks that
are leaving, And how do they make that happen?
Speaker 4 (26:53):
Is it? Sure? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (26:56):
I mean I like to hire people that I like.
I like to hire people that are persistent. I mean
sometimes I'll hire people without even knowing where they're going
to go.
Speaker 4 (27:08):
But I but, but, but but but but.
Speaker 3 (27:11):
I know they called me twenty times and and they
text me every other day, and they really want the job.
And I mean those are the you know type of
guys that I'll find a spot for them. We we
know how to keep.
Speaker 8 (27:23):
People busy and and we know we need yeah, yes, yeah,
we we know we need good people and uh and
you know skill set, I don't don't I don't really.
Speaker 4 (27:34):
You know, stress out about that. I I like guys
that that that that can follow up.
Speaker 3 (27:39):
Sometimes, you know, all we do all day long is
solve problems and and and to solve a problem, there
may not be a way to do it. So I
want guys that will just come on board and help me.
Speaker 4 (27:52):
Figure that out.
Speaker 3 (27:53):
Sometimes you got to call the city thirty times in
one day to make them happen. Sometimes you got to
call a subcontractor twenty times in a day to make
something happen. There's always an excuse, and we want guys
to overcome that.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
I served on city council from one to seven, and
I was very quickly known as the guy that you
called if you had a real estate issue, because a
permitting issue, because I was the very pro real estate guy,
and it would make me crazy. People would call they
were trying to get a project online, hand keys over
to a tenant. This was you know, there were two
(28:27):
years into this process and there had been all this
positive press about you know, this kind of company's coming
to town or this kind of restaurant or this kind
of retail or whatever else, and the city was holding
them up because the bath, because the toilet was three
inches closer to the wall or further from the wall
than they wanted, and it just it made me crazy.
Sarah with an h vice president and lawyer at Corvus Construction.
(28:51):
Let me ask you if you were king for a
day and there were no political considerations, if there was
a governmental whether it's tax or legal change that would
just open up the economy and unthrottle businesses and you
could make that. What would that change be without regard
(29:13):
to who would be upset about it?
Speaker 6 (29:17):
If I could do that for Corvius, it would be
fixed the permitting.
Speaker 2 (29:20):
Yeah, at the city typically.
Speaker 7 (29:22):
Yes, yes, at the city level, the county to some
I like, I like to see you do that on
the tax side too, Okay, yeah, I mean if I
am king, Yeah, I think if you if you even
think about all the different avenues where we pay taxes through,
it's just mind boggling.
Speaker 1 (29:45):
So you know, you know the frustrating thing about that
is that cities and business districts and counties and even states,
they will talk about business development and they will raw raw,
look at what we've done. We brought this business here.
Oftentimes the business came despite them, and they will throw
(30:08):
tax incentives at businesses, which I don't mean to suggest
aren't important, but for every new business you try to
lure here, and I'm all for it by giving them
a tax advantage over the long standing businesses. What people
don't tend to understand that are in government because they
don't think the way y'all do. They don't have to
meet a budget. They just raise taxes and we're seeing
(30:29):
that happen now. What they don't understand is you could
grow your existing stable of companies that are busy here
if you just got out of the way. And it's
not that these permits it you know, I used to
tell people, I'm not going to help you get a
permit that I don't believe you should get, or that
you're cheating or is going to endanger somebody. I'm going
(30:50):
to speed the process up, and that's all people ask for.
If cities would invest in permitting officials that are that
are the ambassador of the sea, it would be amazing
the growth we could see. But they won't do it.
They don't think on that level.
Speaker 6 (31:06):
Well, I have a lot of hope, despite our differences,
that may Or Whitmer does what he says he was
at at luncheon and NAOP luncheon last week, and he
talks a good talk on getting the permitting issue fixed.
And we have differences, but I hope he's hope he
does it.
Speaker 3 (31:25):
There are some some individuals you know, on that side
that will you reach out.
Speaker 4 (31:31):
And extend, and we certainly appreciate those people.
Speaker 1 (31:37):
It is it's a question of priorities, and it's a
question of direction. It's not true that every permitter is bad.
There are plenty of good when I don't know if
Bobby Oaks is still there. He was there when I
was there, But Bobby Oaks was a guy.
Speaker 2 (31:52):
If it is he still.
Speaker 3 (31:53):
There, I've not talked to him in a while, but
when I was running my own permits, he held me
many many many.
Speaker 1 (32:01):
Times, Bob Bobby's Bobby's approach was the codes are here
to protect the public, and I'm going to make sure
to protect the public, but I'm also going to make
sure that I help you get to that point. You know,
when when a company tries to comply because people are
trying to comply, They're not trying the same thing with
(32:21):
the tax code. People are trying to comply. And when
you when you come in and you've told them what
to do. This was the one that really always chapped me.
The worst is when you come in and you've told
you know, you've read tagged it, and they you say,
fix this, and they go in and fix it, and
then they get an approval over here and they get
to the end and then they say no, that that
(32:42):
didn't meet code. And now you've got to rip all
that out. That's time and money and that is that
is very, very very stressful. Oh my goodness, Ramona has
just told me we are out of time. You guys
are great. I wish you the best of low Do
y'all know my friend John Wycoff, he's a show sponsor
in Buddy of Mine Wycoff Development.
Speaker 8 (33:01):
I have.
Speaker 3 (33:04):
I believe that I've budgeted some deals for him in
the past. We really appreciate your time, Michael. If there's
anything that my team could cut ever do for for
a group that needs help, please keep us in mind.
Speaker 2 (33:20):
We would love to. That would be Camp Hope.
Speaker 1 (33:22):
And you just made a mistake by telling me that
I will be in touch.
Speaker 2 (33:26):
You guys are great.
Speaker 1 (33:26):
Sarah with an h. Steve the jockying of the of
the Thornton family. Thank you guys, I appreciate your time
and for the rest of you. If you know one
of the companies on the Houston Fast fifty or if
that is you, reach out because I love to tell
these stories. We are a variety show, not a political show.
We just happen to be a variety show that talks
(33:48):
about a lot of politics. But if I can help
somebody find a job, make a career, move, you name it,
I enjoy that. I enjoy the heck out of that,
and and that's what I interesting. We do the show
that we find interesting, and we hope you do as well.
That was corvis Co r v US Construction. They are
(34:09):
number eight on the HBJ Fast fifty and we'll be
talking to some others.
Speaker 2 (34:14):
On that list.
Speaker 4 (34:15):
Come out.
Speaker 2 (34:19):
I mean not right now, but I just mean generally,
You've heard me say many times that the Houston Business
Journal does extraordinarily good work. If you are not a subscriber,
I highly recommend it. I read the Houston Business Journal
every week. I don't always get to read every article
in there. I think they do a much better job
than the Houston Chronicle at telling you what's going on
(00:22):
in our community, particularly as it relates to business and trends,
and they have for a very long time. I was
friends with John Beto back when he was the publisher
of the paper, and then when it changed hands. I've
talked to them over the years about a partnership. I've
talked to them about ways I can help them more
(00:42):
and they can help me, And how they can help
me is more introductions to business leaders because I like
to have folks on our show. We are very much
in the throes of an election right now, which means
we're talking election stuff government stuff all day every day.
But I've alway said I don't just want to be
a political show. I want to be a variety show.
(01:04):
And one of the things that I find very interesting
is business leaders.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
Now.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
I have put the word out over the years that
I would love to talk to more business leaders. And
I find that with the really big companies, particularly public companies,
they want no part of a conversation, even though I
don't intend to talk politics. They just kind of keep
their head down. They don't want anything to do with that.
But when you get the really entrepreneurial type companies, they
(01:34):
love to tell their story. They're evangelical about telling their story.
So the Houston Business Journal does something every year called
the Fast fifty, and it's the fifty companies that have
had the greatest year over year growth over a two
year period in the region. So I used to reach
out to all the companies not on this list, but
on the other lists, and they would never respond, and
(01:57):
I think they probably thought I was trying to sell
them something, which is everybody else is trying to sell
them something.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
So fine, But.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
I just posted on Facebook and said, hey, here's this list.
If you know anybody on this list that would be
interested in telling their story. I find these stories fascinating.
The Fast fifty is much more a list and a
group of folks that are getting some real success and
(02:23):
it's happening quickly. They're very entrepreneurial in nature. One of
the things I noticed on that list, and this says
a lot about what's going on in our economy is
how many of them were in the construction industry in
one way or another. And that is number eight on
the list. Corvus Construction. Will Thornton is their president.
Speaker 3 (02:44):
Welcome to the show, sir, Hey Michael, good morning.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
Do you having Why do you think it is that
there are so many construction companies on this list?
Speaker 3 (02:57):
Construction has uh, I mean it comes in waves. I
mean it's a it's a whole lot of it, or
or none at all. So we have, you know, years
of growth, and then we have years of trying to
figure out how to keep these guys busy. We developed
these these teams, and you cannot be in business without
(03:17):
the right team behind you. So we spent a lot
of time just trying to figure out ways to uh
to keep our folks busy and uh and then of
course stay in front of the work and find those opportunities.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
Well, what I find interesting is if if it's not
just you, if you were the only construction company booming,
it might just be that y'all are really really good
at what you do and uniquely, you know, you might
have a specialized industry. But if several folks in your
industry are doing well, that's a good sign for growth
and development in our region. What are you seeing? I
(03:55):
know that y'all do industrial warehouses. What do you think
is driving all this?
Speaker 3 (04:00):
Is?
Speaker 1 (04:00):
This is not nationwide growth? What's driving it here in Houston?
Speaker 3 (04:07):
You know, the market has certainly changed. You know, people
are are investing in industrial buildings right now. That is
that is for us, you know, so I mean our customers.
You know, they are investing their money into industrial buildings,
and we are, you know, trying to to keep up
with them, and and and then of course you know
(04:29):
we are offering them different services. But the industrial warehouse
boom has been very strong.
Speaker 4 (04:38):
In Houston.
Speaker 3 (04:39):
And uh, you know we do have you know, slow
downs and dips, but uh, you know, the demand is there.
We certainly think that it's a that our customer sees
it as a as a strong study investment.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
Let's talk about what exactly y'all do if if you
get the call, what why does somebody call Corbus?
Speaker 4 (05:03):
What?
Speaker 2 (05:03):
What? What project do they need done?
Speaker 1 (05:05):
I noticed your your h your tagline is Corpus Construction
on on.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
Time, on budget.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
But if somebody calls you what what is most likely
that what what is the one sweet spot that you're
most likely to be doing?
Speaker 3 (05:20):
Uh for our customer. We will do anything for our customer.
I mean, we build the warehouse, we build out the
in tiers, we have the service department that uh that
services those in tiers, and and and and and the
maintenance and the capital improvements. But if you're one of
our customers, you know, we don't want to only do
a little.
Speaker 4 (05:39):
Bit of your work.
Speaker 3 (05:40):
We want to do all of it.
Speaker 4 (05:41):
And do all of it very well.
Speaker 3 (05:42):
So I think what's unique about about what we do
is that we uh, you know, we try to pick
up every call. We are there for for our customers.
You know, early in the prim in the primary budgeting
part of it, we are I mean, I mean my
father he liked to to to tell me, regardless of
(06:05):
the size, treat every project with the same urgency and
uh and when there's a problem, you attacked the problem
without blinking. And I mean that has been our success.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
So you grew up in the business, yes.
Speaker 3 (06:20):
Sir, Yes, sir, I should have my father and and
and my wife's Steve and Sara and Sarah Thornton. Here
we we run the business together.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
So did your did your dad start the business?
Speaker 5 (06:39):
Actually, the business was started and and Michael, this is Steve,
good morning. Uh, the business was started by Trammel Pro Company.
And there's a long, convoluted story about how that happened.
But I was actually hired by them to run the company,
(07:03):
and fairly soon thereafter purchased it from Trammel Pro Company.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
And how long ago was that?
Speaker 5 (07:13):
My higher date was January first, nineteen ninety two, and
I purchased a company in ninety four.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
It would be my dream. I won't tell them they
need to do it.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
I don't push them to it, but if that was
how it turned out, it would be my dream that
my sons, who are presently seventeen and eighteen, would want
to join me in my business and that we could
work together all the way.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
I think that is.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
I see that a lot of restaurant families do that.
I see that, and I think it is you get
to spend time together. I know it's hard, but you
get to spend time together in a way that's very hard.
If you have different if you have different jobs in
different places, you know it's not all positive and it
can create you know, some difficulty and maybe some awkwardness
(08:04):
at Thanksgiving on occasion, but that would be my dream
is to get to do that whole with me. For
just a moment, we're talking to Will Thornton of Courvis Construction.
If you are not a Houston Business Journal subscriber, I
think you can still go on and find.
Speaker 2 (08:19):
The Fast fifty.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
It's interesting to see what industries the guys are in
that are seeing great success right now in construction.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
This one in particular.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
There are several companies on there which I think boes
well for our region.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
More committed one.
Speaker 6 (08:36):
Is the day of everyone thinking they could actually live
the American True.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
The Michael Berry Show. Will Thornton is our guest.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
They are number eight on the Fast fifty with the
Houston Business Journal, and Will Thornton is the president of
the company.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
His whole family works there. Will.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
I can't help but notice you have a stutter, and
yet you have absolutely no fear doing an interview.
Speaker 3 (09:02):
Honestly, I think my stutter made me a great salesman.
I used to bother me when I was younger. It
was it was the you know something that I hated
doing when when when I was younger, I believe that
people that are successful that you take a weakness and
you turn it into into something good.
Speaker 4 (09:26):
People they trust me.
Speaker 3 (09:28):
I think that maybe that stutter is a part of
it that they see that I.
Speaker 4 (09:33):
Don't have a big ego.
Speaker 3 (09:34):
I'm not super proud. You can talk to me, you know,
you know, take something and make it good, take everything
and make it good.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
Well.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
What I find interesting about that is there were other
people in the company who could have done the interview,
and you stepped up and did it. If you told me, Michael,
this year I added three hundred million dollars to the
company's bottom line, I would be less impressed by that
than the fact that you stepped up said yep, I'll
(10:05):
do the interview for our company. You had to know
that at some point in the conversation. This is radio,
which is a lot harder if you're in person. You
can use your hands to get to get a sentence finished,
and you're not the first person I've told this to.
It's just something that I deeply admire for you to
do that and know that at some point in the interview,
I'm gonna go humhm, this guy's got a stutter, and
(10:27):
not everybody deals with that very well I have. I mean,
I could not tip a bigger hat to you. I
admire that so much, I really do. And I've said
this to many people who if they call in callers,
know that if you call our show and you have
a stutter, you're getting a little extra time and a
little extra pat on the back.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
Because that's brave.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
Like that would be like me trying to get out
in the middle of the floor and dance and everybody
what because I cannot dance, and yet just saying, you
know what, I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna I'm gonna
push through and do it. Did you say there was
a young lady there with you? Is she she's part
of the group too.
Speaker 3 (11:05):
Yes, Sarah here she's in charge of kicking her but
every day.
Speaker 7 (11:08):
That's how I want to And what's her.
Speaker 6 (11:13):
Vice president and council?
Speaker 1 (11:14):
Okay, So so she's the lawyer and that's Sarah. Is
that Sarah with an H or no age?
Speaker 7 (11:21):
Okay?
Speaker 2 (11:22):
With an age with an H?
Speaker 4 (11:23):
Ramon? All right?
Speaker 1 (11:24):
And then we got Will he's the president. Then we
got Jock ewing A ka Steve, he's the.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
Dad, he's this is he the CEO?
Speaker 4 (11:35):
Oh?
Speaker 1 (11:36):
Yes, okay, and then was there one more?
Speaker 4 (11:40):
No judge the three of us Okay, yeah and there Uh.
Speaker 5 (11:44):
They do have the next generation though they've got a
ten year old and a six year old.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
Start them early.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
My boys have been coming into our studio recording with me,
hanging out with Ramon and Ramone's boys come here. In fact,
during the summer, they spend every day with us here
and they're coming in and out and we make them
record stuff. And the earlier you can start young kids.
(12:12):
I ask people all the time when I meet their kids,
I will say, what does your mom do for a living?
And she might be the head of a law firm
and they have no idea, And I scold them on
that because your kids need to understand. Guess what that
trip to the theme park and those clothes you buy
and the house you live in that has to be
paid for somehow? Understand what you do? Will let me
(12:34):
go back to you. I spoke to Mueller, Inc. Which
is one of my show sponsors. They're in the steel
building business. They fabricate stell buildings, and he said that
they are just booming right now. I spoke to him
a couple of days ago and he said they're booming
right now, and he said a lot of this was
pent up demand and the thought that Trump might win
(12:57):
has caused people to say, you know what, if Trump wins,
the floodgates open and we're not able to get stuff
for months. So people are on that bet starting to
open up the lower fifty basis points down in the
in the interest rates, several things working together. Well, how
much of what you're seeing in y'all's business is because
(13:19):
of is because the economy looks to be turning around
if Trump wins, versus interest rates versus just long standing
clients that just happened to be building something right now.
I'm trying to get a sense of where that demand
is coming from.
Speaker 3 (13:36):
Sure, yes, I mean so we see you know, different
sides of it, you know, doing the interiors there there
there's also a lot of a renewal work that that
that happens. Regardless, my customers are starting to build against
I mean, I mean over the last year, you know,
(13:56):
everyone did slow down. There was a lot of uncertainty.
The interest rates did you know, kind of squeeze the
margin out of out of being able to develop a
building and make any money. We we we are hoping
to see you know, more growth in the manufacturing US.
(14:18):
Being in Texas and in Houston has has been very
good to us. We've been seeing a lot of companies
from out of Texas, you know, coming here, very very
interested in investing their their money here. It's a little
bit of a it's very much of a mixed bag.
It's not coming from from from one source of revenue.
(14:42):
But we certainly do see the momentum right now, and
we are hoping for a very business friendly UH leadership.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
Talk about UH hiring, talk about employees, because that seems
to be for a lot of folks, the restaurant industry especially,
but everybody. Hiring skilled labor seems to be the biggest
challenge to growth right now.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
Hiring skilled labor is very difficult right now for.
Speaker 4 (15:17):
Us to do what we do.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
We decided many years ago that we had to control
the labor. So we actually have a self performed arm
of the business that where we're running you know, one
hundred and to to one hundred and fifty hourly guys
for our self performed work. And the reason why we
have to, you know, to to do that as opposed
to summon it out, is that If you don't have
(15:40):
control of the labor, you cannot control the speed of
a project.
Speaker 4 (15:44):
You cannot control the quality of a project.
Speaker 3 (15:46):
When you need to to get labor quickly, it's too late.
So so so you have to to always be hiring,
always be be building your labor force. We are trying to,
you know, train up some of the of the young
(16:06):
foreman to take uh bigger positions in the company. I
mean those will become our future superintendents and then and
then and then and then and then our project managers.
But labor is the most difficult and expensive part of
this business.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
And where do you find that labor?
Speaker 3 (16:29):
I'll find them. A lot of it is word of mouth.
If I talk to any subcontractor during the day, I'm
always asking them who who is good?
Speaker 4 (16:39):
Who who might be looking? Uh.
Speaker 3 (16:42):
We have a lot of a lot of folks that
will start through a third party group and and we'll
see if they are a good fit for us, and
then then we will hire them out.
Speaker 4 (16:53):
All right.
Speaker 3 (16:54):
We have a lot of people that have also come
to work with with with their family, and a lot
a lot of young guys that have come to work
for for their family. So in the in the field
side of it. You know, we have several, uh general,
several generations of of a skilled labor coming out of
(17:18):
the field and and we very much encourage that, and
we very much you know, try to pair our more
skilled u foreman with some of the lesser skilled entry
level guys that we see potential in and then and
then we will give them their own crews.
Speaker 2 (17:39):
Hole with me for just a moment.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
We're talking to Will Thornton, the president of Corbus Construction,
Steve Thornton, the CEO, and Sarah Thornton with an H. Ramon,
the vice president and council Corbus Construction number eight on
the Houston Business Journals Fast fifty.
Speaker 2 (17:56):
More with them, Joe Biden became mentally impaired.
Speaker 7 (18:00):
The Michael Berry.
Speaker 5 (18:01):
Kamala was born.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
That way, We're talking to the Triumvirent that leads Corvis Construction,
which came out number eight on the Fast fifty Houston
Business Journals list of the fifty companies seeing the greatest
year over year return for.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
Two solid years.
Speaker 1 (18:21):
And Corvis Construction is in industrial warehouses and interiors of warehouses.
Will we were taught Will Thornton is the president. Will
we were talking about labor and particularly the skills, the vocations,
the trades. What are you find in the most trouble
(18:42):
attracting right now? I'm assuming y'all sub a lot of
that out. But when you're looking for where to get
things done, which tends to be the one that brings
you the most difficulty, the greatest challenge, which trade?
Speaker 4 (18:56):
Sure?
Speaker 3 (18:57):
I mean what I mean this may not be across
the word for everyone, but when we struggle with are
are our highly skilled dry wall.
Speaker 4 (19:07):
Foreman? Uh?
Speaker 3 (19:08):
Those those those are the type that can lead crews.
I mean I mean that that that can lead you know,
ten twenty people on the job site who can do
do do do the layout very very very precisely. The
guys that that could run production uh uh track costs? Uh,
(19:29):
you know, maintained that at the the production rates that
we went and into our price with guys that can do,
you know, very high quality work and do it quickly.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
Well, let me ask you this. I never heard of
supply chain being a degree that you can get in school.
But it sounds like Sarah, at least of the three
of you, isn't Aggie maybe more I'm not is she
I am? I figured I figured with the howdies you
must be where do you do you do you hire
(20:06):
these kids straight out of school? Or where do you
find the folks that understand project management in this sort
of thing.
Speaker 3 (20:15):
We we would prefer to hire guys out of school
that that have not been contaminated and do not have
the ego that a lot of that a lot of
folks do coming out of really you know, big companies.
We we want guys that that can hustle. We want
guys that can follow up. We want guys that can
(20:37):
be persistent and I can teach them anything if if
they can have those simple qualities.
Speaker 1 (20:44):
So for parents out there, Will Thornton is the president
of Corvus Construction. They were number eight on the Houston
Business Journals Fast fifty of fast growing companies. For parents
out there who have a kid, boy or girl who's
a teenager and they say, you know, I could see
this being something my son or daughter grows up to do.
(21:04):
What would you encourage people you all have kids between
you there, what would you encourage parents to start teaching
kids in their teenage years and for young people to
start developing skills.
Speaker 3 (21:15):
In any type of actual work. I mean if they could,
if if your kid likes to build something, such as
there and mine, I mean, I mean my six, my
my my ten year old who at age six started welding.
They kid loves to build stuff. I don't know if
(21:36):
he's going to be the one that we send off
to college, but I'm certainly going to be uh encouraging
him to uh to come on board, uh and build
out his own spot.
Speaker 4 (21:48):
But uh, kids.
Speaker 3 (21:49):
That that enjoy being outside, that enjoy uh uh making
things happen, accomplishing something. I mean, it's as if you
can teach them how to finish something, you know, finish
a day's work, and I mean they can and come
(22:10):
back and do it again and again and again until
they see something built and see something that they're very
proud of.
Speaker 4 (22:16):
I strongly encourage that.
Speaker 1 (22:19):
Steve Thornton is the CEO of Corpus Construction. Steve, when
you were growing up, if I'd asked you when you
were eighteen what you wanted, what you were going to
be when you were fifty, what would.
Speaker 2 (22:29):
You have said?
Speaker 5 (22:33):
At eighteen? Let's see, my first major in college was
marine biology that lasted through the first field trip down
to the Florida Keys. My second major was physics and
(22:56):
that lasted maybe a semester, and then I went into
construction management with an emphasis on construction and surveying. I
thought I wanted to be a land surveyor until I
graduated and saw the economic benefits of going the other
(23:21):
way and going into actual construction instead of surveying.
Speaker 2 (23:25):
Where'd you go to school?
Speaker 5 (23:29):
Southern Technical College in Marietta, Georgia?
Speaker 1 (23:33):
And did you so? Did you start there with marine biology?
They had marine biology there?
Speaker 2 (23:39):
Transfer?
Speaker 5 (23:40):
No, I transferred. My mother was She was an English
professor and was very insistent that if we went out
of state we go to a private college, and if
we went in state, it had to be as a
state school. So I actually started at a little school
(24:06):
called Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida, and quickly found
out that I was one of the very few, if
not the only, kid without a trust fund waiting.
Speaker 2 (24:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (24:25):
Yeah, I had to go learn how to do.
Speaker 1 (24:27):
Something that's always kind of kind of an awkward moment.
Speaker 2 (24:33):
What brought you to Houston work?
Speaker 5 (24:38):
After I graduated, I got a job in a place
called East Lake, Ohio, which is on Lake Erie, and
that's the one and only lake I've ever seen freeze
so I got a call from a headhunter who said,
(25:00):
would you like to interview for a job in Pasadena,
which immediately it's out California, and it's now it's in Texas.
But I had two older brothers who were here in
the war business, and so I took the interview to
come get a free weekend to come hang out with them,
(25:23):
and enjoyed it so much that I accepted the job,
knowing that it would be a short term.
Speaker 2 (25:31):
Pull with me right there, just get me here.
Speaker 1 (25:33):
The Thornton family are the triumvirant leadership of Corvis Construction,
number eight on the Houston Business Journals Fast fifty.
Speaker 5 (25:39):
More than we will restore the American republican.
Speaker 6 (25:45):
Your support, we will make America powerful again.
Speaker 1 (25:51):
Will, I'm going to go back to you and ask
you the question. Will Thornton is the president of Corvis Construction.
They were number eight on the Houston Business Journals Fast
fifty companies that are seeing explosive growth Right now. When
you guys are looking to hire for people out there
considering a career change, I know you'd like to hire
(26:13):
kids straight out of college. The law firms take the
same approach. They want to be able to teach you
from the earliest stages. But for people out there looking
and saying, and I say this all the time, get
out of retail, get into things that you don't think about,
things that you don't interrupt, interact with the warehouses, the
(26:33):
commercial construction. These types of businesses have a lot more
money to pay you in a lot more upside. But
when you talk to folks out there that are looking
to make a career change, what kind of people are
y'all hiring right now as lateral hires, as folks that
are leaving, And how do they make that happen?
Speaker 4 (26:53):
Is it? Sure? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (26:56):
I mean I like to hire people that I like.
I like to hire people that are persistent. I mean
sometimes I'll hire people without even knowing where they're going
to go.
Speaker 4 (27:08):
But I but, but, but but but but.
Speaker 3 (27:11):
I know they called me twenty times and and they
text me every other day, and they really want the job.
And I mean those are the you know type of
guys that I'll find a spot for them. We we
know how to keep.
Speaker 8 (27:23):
People busy and and we know we need yeah, yes, yeah,
we we know we need good people and uh and
you know skill set, I don't don't I don't really.
Speaker 4 (27:34):
You know, stress out about that. I I like guys
that that that that can follow up.
Speaker 3 (27:39):
Sometimes, you know, all we do all day long is
solve problems and and and to solve a problem, there
may not be a way to do it. So I
want guys that will just come on board and help me.
Speaker 4 (27:52):
Figure that out.
Speaker 3 (27:53):
Sometimes you got to call the city thirty times in
one day to make them happen. Sometimes you got to
call a subcontractor twenty times in a day to make
something happen. There's always an excuse, and we want guys
to overcome that.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
I served on city council from one to seven, and
I was very quickly known as the guy that you
called if you had a real estate issue, because a
permitting issue, because I was the very pro real estate guy,
and it would make me crazy. People would call they
were trying to get a project online, hand keys over
to a tenant. This was you know, there were two
(28:27):
years into this process and there had been all this
positive press about you know, this kind of company's coming
to town or this kind of restaurant or this kind
of retail or whatever else, and the city was holding
them up because the bath, because the toilet was three
inches closer to the wall or further from the wall
than they wanted, and it just it made me crazy.
Sarah with an h vice president and lawyer at Corvus Construction.
(28:51):
Let me ask you if you were king for a
day and there were no political considerations, if there was
a governmental whether it's tax or legal change that would
just open up the economy and unthrottle businesses and you
could make that. What would that change be without regard
(29:13):
to who would be upset about it?
Speaker 6 (29:17):
If I could do that for Corvius, it would be
fixed the permitting.
Speaker 2 (29:20):
Yeah, at the city typically.
Speaker 7 (29:22):
Yes, yes, at the city level, the county to some
I like, I like to see you do that on
the tax side too, Okay, yeah, I mean if I
am king, Yeah, I think if you if you even
think about all the different avenues where we pay taxes through,
it's just mind boggling.
Speaker 1 (29:45):
So you know, you know the frustrating thing about that
is that cities and business districts and counties and even states,
they will talk about business development and they will raw raw,
look at what we've done. We brought this business here.
Oftentimes the business came despite them, and they will throw
(30:08):
tax incentives at businesses, which I don't mean to suggest
aren't important, but for every new business you try to
lure here, and I'm all for it by giving them
a tax advantage over the long standing businesses. What people
don't tend to understand that are in government because they
don't think the way y'all do. They don't have to
meet a budget. They just raise taxes and we're seeing
(30:29):
that happen now. What they don't understand is you could
grow your existing stable of companies that are busy here
if you just got out of the way. And it's
not that these permits it you know, I used to
tell people, I'm not going to help you get a
permit that I don't believe you should get, or that
you're cheating or is going to endanger somebody. I'm going
(30:50):
to speed the process up, and that's all people ask for.
If cities would invest in permitting officials that are that
are the ambassador of the sea, it would be amazing
the growth we could see. But they won't do it.
They don't think on that level.
Speaker 6 (31:06):
Well, I have a lot of hope, despite our differences,
that may Or Whitmer does what he says he was
at at luncheon and NAOP luncheon last week, and he
talks a good talk on getting the permitting issue fixed.
And we have differences, but I hope he's hope he
does it.
Speaker 3 (31:25):
There are some some individuals you know, on that side
that will you reach out.
Speaker 4 (31:31):
And extend, and we certainly appreciate those people.
Speaker 1 (31:37):
It is it's a question of priorities, and it's a
question of direction. It's not true that every permitter is bad.
There are plenty of good when I don't know if
Bobby Oaks is still there. He was there when I
was there, But Bobby Oaks was a guy.
Speaker 2 (31:52):
If it is he still.
Speaker 3 (31:53):
There, I've not talked to him in a while, but
when I was running my own permits, he held me
many many many.
Speaker 1 (32:01):
Times, Bob Bobby's Bobby's approach was the codes are here
to protect the public, and I'm going to make sure
to protect the public, but I'm also going to make
sure that I help you get to that point. You know,
when when a company tries to comply because people are
trying to comply, They're not trying the same thing with
(32:21):
the tax code. People are trying to comply. And when
you when you come in and you've told them what
to do. This was the one that really always chapped me.
The worst is when you come in and you've told
you know, you've read tagged it, and they you say,
fix this, and they go in and fix it, and
then they get an approval over here and they get
to the end and then they say no, that that
(32:42):
didn't meet code. And now you've got to rip all
that out. That's time and money and that is that
is very, very very stressful. Oh my goodness, Ramona has
just told me we are out of time. You guys
are great. I wish you the best of low Do
y'all know my friend John Wycoff, he's a show sponsor
in Buddy of Mine Wycoff Development.
Speaker 8 (33:01):
I have.
Speaker 3 (33:04):
I believe that I've budgeted some deals for him in
the past. We really appreciate your time, Michael. If there's
anything that my team could cut ever do for for
a group that needs help, please keep us in mind.
Speaker 2 (33:20):
We would love to. That would be Camp Hope.
Speaker 1 (33:22):
And you just made a mistake by telling me that
I will be in touch.
Speaker 2 (33:26):
You guys are great.
Speaker 1 (33:26):
Sarah with an h. Steve the jockying of the of
the Thornton family. Thank you guys, I appreciate your time
and for the rest of you. If you know one
of the companies on the Houston Fast fifty or if
that is you, reach out because I love to tell
these stories. We are a variety show, not a political show.
We just happen to be a variety show that talks
(33:48):
about a lot of politics. But if I can help
somebody find a job, make a career, move, you name it,
I enjoy that. I enjoy the heck out of that,
and and that's what I interesting. We do the show
that we find interesting, and we hope you do as well.
That was corvis Co r v US Construction. They are
(34:09):
number eight on the HBJ Fast fifty and we'll be
talking to some others.
Speaker 2 (34:14):
On that list.
Speaker 4 (34:15):
Come out.
Speaker 2 (34:19):
I mean not right now, but I just mean generally,
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