A Conversation With ... Lance Long

The Long Cos. is actually a dba of The Long Company Construction Management LLC. That was the company that I started six years ago when I moved to the Branson area.

My background had been working as a senior project manager for (other) corporations, traveling all over the country. We started (in) remodeling, then we grew into new-home construction.

Then I acquired some land to start development (and) we formed The Long Company Development LLC, and … another company called The Long Company Equipment LLC that acquired all of the heavy equipment (for) the infrastructure of our own projects … and then a couple of other LLCs – hence the name The Long Cos.

What services do you provide?

From the time that we’re pushing the cattle off the land, to the time that we’re moving the families into the homes, we’re doing it all.

We’re a one-stop company … we literally acquire land, we’re involved in the master planning (and) going through the approval process and getting the zoning … to the point where we’re … putting in all the infrastructure, and … building the house. We have an in-house marketing team as well.

Tell us about some of your developments.

I’ll start out with the one that’s the furthest along, and that’s Woodbridge Estates, just across the lake from Branson Landing.

It’s a 38-home subdivision … built with a running-water ravine in the middle. One side is Jasmine Drive, and the other is … up Lake Shore Drive. There are two separate entrances (to Woodbridge Estates) but each side has a dead end. (There are) about 18 homes under construction on Jasmine Drive. My Parade of Homes (entry) is on Lot 14. There are four that are totally done and available to purchase. Another 12 will be done in a month. The listing price is $310,000 to $317,000 depending on which side (they’re) on.

The other one is AshBrooke. It’s in Branson at the corner of Highway 248 and Shepherd of the Hills Expressway. It’s a 168-acre, 300-home development. We’re going to build some smaller homes over there, and the price range is going to be $185,000 to $225,000.

It’s more affordable housing. The first stage (will be) 29 homes, and we’ll keep progressing as those sell. In the works is a development on 76 acres I bought in Blue Eye.

Those will be affordable homes … because we really want to meet the need (with) the influx of people coming into the area.

What are some of the challenges in your work?

The challenge of building in Branson … is the topography and the dirt work, because it all involves rock … the terrain is not flat anywhere, and there’s a lot of excavation involved.

That makes it challenging to put the water, sewer and all the infrastructure in, even before you get to … digging the foundations, which inevitably ends up being rock-laden.

Another challenge (is) finding qualified, confident subcontractors who have the same … standards that we do.

Before coming to Branson, you worked in Texas in commercial construction. What brought you to the Ozarks?

My mom and dad retired in the Branson area on Table Rock Lake. Because I was born in Joplin and we have family in and around this area, I always vacationed in Branson, and grew up coming to this area once a year. We decided … that this is where (we) wanted to raise our family, because it’s such a wonderful place.

Tell us about your family.

My wife’s name is Sherry. We’ve been married for 14 years. We met and married in the Los Angeles area.

Sherry’s the controller of our companies, and our internal accountant. She controls the money, and whoever controls the money is the boss. We have six children: Jacqueline, 19, who just got married; twins Jaimie and Jasmine, 18; son Tony, 16; Jordan, 10; and Julianna, 6. If you do the math … the oldest four are from my wife’s previous marriage, but I adopted them, and they’re all my kids.

Interview by Features Editor Maria Hoover. You can e-mail her with suggestions for future installments of this feature at mhoover@sbj.net.[[In-content Ad]]