Northern Nevada Business Weekly: Tell us about your company, Metcalf Builders.
Tom Metcalf: MBI was started in 1995 with two employees, my father and myself. At present MBI has grown to 30 full-time employees. MBI is a commercial general contractor specializing in negotiated projects from Hawaii to Florida. To date MBI has built close to 1,000 hotel beds and 1,000 skilled nursing facility and acute hospital beds.
NNBW: What role do you play in the company?
Metcalf: I'm hands on. I'm the first contact with new clients and always available to meet a client on the project site.
NNBW: What kind of boss are you?
Metcalf: I'm available to my staff and clients. Being in the commercial building business for 35 years, my door is always open to help solve problems and support the team.
NNBW: How did you get into this profession?
Metcalf: I'm a fourth-generation carpenter. I was raised in a construction family. My great-grandfather moved houses at the turn of the last century. My grandfather built movie stars' homes in Bel Air before World Ward II. My father was a high-rise superintendent in California and Hawaii.
NNBW: What do you enjoy about it?
Metcalf: I like to see the progress of a project from conception to completion. The satisfaction of being involved in a successfully completed project never gets old.
NNBW: What do you find annoying or frustrating about it?
Metcalf: When people over-promise and under-deliver. It takes time and energy to get back on track.
NNBW: If you could have had any other profession what would it have been? Why wasn't it your first choice?
Metcalf: I enjoy cooking, so owning and cooking in my own restaurant. It was not my first choice because I could never have thought of doing anything else other than building.
NNBW: What effect has the changing economic environment had on your company?
Metcalf: Just like the rest of the industry, MBI has felt the effects. We are down in volume and have had to reduce staff accordingly.
NNBW: How do you spend your time away from the office? Why are these activities important to you?
Metcalf: I have played softball with the same guys for 16 seasons in Carson City. We come from all walks of life and enjoy the time we spend together. I try to play golf with my father as much as I can on the weekends. My children are all in college, so my wife and I like to take weekend trips together.
NNBW: Do you have a favorite vacation memory?
Metcalf: There are so many I can't think of just one.
NNBW: Who were your childhood heroes?
Metcalf: My father. Ever since I can remember my dad was always my best friend and mentor. He was firm but fair. He gave me the skills to be a carpenter and was a good athlete but never took it so serious that he prevented it from being fun. I have always taken that to heart.
NNBW: What school activities and sports did you participate in?
Metcalf: I played football and baseball. Raised in Hawaii I also paddled outrigger canoes competitively.
NNBW: What's the best advice anyone ever gave you?
Metcalf: My father told me early on that no matter what I pursued, I should always strive to do my best.
NNBW: What is the one thing you most want people to remember about you?
Metcalf: That I always have strived to do my best.
The basics:
Name: Tom Metcalf
Professional position: Metcalf Builders Inc., CEO
How long have you been in this job? Since November 1995
How long in the profession? Since April of 1974, about 35 years
Education: BS, College of Engineering, School of Construction Management, Arizona State University, 1980
Best book you've read? "The Pillars of the Earth" by Ken Follett
What's on your iPod? Don't own one
The best movie ever? "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy
