Latest / The Ric and Dan Show / "He's got all the worrying done. We don't have to do it anymore": Brian and Kevin Bowman of Bowman Constructors

Transcript

"He's got all the worrying done. We don't have to do it anymore": Brian and Kevin Bowman of Bowman Constructors · The Ric and Dan Show

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  (Transcribed by TurboScribe. Go Unlimited to remove this message.) Somewhere in their wicked childhood, the guests of the Rick and Dan show must have done something
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  good because they get prizes after talking with us from our exclusive sponsor, Coffee Hound Coffee.
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  Tell me more about them, Dan. There is so much to Coffee Hound Coffee that I love,
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  not just the rich, bold flavor. I was really just going for the three words in the website.
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  I'm sorry. I wanted to talk glowingly about Coffee Hound Coffee,
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  but also the espresso beans that are just delicious. It is wonder, explore, caffeinate.
• 0:25
  Those are the three words that Rick was just alluding to Coffee Hound Coffee Co.com.
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  Did you guys play with like Tonka trucks as kids? Maybe. Well, as a matter of fact, we did.
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  We had all the nails in the. Yeah, we went to the hospital a lot.
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  He's Rick Tyler and he's Dan Cashman. And we're Kevin and Brian Bowman of Bowman Constructors.
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  And we are on the Rick and Dan show. In Maine, we often hear you can't get there from here.
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  These are the stories of the risk takers, the trailblazers, those who turn obstacles
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  into opportunities every day and found their way to get there from here. And today,
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  they're on the Rick and Dan show. Did it really start in your dad's basement?
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  Well, actually, our company started, but actually we started building. Remember the
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  house behind dad's house when we were teenagers driving nails?
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  Yeah, yeah, yeah. We weren't teenagers. We were younger than that.
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  Yeah, exactly. You were just randomly driving nails into
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  someone's house. Dad was in the construction business. He brought boards and nails home.
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  So that's how we started. And we graduated from there to mowing lawns.
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  Was that a step up or a step down? Well, we made money.
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  AKA go to the hospital. We're going to violate some HIPAA rules,
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  probably finding about your medical past. No, but seriously, your dad,
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  how did he influence you in getting you started and getting you down a path of what you do?
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  He grew up on a farm and he knew how to work and he taught us how to work and we worked. We worked
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  early on in our life and we are still working. It's just part of who we are. We like to work
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  and we like to get stuff done. And that was the biggest influence.
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  He always had a project for us lined up on weekends and holidays and school vacations.
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  He always had something lined up for us to do. It had to be done.
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  It had to be done. And we grew up, he was a farm guy and we cut a lot of wood when we were
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  teenagers. And I remember distinctively, you know, you used to have to split wood,
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  you know, 16 inches long, right? He made us split it when it was four feet long with an ax
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  and a wedge. Had he not heard child labor laws?
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  Well, gas is expensive and we weren't.
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  So we didn't know any better. So we just split it four foot long.
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  Cored wood, stacked it up.
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  When did these projects start? At what age? Because like I can remember my parents
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  giving me projects to do. Something as simple as like sweeping the floor at the office
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  at the age of four. And I did it wrong and there was dirt everywhere. But
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  when did these start with you? At what age?
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  As long as you can remember.
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  That's a good question. Probably 10 in the latest.
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  The research and development team.
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  I can remember being on a bulldozer when I was 10. So it had been way before that.
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  Operating the bulldozer at the age of 10?
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  Yeah.
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  A statute of limitations is up. No one's going to come after you for that one. But
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  10 years old, operating a bulldozer.
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  Right. Yeah. Yeah. That's the fun part.
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  Yeah. He had an old guy that did earthwork for him and he'd walk beside me,
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  tell me which level to pull up and down, carry grade and left and right.
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  That's how we learned.
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  Okay. Now, much like Dan doing a bad job of sweeping the floor,
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  was there a time when you were on the bulldozer that,
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  hey, I'm going to go do that again? Or you flattened something that shouldn't have been flattened?
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  Oh, sure. The bleed dips.
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  That's how you learn. You screw stuff up and you got to fix it. And when you break it,
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  you got to fix it. You know, talk about learning how to drive, right? We didn't drive cars. We
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  drove trucks. And one of my fondest memories, I don't know if you remember Harry from Athens,
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  was he?
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  He lived in Harmony.
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  He lived in Harmony or whatever.
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  Sugar Hill Road in Harmony.
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  I learned how to drive a dump truck, loaded dump truck. And that's how you learned,
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  instead of a car. It's just easier.
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  How was that parallel parking?
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  Well, you're good at it.
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  Because the other vehicles get out of your way.
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  Exactly.
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  Whether they want to or not.
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  When you took driver's ed, did that, did you have to like sort of downshift yourself?
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  Yeah, I didn't pass the first time.
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  But right back on the dump truck, you went.
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  All right. Well, let's ask. How many times did it take you to get your license?
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  A couple of times.
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  Because I bet no one in this room has a worse record than me. How many times?
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  Two.
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  Two? How about you?
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  Four. Did I pass the driver's test?
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  Yeah. How many times did you have to take the test?
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  I think I got it the first shot.
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  Dan, how about you?
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  First shot.
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  First shot. Y'all suck. Five.
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  Now that checks out.
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  Took me five.
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  Five.
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  Tell us about the path to college. You both graduate the same day?
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  Same day.
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  From?
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  I went to University of Maine, Orono.
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  Yeah.
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  Kevin went to Southern Maine.
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  University of Southern Maine.
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  Class of?
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  87-ish, 88, something like that.
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  Which was it?
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  Well, you know, it gets confusing. I was there six years. So, you know,
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  I was having too much of a good time.
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  I, too, was class of 87. So I wondered. I looked for you and I didn't.
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  Were you in the robe and the hat? Oh, yeah. There was you in the crowd.
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  There was something in the food about the hairdos, right?
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  Yeah, we matched. But separate places. Southern Maine.
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  Yeah. What'd you do in Southern Maine?
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  I graduated from an associate's degree in business first and then went on to industrial technology.
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  And you're at Maine doing?
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  A two-year degree in civil tech and a bachelor's in civil engineering.
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  So you guys are doing what you were built to do.
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  Yeah, I guess. I mean, it was interesting when we got started,
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  you know, I took the business courses and we kind of thought that that would be my
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  path in the business. But really, my path was out in the field in operations and Brian's was
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  really more in the financial side. And so.
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  Technical side.
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  Technical.
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  Insurance and bonding and all that kind of stuff.
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  Right.
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  We kind of switched.
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  Sounds like a harmony.
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  Wasn't a plan.
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  This wasn't the plan.
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  No. Well, we didn't have a plan. We just did it.
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  We knew we had things to do. We just did it.
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  And you think that served you well?
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  I think so. I mean, we made it for 40 years.
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  At any point, did your dad look at you and say,
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  guys, this isn't going exactly the way.
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  Yeah, he kind of said we were crazy more than once.
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  And you said, where do you think I learned it?
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  Right, right.
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  Where did the crazy come from?
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  Well, we've kind of scaled our business more than he might have. He's a conservative guy.
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  We're conservative guys. But we took on some large projects and did some crazy stuff and
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  made it successful. And he would not have done that probably.
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  Was it because you were young and didn't know any better?
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  And you took on the crazy projects? Or was there any sort of a calculated,
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  if we do this, there's a greater chance at a greater reward?
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  Yeah, it was a risk reward thing. And, you know, just as an example,
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  we did a bunch of structural renovation projects to like gymnasiums.
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  When the energy code changed and we touched the roof, they had to insulate the roof more.
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  So what does that do? It increases the load on the structure.
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  So you have to replace the structure and the roof at the same time.
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  Most of these gyms were hardwood floors. So we'd have to take the roof off and the whole
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  structure and expose it to the sun for a duration of time. And you don't want it to rain or to get
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  wet. And we just pulled through it, took some chances and we won a bunch of times.
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  So it was just...
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  We won a bunch of times. Did you win every time?
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  On those projects we did, yes.
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  Did you at least check the forecast beforehand? Or were you just rolling the dice?
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  Well, you get ahead of steam, you get your stuff going and you just close your eyes and
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  praise the big guy and have a plan, contingent plan, ABC.
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  Were you taking on the crazy projects others wouldn't take on? And did that help you develop
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  a name? Hopefully a good name.
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  I mean, of course, the heart of the job, when you say crazy, it also means difficult. And
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  there's less competition for those projects and the variables are bigger. So the numbers are
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  skewed both ways, depending on how you look at the project.
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  That's the fun part.
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  Right. We've been able to look through those projects and see the end result and how we
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  can get there. And we had some really good team with us. Great employees, contractors.
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  Were they tough to find?
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  Well, we kind of grew most of them. We didn't have a lot of employees when we started.
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  Well, one of our key guys, Kevin, kind of took out of high school and grew him up through the
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  ranks. He's one of our key guys. Another guy we kind of grew, he went to college and kind of
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  pushed him up through the ranks and taught him a lot of stuff. And I think that's been part of
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  our success, is coaching and keeping people healthy, motivated, but giving them the opportunity
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  to do something different if they want to.
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  See, not too long ago, we talked with three of the four Quirk brothers and they talked about
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  finding the team that they needed to work in the service centers. And they go right across
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  the street to Eastern Maine Community College or UTC or right to the high schools. Is there a
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  similar pick and ground for you?
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  Sort of. I mean, our shop is right within a mile of the Nakoma school. So we routinely pull
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  students out of there to come work with us.
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  We've had particular success with people that have maybe grown up on a farm, don't know much
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  about the construction business, can fix things, kind of outdoor guys, and kind of teach them and
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  move them up the line, teach them some skills that they might not have thought they had,
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  and look at the best in people and use that.
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  I don't want to jump ahead too much, but do you still take on the crazy projects? And if so,
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  is that one of the appealing parts to perhaps younger people that are looking
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  for their first chance or next chance at an exciting career?
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  Well, the crazy projects we do, they don't always come up. So our forte is, you know,
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  we're vertical building guys. We're building buildings most of the time. There are crazy
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  projects that we do tackle when they come along. One project we did was a dam. It's like builders
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  who build buildings don't necessarily do dams. But geez, we looked at that and said,
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  yeah, we can do that.
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  Did you go to the library and take out some books and start reading up on this?
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  It was before YouTube and I had some background in engineering. I knew the
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  problems and some of the solutions.
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  You're one of those Home Depot one, two, three books?
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  Yeah. This was before YouTube.
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  Beavers do it all the time. We can do it.
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  So we did. It was just a successful project and we got through it. And you don't see a dam project
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  being built every day around here.
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  No, no. In fact, you kind of see the opposite these days in the state of Maine.
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  I hear more often than not from Mainers, we just figure it out. We may not know how to do it,
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  but we just figure it out. And you are living proof of success in that mindset.
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  Right.
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  Was that the same feeling when the recession came in the 1990s? We'll figure it out.
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  Oh, yeah.
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  I'm not terribly convinced with that answer.
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  Was that the only recession we went through?
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  No, I think we've been through a couple.
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  Oh, yeah. A couple, three, four.
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  And what time is it now? We could be headed to another one any moment now, so.
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  The hammer could drop any minute.
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  Yeah.
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  As Kevin said, I'm the financial guy, so that's the fun part.
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  Can you anticipate them?
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  Uh, you know, part of my job is to look a year ahead or two. And it's, you know,
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  it's not exact science, but it's, you know, commercial business is not as affected by
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  interest rates and everything like that. But it's a more consistent market, I think.
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  But was there a time during the one, I'm thinking back to the 1990s, where
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  at least we had heard tell the tale that there was a time when the two of you were
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  maybe cutting wood that you decided.
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  Oh, yeah. Maybe there's more money in wood.
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  Where were you cutting wood that day?
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  Well, we live on the Filbrook Road in St. Albans.
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  Which is beautiful, especially this time of year.
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  It is. Especially when you get to the end down to the lake.
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  Brian lives about two thirds of the way down. Now, in a new home, I'll say new,
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  we built it new. Before that, he lived in a trailer.
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  Eight foot one.
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  True story.
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  And so we were in that recession and had just finished the Alton School.
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  And we had one of our estimating, I don't know if you'd call it a mistake,
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  but we probably got way too aggressive.
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  Right. A little crazy.
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  Yeah.
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  Needed a job.
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  We needed a job and we spent the year building that school and
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  really didn't end up with much of a profit at the end.
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  So that winter after that school, we were in a recession, of course, in 1990.
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  And then we weren't starving to death, but we didn't have any money, really.
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  Brian had a young family, so we had to generate some kind of income,
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  which we went back to our roots where we work in the woods and generate a little bit of income.
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  One day, a bulldozer that we were using lost a track off the machine in the woods.
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  And of course, that's a problem.
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  Say so.
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  A discouraging problem in the middle of the woods.
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  Can't call AAA for that.
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  Oh, no.
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  And it was cold and snowing and wet.
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  We went up to Brian's house for lunch and dad was there and we just,
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  we had a chat about what our future might be as contractors because of the market.
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  And we decided then and there that we could do it if we put our minds to it.
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  Yeah, that particular job out in school, I was thinking about that last night.
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  I think we had four subcontractors go bankrupt on us.
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  That's right.
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  During that project.
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  During that project.
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  Exactly.
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  We did.
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  That will make your life difficult.
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  It's one thing if you've got some cash to bounce off, but if you don't, it makes it hard.
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  What did your dad say at that lunch?
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  Oh, I don't remember.
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  But I can just imagine.
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  You blacked it out, did you?
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  No, he had complete confidence in us.
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  He had complete confidence in you.
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  Did you have complete confidence in yourself?
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  Well, we had nothing to lose, right?
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  Just time and energy.
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  Was it that you could always go back to cutting wood?
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  Yeah.
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  And that was part of it?
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  Yeah.
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  We could get enough money out of cutting wood on a weekend to buy groceries and keep us going along.
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  Kind of cuts into family time though.
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  Yeah, that's, you know, it does.
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  But you know, I still cut wood today.
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  So it's the same spot.
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  It doesn't stop growing.
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  It doesn't stop growing.
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  Is that school in Elton still standing?
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  It is.
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  I think they're still using it.
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  How do you feel about it when you drive by?
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  Who goes to Elton?
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  Anyone going to Milo?
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  You know, now that Happy Acres is no longer having the hootenanny nights at Elton,
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  you don't go to Elton anymore, do you?
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  Sometimes when we have family on our show, we have a fun little game called Who's More?
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  Who's More?
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  Oh, sure.
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  Okay, so we're going to ask a question.
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  For instance, if it were me and Dan playing, the question would be,
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  who's more likely to drink water at work?
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  I would say Dan.
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  And Dan would say Dan because that's the answer.
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  Yeah, that's the answer.
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  So we're going to ask the question and you have to identify either yourself or your brother
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  by name as you look so comfortable right now as we start this.
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  Well, it should be easy.
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  Oh, really?
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  Okay, because some of the questions are fun.
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  Some are harder than others.
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  Dan, what's the first question for them?
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  Who is more likely to walk onto a job site and immediately spot the one thing nobody else noticed?
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  Three, two, one, answer.
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  Kevin.
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  Yeah, for sure.
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  I think I inherited that from my father.
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  Is that true not just on job sites?
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  Are you just very aware of your surroundings at all times?
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  I think so, yeah.
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  Here's the next question.
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  Who is more likely to say, sure, we can build that before figuring out exactly how?
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  Three, two, one.
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  Brian.
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  Brian.
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  Really?
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  Why?
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  Well, Abby would classify me as the chief idea guy and I come up with a lot of crazy ideas.
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  Can we get confirmation of that, Abby, over in the corners?
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  Is that a thumbs up on the board?
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  Thumbs up.
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  Oh, yeah, hmm.
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  Getting things done takes a positive attitude and I have a positive attitude about most
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  everything and if not everything.
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  You know, that's part of the problem is, you know, saying you can do it.
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  You sound like Bob the Builder right there.
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  Exactly.
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  Can we do it?
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  Yes, you can.
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  Exactly.
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  You know, if you had the hat too, you'd look a little bit like him.
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  The next question is, do we want to do it?
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  Right.
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  Yes, we do.
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  I think I know the answer to the next two just based on the first part of this conversation
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  we've had, but who is more likely to lose sleep over a project being behind schedule?
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  Three, two, one.
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  I think it's equal.
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  I think it's equal.
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  Really?
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  We get behind schedule.
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  Another thing about our dad is that he's a worrywart.
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  Kevin and I do not have to worry about anything because he worries about everything.
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  For you.
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  He's got it all.
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  He's 87.
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  He's got all the worrying done.
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  We don't have to do it anymore.
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  I think it's an equal worry.
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  You know, we worry more about the solutions and that kind of stuff.
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  I thought it'd be the finance guy who would be the one losing sleep at night.
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  I thought that would be the, well, I don't want to give away.
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  I'll answer after the next question.
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  Oh, okay.
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  Here's the next question.
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  Who is more likely to lose sleep over a project being over budget?
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  Three, two, one.
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  Yeah, I think it's equal.
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  I think it's equal.
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  So there's equal worry, even though they're about everything,
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  even though there is sort of a difference in roles.
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  Oh, absolutely.
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  Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
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  Well, I would have gotten the answers wrong.
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  I'm glad we didn't put money on it.
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  Who is more likely to keep an old tool or piece of equipment?
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  Because there's nothing wrong with it.
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  Three, two, one.
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  Kevin.
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  That's for sure.
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  Hold on to it.
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  Oh, yeah.
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  We keep it.
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  We get a big gravel pit.
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  Well, that must be fun on the weekends.
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  You can rent that out to the high school kids.
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  I'm sorry.
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  I went back to high school there just for a moment back in Waldo County.
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  You chose to stick it out through the recession, but there's no guarantee about tomorrow.
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  Where do you find the faith to move forward with whatever's coming tomorrow?
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  Well, you think about we've been faced with just about every
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  problem issue you can think of in the construction business,
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  and we've overcome those successfully to date.
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  So, you know, I think that really feeds.
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  Feeds confidence.
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  Feeds you confidence for tomorrow, you know, for the next day.
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  And if we have a recession, you know, like I told my wife one day, she said,
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  well, what if we go broke?
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  I said, well, we're going to get up and do exactly what we did the last time it happened.
• 19:15
  Go to work.
• 19:16
  Find a solution.
• 19:18
  How do you feel when you're in Ellsworth
• 19:19
  and you're going by that shiny new judicial center?
• 19:22
  The Hall of Justice.
• 19:24
  Well, it's not shining yet, Rick.
• 19:26
  We're just getting it started.
• 19:28
  Oh, you're just starting.
• 19:28
  Yes.
• 19:29
  Oh, it's the site.
• 19:30
  Yes.
• 19:30
  The brand new one.
• 19:31
  Yeah.
• 19:32
  Yeah.
• 19:32
  I've had no cause to be called to court there or all to win a ring.
• 19:36
  So I didn't know.
• 19:37
  I'm a standing gentleman than I am of a community.
• 19:39
  Well, you might get a speeding ticket someday in Ellsworth.
• 19:41
  Might.
• 19:43
  No, we've just been awarded that project.
• 19:47
  It's a brand new facility, 32 million dollar project.
• 19:53
  That's going to replace the very aged place in Ellsworth.
• 19:59
  Has everybody been there?
• 20:00
  It's just a hodgepodge of buildings and mazes of stuff.
• 20:04
  They really, there was a big need there.
• 20:06
  Credit to them for patching it up as well as they did for the years.
• 20:08
  Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 20:09
  That's for sure.
• 20:10
  And so we just got awarded that project.
• 20:15
  And as you may know, we do projects all over the state of that kind of size and smaller
• 20:22
  for sure.
• 20:23
  That's going to be a cool place down there.
• 20:24
  I thought work had already begun on it.
• 20:26
  I'm sorry, I apologize.
• 20:26
  Well, it has started, yeah.
• 20:28
  Oh, okay.
• 20:28
  Yeah, it has started, yeah.
• 20:30
  You have sergeants down there doing earthwork right now.
• 20:32
  When you do drive by places, what are the spots that you say,
• 20:37
  yeah, we had a hand in that and we're pretty darn proud of that?
• 20:40
  Well, one of the projects while we completed last year, it was a hometown health center
• 20:46
  that we completed in Newport, which is, it's a new healthcare center, dentists, doctors,
• 20:54
  all that services through FQHC.
• 20:57
  And we also have a facility for gymnasium and wellness and daycare and all that.
• 21:04
  And that was literally like two miles from our office.
• 21:07
  You play pickleball there?
• 21:08
  Yeah.
• 21:09
  We played last night.
• 21:10
  Still heard it for the last night.
• 21:12
  Oh, yeah.
• 21:13
  I was the chief pickleball court layer outer.
• 21:16
  So it was-
• 21:18
  Add that to your resume.
• 21:19
  Yeah, exactly.
• 21:20
  Pickleball layer outer.
• 21:21
  If anybody needs a pickleball court, you know where the guy is.
• 21:24
  Right, right, right.
• 21:26
  So we drive by that all the time.
• 21:28
  So that's, for the community, that's huge.
• 21:30
  Not physically, it is physically huge, but there's such a huge need in that particular
• 21:37
  demographic area that, you know, the FQHCs, you know, their mission is to service the
• 21:45
  underserviced and provide the healthcare that they need and it kind of works.
• 21:51
  Now, speaking of help for people that need the help, we are familiar with Sarah's house.
• 21:54
  Yes, yeah.
• 21:55
  And either you have a project going, say, I'm scared now, I don't know what you got
• 21:59
  going on and what I don't, but-
• 22:01
  We got a lot going on, Rick.
• 22:02
  I know.
• 22:03
  I can't keep it up with, I can't keep up with that.
• 22:05
  Sarah's house-
• 22:06
  It's in August.
• 22:06
  Between Brewer and Ellsworth and Sarah's house is there for people that need care at
• 22:10
  the big white house of healing, we call it in Brewer.
• 22:12
  Yes.
• 22:13
  And they can come and they can stay at Sarah's house.
• 22:15
  And if I understand this correctly, more people can stay at Sarah's house because of
• 22:18
  a project that you guys completed.
• 22:20
  Well, we're completing.
• 22:21
  See, you're in the middle of it already.
• 22:23
  Right, right.
• 22:23
  Yeah, we're framing it up, putting the elevator shaft in and we started that, what, a couple
• 22:28
  months ago?
• 22:29
  Yeah, I think two months.
• 22:30
  Yeah, yeah.
• 22:30
  So no, it's going to be a really fantastic addition for the people that need it.
• 22:34
  And accessible-
• 22:36
  To the second floor.
• 22:37
  To the second floor for people that, you know, struggle to get up and downstairs.
• 22:41
  Are there some projects that sing more to your heart than others?
• 22:44
  We give back quite a bit to the community.
• 22:46
  We've established this community center in our hometown, St. Albans.
• 22:51
  When the schools consolidated, I think it was in 2018, the school became available.
• 23:00
  It was a really nice building.
• 23:02
  And we were able to acquire that building.
• 23:07
  And my wife had a dream of having a facility or community center that represented our son
• 23:17
  who passed from cancer.
• 23:19
  And so we support that totally, make it happen.
• 23:25
  And she runs it every day.
• 23:28
  And it's really her dream.
• 23:30
  Yeah, it's a community center that we really didn't have in St. Albans.
• 23:36
  It's where we were born and brought up.
• 23:38
  And it's basically open to the community for no cost.
• 23:41
  We put in a workout room, and we play pickleball.
• 23:46
  And seniors come to there for Friday coffee and this wine tasting this Friday.
• 23:53
  We're going to have St. Albans days, and they're going to have art shows, car shows, and-
• 24:00
  Quilt show.
• 24:00
  Quilt shows.
• 24:02
  And-
• 24:02
  It's always good this time of year when it's so warm and we're recording.
• 24:05
  And so we're financially able to do that and give to other communities that some aren't
• 24:13
  able to or want to, and we do.
• 24:17
  For those that don't know, what is the name of this facility?
• 24:22
  It's the Jonathan Bowman Center for Enrichment.
• 24:26
  And so I want to ask you if there's a project you drive by that sings to your heart.
• 24:31
  I think we know what it is.
• 24:32
  It does.
• 24:33
  For sure.
• 24:34
  But we didn't build it.
• 24:35
  One of our competitors did.
• 24:37
  I'm sorry, what?
• 24:39
  Well, just saying.
• 24:40
  It was an existing school, actually.
• 24:43
  Yeah.
• 24:43
  So someone else built it, but you made it into what it is today.
• 24:45
  You had to fix it up.
• 24:46
  Yeah, we repurposed it.
• 24:47
  You had to patch up their-
• 24:48
  I've seen Flip This House, right?
• 24:50
  It's an interesting story, if you want to tell it.
• 24:52
  Actually, one of the guys that built it was from Old Town.
• 24:56
  Oh.
• 24:57
  P.J. Selinsky.
• 24:58
  Oh, yeah.
• 24:59
  Yeah.
• 25:00
  What a small world.
• 25:01
  Fabulous builder.
• 25:02
  Yeah.
• 25:03
  He, let's see, I think it was 1981, he came to St. Albans.
• 25:09
  The project was out to bid.
• 25:10
  And of course, our family was in the construction business, and we bid the project as well.
• 25:15
  Pete actually beat us by, I think it was $2,000.
• 25:19
  And they ended up building it.
• 25:22
  And that same fall, we went to Treats Falls and took a project in Old Town.
• 25:34
  You take that, Selinsky.
• 25:36
  I'll take that one.
• 25:38
  That's called efficiency.
• 25:42
  That must have been an awkward.
• 25:44
  You guys, you guys love St. Albans.
• 25:47
  Right.
• 25:48
  It's your hometown.
• 25:49
  Yeah, yeah.
• 25:49
  You bid on a project in your hometown, $2,000, and then went with the other guy?
• 25:54
  Yeah.
• 25:54
  Hell, yeah.
• 25:55
  It's a public bid.
• 25:57
  It has to go that way.
• 25:59
  Did you guys toot and wave on your way by?
• 26:03
  We were pretty young at that point.
• 26:05
  That's one of those crazy projects we talk about.
• 26:07
  Right, right.
• 26:08
  I would go by during, you did the, what's now the Main St. Vincent Amphitheater at the
• 26:13
  Waterfront Concerts.
• 26:14
  Yes.
• 26:15
  And I would go by it every day.
• 26:17
  Yeah, and I would go by it every day.
• 26:18
  And I remember seeing your banner with your logo on it.
• 26:21
  And I remember thinking, as I would go by it and see it kind of change a little bit
• 26:26
  every day into what it is now.
• 26:28
  First of all, I'm proud that that facility is in my hometown because it brings people
• 26:32
  from Portland North.
• 26:34
  Right.
• 26:34
  Which is lovely.
• 26:36
  Huge.
• 26:36
  You know there's only a one-way road, and it doesn't go.
• 26:39
  That's right.
• 26:40
  They have to drive all the way around the world to get back to Portland.
• 26:42
  Exactly.
• 26:43
  But the, but it just, I remember thinking, because I'm a runner, so I'd run by it every
• 26:49
  day.
• 26:50
  And I remember thinking that how proud I was of it.
• 26:53
  And there was one moment where I drove by, or ran by, and I was thinking, I wonder how
• 26:56
  proud they are of this.
• 26:58
  Think of the people who have been on that stage, been a part of your work.
• 27:02
  Everybody from Bob Dylan to Tool.
• 27:05
  I mean, just like the gamut of entertainers.
• 27:09
  Right, right.
• 27:09
  It's a complete awesome facility, and kudos to the owner and the designer who conceived
• 27:16
  that.
• 27:17
  We were a small part of that.
• 27:19
  We were the building guys, right?
• 27:20
  And we kind of pieced it together.
• 27:22
  If you've seen the buildings, there's five or six or whatever they are.
• 27:25
  We kind of built those and their specialty uses.
• 27:28
  And yeah, what a showcase for Maine.
• 27:30
  Right.
• 27:31
  It was an intense build because of the timing and the time span.
• 27:35
  If not one building, I think there was five there, wasn't there?
• 27:40
  Wasn't there five separate buildings?
• 27:41
  Five or six or whatever.
• 27:42
  Railroad.
• 27:43
  It all blended together.
• 27:44
  Railroad side and Main Street side, and the bath down at the entry building, and then
• 27:50
  the food bars up top.
• 27:53
  And then, yeah, there's five.
• 27:55
  It was a fun project because it was spatially challenged.
• 27:59
  There was a lot going on all at the same time, and not everybody knew what everybody was
• 28:03
  doing because of this, that, and the other thing.
• 28:05
  But we kind of worked through all that stuff, and it's pretty awesome.
• 28:10
  Made it happen, right?
• 28:11
  I love Bangor, and I love being here.
• 28:13
  And I really love it when friends of mine come from any part of the state, and they have
• 28:18
  nice things to say about Bangor.
• 28:19
  And I have heard nothing but good things about that facility.
• 28:22
  Yeah, yeah.
• 28:23
  You came in separate vehicles today.
• 28:25
  I thought you might be coming in the same vehicle.
• 28:28
  Is the fact you came in separate vehicles any indication that, as brothers, sometimes,
• 28:32
  I'm going to be brave, you don't get along?
• 28:35
  Yeah, no.
• 28:36
  Yeah, no.
• 28:36
  That's not true at all.
• 28:37
  Yeah.
• 28:38
  No.
• 28:38
  No, we get along great.
• 28:40
  Yeah.
• 28:41
  We have lunch, not every day, but when we're both in Newport, we have lunch together, we
• 28:45
  play pickleball together, we golf together, we live side by side almost.
• 28:51
  You don't get sick of each other?
• 28:53
  No.
• 28:55
  No, we don't.
• 28:56
  That wasn't one of the questions we're going to ask, but that's okay.
• 28:58
  We might add it to the list here in a second.
• 28:59
  No, we're, you know.
• 29:01
  Just enough distance?
• 29:02
  Just enough.
• 29:03
  Because some people would go crazy having to work.
• 29:06
  I got to be careful.
• 29:07
  My wife might listen to this, but some people would go crazy having to work with relatives.
• 29:11
  Well, some do.
• 29:12
  Yeah.
• 29:14
  We're lucky.
• 29:15
  I mean, Kevin's the older brother, I'm the middle brother.
• 29:18
  We have a younger brother, David, who is, he's not an owner, but he works for us, and
• 29:23
  he's kind of out in the field.
• 29:24
  And we have other relatives, in-laws, outlaws that work for us.
• 29:29
  We are, that's part of our success, is getting along to get it done.
• 29:34
  And we don't have any issues.
• 29:36
  What's the secret to that?
• 29:38
  Oh, you just have to learn how to live with each other's quirks and deficiencies.
• 29:44
  I'm not looking over at Dan.
• 29:46
  Is Dan looking over at me right now?
• 29:47
  I'm really trying not to make eye contact with him.
• 29:49
  It's obvious.
• 29:50
  That's a question that answers itself.
• 29:51
  But did that start with your parents?
• 29:54
  No, I don't think it was.
• 29:56
  Kevin and I, for some reason, we've always worked together.