A Conversation With ... Miles Boyer

The Builders’ Association serves Missouri and Kansas and has been around since 1887. It was started by a group of contractors who pulled together their resources and offered services for other contractors. Our associate members include banks and law firms. We’re also the Kansas City chapter of the AGC, a nationwide organization more geared toward general contractor members. Most of our services are actually provided through The Builders’ Association. We do require all of our general-contractor members to join the AGC, then they’re automatically members of The Builders’ Association. The Springfield office came online about 100 years after The Builders’ Association was founded. Now, we’re an overall service organization for commercial building contractors and suppliers. Statewide, we have 1,020 members, with offices in Kansas City, Columbia, Jefferson City and Springfield. In Springfield, we have 260 members.

What services does The Builders’ Association offer to members?

We do everything from safety services to workers’ compensation insurance. We do quite a few educational seminars and classes throughout the year on a broad range of topics that concern contractors. One of the main functions of this office here is the plan room. We hold plans – blueprints – for various projects that are in the bidding phase, so if you have a church or a school or a hospital or any type of commercial project that is being built … we hold all of those plans in this office so contractors, subcontractors and suppliers can come to one place. We just started our computer lab, and we’re starting to offer various types of computer training.

What are some key issues your members are facing?

The thing I hear about most often is not being paid on time. While I can’t help them directly with that, that’s one of the most popular seminar topics that we have … prompt-pay laws. But a lot of times, contractors don’t know what their rights are, what steps to take if they aren’t getting paid, and it’s a tough situation for a lot of contractors out there. One of the other issues is the rising cost of building materials. If you’re bidding on a project, and your portion of the work isn’t even going to begin for another six months or a year, it’s hard to bid not knowing if the cost … is going to increase or double. You just don’t know how much the actual product is going to cost down the road. One of the ongoing issues I hear about is that it’s tough getting qualified labor to do the jobs.

What’s your job?

I guess the quick-and-easy answer to that is making sure our members are happy and taken care of. On a day-to-day basis, I help our members with whatever problems or issues they’re having. The plan room uses up a lot of my time as far as helping people find what they need … making sure they have the information … . We have a service that allows members to view the plans online from their office, so there’s a lot of work involved in getting plans scanned in and posted on our Web site … and technical support. I set up our computer classes, our golf tournament, Christmas parties, just anything that needs to be organized or planned.

You are also the Salute to Construction Council coordinator. Why is Salute important?

I’ve been involved in the Salute Council for the past five years. I’ve been in charge of the photo contest part of that time, or have served on the council along with everybody else. We work to portray the industry as a whole in a more positive manner, and we go out to schools and have career days. That’s one of the big focuses. We’re trying to promote a positive awareness of the construction industry and its jobs. Some people, when they think of construction, they think of muddy streets and hassles in road construction, things like that. In the past, we’ve focused on how much the construction industry contributes to the economy. I think we’ve been more aggressive this year in our push to promote the awareness of conservation and sustainability issues.

Tell us about your family.

My wife, Kate, and I have been married for three years, and I’m a new father. We have a 3-month-old baby, Camille. She’s healthy and happy, and I don’t guess we can ask for anything more. Like most other new dads, I look forward to going home at the end of the day and spending time with her.

What do you do for fun?

Taking pictures is a hobby for me. That’s the only thing I have time for now. I used to camp and hike quite a bit, though.