1. What are the most challenging and rewarding aspects of your job and why?
The rewards are plentiful. I get to work on old historic buildings, on green buildings, and with community-minded business owners. I feel a deep sense of pride when I drive by Willy Street Co-op, Umami Restaurant, Hotel Ruby Marie, or many other projects knowing I helped create these places. It is also very rewarding to be a repeat contractor for an owner. That means that we, Bachmann Construction, have proven ourselves, have done well, and are wanted back. The challenges are plentiful, too. There is always the cost of the project, the schedule of the project, and the quality of the project. Bachmann has a team of great craftspeople and tradespeople, and our suppliers and subcontractors are team players whom we have worked with for decades, so I have strong confidence in all of them.
Sometimes the schedule the owners of a project want is unrealistic, or the price is unrealistic. I’ve had owners think that they can do a $500,000 project for $250,000, and have it done in three weeks. It’s a challenge to communicate to owners –– without offending them –– that their expectations are unrealistic. Sometimes, the construction means and methods pose challenges. We did work on the State Street restoration last summer, near Library Mall, and the concrete form work was very difficult. We talked to several large concrete companies who did not know how they would form the curved and profiled walls. After talking to many folks in the trades, we finally located a foam fabricator who made us negative form shapes for the concrete forms. It all worked out great. It was challenging and rewarding at the same time. As spring draws near, students and pedestrians are going to love the new feel and look, especially after the landscaping is complete.
2. Who do you look up to or admire in business and why?
Dan Stein, who heads Second Harvest, is a businessman who gave up his corporate business career to run Second Harvest. He was a banker and a CEO for many years, and for several businesses, but gave that all up –– probably along with a higher salary –– so he could work for Second Harvest. When I asked Dan why he gave up his lucrative business career he said he decided he wanted to make a difference instead of making a profit. He makes a great difference in our community.
3. What has been the high point of your career so far?
To date, the high point of my construction career was being the project manager for the Resilience Research Center, located on the south side of Madison. This building was built to LEED Platinum standards and is full of wonderful community inspiration and unique character, including vegetable gardens all over the four-acre site, aquaponics, greenhouses, and wood trim harvested from trees on site that were removed for construction. And it houses the Badger Rock School, where local kids walk to school instead of being bussed all over the city.
All that said, I am extremely excited about an upcoming project that our team was recently selected for, and that I will be managing if all things proceed as anticipated. The project is the Garver Feed Mill renovation in Madison, located behind Olbrich Gardens, and it will involve bringing together many local food/beverage/product makers into one building where they will synergistically create their products. There will be a small retail area, along with a café, that will sell products made right at Garver. Coffee, ice cream, chocolate, urban wood products, beer, and cider are just a few of the products that will be made in the Garver Feed Mill.
Additionally, the project will incorporate 30 to 50 tiny homes that will be used for eco tourist lodging. Imagine staying in a 300-square-foot tiny home for a night or two on the east side of Madison, and walking to the Barrymore, kayaking the Starkweather Creek, and strolling through the Olbrich Botanical Gardens. This development is the most innovative I have seen in 15 to 20 years in the Dane County area.
4. What would you say are the best things about living and working in Dane County?
Many people think Madison and Dane County are very monolithic, but I think the opposite. Madison and Dane County are very diverse. Geographically, the eastern part of the county is glaciated and relatively flat, while the western part of the county is in the Driftless Area, and is very hilly and rugged. Of course, Madison has lakes, bike paths and ski trails. The people in Dane County are also diverse, with lots of electricians and carpenters living right next to biotech scientists and professors. I love this diversity. Dane County, for the most part, is less judgmental than other counties, and I truly enjoy living and working with people who are culturally, socially, economically, spiritually, and politically diverse.
5. Do you have any secret talents or abilities that people would be surprised to discover?
I have a front yard farm at my home on the west side of Madison. I plant about 1,500 square feet of vegetable garden each year, including all the staples like tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, and greens, but I also plant some of the more unusual vegetables like tomatillos, Swiss chard, beets, parsnips, and spaghetti squash. I also have four chickens that free range in the yard whenever possible. My neighbors love this front yard farm (of course, I give them vegetables and eggs) and it helps creates a great community. I meet many people who walk by my house and just start talking to me while I’m tending my garden. When we moved to this house it only took a few years to convince my wife, Tammy, that I needed to convert the front yard lawn, which was the only part of our lot that got sun, into the vegetable garden that I affectionately call my front yard farm.
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