The Inside View

08/23/2009 The San Francisco Examiner

Andy Ball, president of Bay Area-based Webcor Builders, tells us the joy of building, the difficult decisions that come with an economic downturn, and the enthusiasm he has for riding a bike.

Who would you say has been the most influential person in your personal life?
My parents were very, very positive in influencing me about treating people honestly and fairly and doing the right thing and being open and not playing games. My parents always worked really hard for charities. They're always contributing a lot of their time to helping community projects, a lot of involvement in the arts and in the opera.

What is the most inspiring book(s) you have read?
"The Reckoning" by David Halberstam - the history of the auto industry. In 2007, he died in an auto accident on his way to a [UC Berkeley] lecture.

What is the best part of your job?
I love construction, I love buildings. It's like every child likes to look at excavators and trucks and the activity on a construction site, and I was fascinated with building things from a very, very early age. I just love building things. To me, that's just the greatest thing ever. To be able to say I created that, I did that - it's very satisfying to have tangible aspects of your work that you can see.

What's the part you wish you could avoid?
Within every economic downturn, you have to lay off people. It's just inevitable that within construction, we're so dependent upon economic cycles that even as we diversify geographically, even as we diversify productwise, that there is the inevitable point in time that you just cannot sustain a growth pattern and there has to be some contraction.

What is one value that should be the cornerstone of every successful business?
Doing things the "RIGHT" way. RIGHT stands for respect, you have to have respect for the people with whom you are doing business. You have to have integrity in all of your actions and all of your dealings. "G" is for goals. You have to set goals, and you have to work toward and achieve those goals. "H" is for hard work; there's no substitute for hard work, and it's more than eight or nine hours a day. And finally, "T" is for teamwork. You've implemented numerous green practices at Webcor.

In your personal life, beyond recycling, is there one thing that you do regularly to help the environment?
For me, it's been all about riding my bicycle. I started in London taking public transportation and riding my bicycle everywhere; it was what I depended upon. We bought a building in Oakland that I hope to put in full bike storage, bike lockers, and ride to work every day. That is my ultimate goal.


- Tiffany Maleshefski

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