Business Spotlight: Alec Shellabarger, President & CEO of Arcon Builders

TODD: Hello everybody and welcome to today's Business Spotlight. I'm your host Todd Rodden. I'm a certified executive and business coach. I own Aspire ActionCOACH based here in Southwest Ohio. We're thrilled to have you join us on this series — a really compelling story of a second-generation leader in the construction business. Alec Shellabarger is the president and CEO of Arcon Builders, a proven provider of both commercial and residential construction here in the region. He's going to tell us more about that story. If you're new to the series, we're thrilled to have you join us — we encourage you to hit the subscribe button so you can receive future messages. So without further ado, Alec Shellabarger of Arcon Builders, welcome to the Business Spotlight. If you could take a minute, tell us a little more about your background, why construction, and Arcon.

ALEC: Yeah, absolutely. First off, I want to thank you, Todd, for having me on. Arcon Builders was established in 1985 by my father. Originally TNR Construction — him and his brother started it. We incorporated in the mid-90s. We were a residential contractor through the 90s and 2000s with a little commercial sprinkled in. I joined the business part-time during summers in the mid-2000s and full-time around 2014, and worked alongside my dad and uncles as the company grew — superintendent, project manager, estimator, vice president, and then most recently, as of the turn of this calendar year, I moved into the role of President and CEO. That transition was something my father Tim — who now serves as CFO — and I worked on together for about three years of succession planning. It's been a very positive transition, but it definitely takes time. Today we operate both residential and commercial. Historically we are a residential contractor, but commercial now makes up about 85% of our annual revenue. We serve both the public and private sector commercially — working with local jurisdictions, the State of Ohio, some federal projects, and private industry throughout the Miami Valley. Residentially, we're mainly a custom home builder. We have a few developments of our own in Arcanum and Brookville, but most of what we do is single-family custom housing.

TODD: Building on that — there are a lot of builders and construction firms out there. What do you think separates Arcon from the other players in the market?

ALEC: I would say it's our focus on experience. At the end of the day, that is our mission — to provide the best experience for our customers, vendors, and employees. We truly embody that in both divisions. Even in the public market, where it's more heads-down and on the ground, we still focus on the relationship with the owner, the architecture firm, and our trade partners. When it comes to custom homes, from the very onset of the project — whether it's providing renderings, a walkthrough, making it personal — we want it to truly feel like an experience. A lot of our marketing is word of mouth, and that's because of the experience we create. Construction comes with hurdles — we're guaranteed to run into obstacles. But it's not about the obstacle, it's about how you react to it. We try to create that team mentality and push through it hand-in-hand with the owner and design firm, rather than just pushing through it ourselves or leaving them to manage it alone.

TODD: Yeah. And if you're building a new house or a new facility for your business, there are a thousand and one things going through your head. It can be a very stressful time. Having a building partner who can really focus on your experience and handle the obstacles so you don't have to — that really can change the experience. Sounds like a great win. You mentioned the power of word of mouth. As you've grown, how have you encouraged that — and are there other marketing strategies that have really borne fruit for you?

ALEC: Word of mouth was probably 90% of our marketing five years ago. On the residential side, it just continued to flow in. We had a lot of good local partners and the referrals went a long way. As we pushed into commercial — which has grown from just a few percent of the business to 85% — that's been a different story, especially in the private commercial sector. The public sector is a little easier — it's mostly low-bid or qualifications-based. But we've really had to push into marketing. On-site marketing has been a big thing — I hear more times than not, “You guys are all over the place. I see your signs south of Dayton and north of Salina.” Making your presence known visually on job sites has been significant. We've also embraced social media in a real way over the last few years. We created a dedicated marketing team and a lot of their focus is LinkedIn and other platforms. We've had a lot of traction recently from reels — content that creates interaction by being relatable to people, not just specific to our industry. Construction marketing content only speaks to somebody who's looking to build. But relatable content speaks to everyone.

TODD: I love that. The relatable content — could you go a little deeper? Share an example of a post that really highlights that.

ALEC: Absolutely. We had one recently that got a little over four million views, a lot of shares. It had nothing to do with construction at all. It was a video of me and it said, “He's going to leave at 5” — and then it stopped — “Two hours later, he's still at the office. He skipped lunch.” So it's just something a lot of people can relate with. We often have plans and desires of our own, and then the workload creeps in. That type of content isn't posting pictures of projects or speaking to constructibility — it's marketing to the fact of just interaction. More people see it, they like it, it gets reposted to another 10,000 people, and they're like, “Oh yeah, actually I saw that video of you.” Most people aren't always in the mindset of ‘I want to build a house’ or ‘I want to put up a new building.’ But they're always like, yeah, the workload's a lot and there's a lot going on. Most CEOs and presidents could identify with that one post.

TODD: I'm curious — you talked about how the business shifted to more of a commercial focus over time. A lot of businesses struggle with how to niche down and focus on certain targets. What were the factors that drove that direction?

ALEC: When I specifically got into the business, I had no interest in residential construction at all. So when the opportunity was presented to me to be part of Arcon, I kind of voiced that — and it was met with, “Hey, let's try the commercial side.” I had the support on the commercial side, and with my age, drive, and ability, that's what pushed us in that direction. We still do the same volume of residential that we've done for the last five to ten years — not a lot of movement there. But there is a lot of opportunity in commercial, and as I've grown the team around that, it's just exploded. It was really opportunity plus my drive and investment interest aligning.

TODD: Thanks for sharing that background. Every leadership journey has some twists and turns, some hills and valleys. What was a past challenge in the last five years or so that you and the team had to overcome — and what did you learn from it?

ALEC: I would say the biggest one is something that any startup or first-generation company faces — you often get into it flying by the seat of your pants. Cowboying it, if you will. A big thing we've been working through and found a lot of success in is systematizing the company — really putting SOPs in place and creating structure so that it's ultimately scalable. When you come from that early-stage environment, a lot of knowledge lives in individuals' heads but it's not on paper. It's been about taking that knowledge, getting it on paper, and then being able to multiply from it.

TODD: Yeah. A perfect example of a core need for scaling. So as we sit here today, what's a challenge you and the team have in front of you right now?

ALEC: It's continuing on the SOPs. That's something we continue to work through as we onboard new management software, and every time you roll that out, it changes everything. Something I always say — and I use it because we're in construction — the road to success is always under construction. Once you think you've got all the systematization in place and the SOPs locked in and you're operating well, then you onboard new software and you have to start back over. Right now we're in a major growth period — actively trying to grow the team — and we know that if we don't have the right SOPs in place, we won't be able to plug and play new individuals and onboard them successfully. Plenty of work, plenty of market share. But we have to have the people, and the people need to be set up to succeed.

TODD: Building on that — team is essential, as you just said. There's having the onboarding process, but there's also the ability to attract great talent and to grow and retain the people you have. What are some keys to your success there?

ALEC: One thing is we are intentional with our hiring. Most of the individuals who have joined our team in the last two to three years were sought out. Very rarely is there a resume dropped off that becomes a long-term hire. We're a company of 32 people. We're a construction manager at the end of the day — we don't self-perform anything, we manage the process. So we're hiring people in management positions. When you're hiring for management, you want to be actively looking for people you've worked with who manage well. Most of the hires we've made in the last five years have been people we've worked with for years. I earmark that individual and there comes a time that I'm going to offer them a job, or at least plant the seed: if you're ever looking to make a move, reach out. We're always hiring, always looking to grow somebody. If you align with who we are — our morals, ethics, beliefs, you do what you say you're going to do — there's always an opportunity. We seek top performers. And oftentimes the phone rings a couple months later, or even years later, and it's, “Hey, it wasn't the right time then, but now it is.” When you're intentional with the hire, they feel that value. I mean, when I reach out to them, they're like, “Wow, I'm already valued and I'm not even on the team yet.” Retention is based on valuing the employee and giving them a platform to be heard — and then truly listening. Don't ask the question if you're not going to do something about it. When you ask for input and then do nothing, you actually hurt your credibility. At that point they stop talking, stop opening up, stop investing in the company, because what they have to say isn't valued. True retention is found in value. People will always be able to make more money somewhere else — the grass is greener on the other side. But when you value somebody, give them a platform, and create real ownership for them in their work and their development, that's what creates retention.

TODD: Thank you for sharing those examples — both on how to recruit and onboard great talent, and on reinforcing the culture once they're there. As you look forward, what's your vision for the business long term — five, ten years down the road?

ALEC: We're going to continue to push the commercial side. Our residential demographic, being based in Arcanum, is in an area that isn't highly populated, so there are some constraints there. We're always looking at development opportunities and we'll continue to do so. But commercially, we're going to continue to extend our footprint and push hard into the private sector. Our goal is to continue building more relationships on the design-build side of things and getting in with industry-leading organizations like Crown Equipment Corporation — clients that value the experience you bring to the table. The public market is the backbone of who we are, and we'll never leave it — because we saw during COVID what happens when the private sector stops spending. The public sector kept going. We actually grew 128% in our COVID year. That diversity creates a recession-proof business. Our goal is to always maintain at least 50% of our commercial work in the public sector for exactly that reason.

TODD: You've been in the business a while — grew up in it, and now you've taken the reins as President and CEO. What advice would you share with others about what you've learned in making that transition?

ALEC: The biggest thing — and I know it sounds like a squeaky wheel here — is the people. Truly valuing the people. Understanding that any business is likely no business without them. I know there's a continued push around AI replacing people, but that human interaction — the relational side of things — that's what we desire as human beings. Don't chase the almighty dollar or success over the value of the people who got you there. My passion isn't really construction, if I'm honest. I enjoy it, but it wasn't like I dreamed of being in construction growing up. It was the platform my father offered me. My passion is business, workforce development, finding inefficiencies and making them efficient — figuring out what somebody is struggling with and giving them the training or opportunity to become confident in what they're doing. Now in my role as President and CEO, I just finished year-end reviews with all 31 employees. We set goals for 6 months and 12 months and check in regularly — just trying to help people identify where they want to improve and what that looks like. I'm very passionate about both personal and professional life. We spend as much or more time in our professional lives as we do in our personal lives. If one of those is out of balance, it's going to impact the other. When both are healthy, you enjoy life in general.

TODD: Thank you for that. We were talking offline before we started recording and you're a very active learner and reader. Is there a book or podcast that's been influential for you recently?

ALEC: As of recent, I'm currently reading Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek. It was actually given to me as a Christmas gift a year ago and I hadn't gotten to it until recently. I've been referencing it in conversations and three to five people have just said, “That's from Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek!” It just resonates with a lot of people. I'm about two-thirds of the way through. For a podcast, I've been listening to the Construction Leading Edge Podcast with Todd DeWalt for the last three-plus years. It's mainly focused around the residential construction industry, but he speaks heavily on systematization, nailing the handoff, and a lot of things that just hit home for us. That podcast has really created the drive and clarity when it comes to systematizing the company.

TODD: Thank you for those specific examples. Alec, as we get close to wrapping up — what are the best ways for folks to get connected with you and Arcon?

ALEC: Absolutely. Our website is Arconbuilders.com. We're on all social media platforms — LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram. And you can reach our office at 937-692-6330. Ask for Alec. I'd be happy to connect, whether it's on a business or personal level. Networking doesn't just have to be a business opportunity — always interested, always willing to sit down.

TODD: Encourage folks to check out the website, social media, and give Alec a call. So as we wrap up today, what are you inspired by?

ALEC: Going back to the people. When you truly listen to someone and value them, the amount of ownership they take — and the growth potential that creates — is remarkable. I'm inspired by the people of Arcon every single day. I'm very thankful and grateful for them, and I thank God every day that I can come to work in a place where I'm valued as a leader and can reciprocate that value. I'm inspired by the people.

TODD: Lots of inspiration from you today as well. Thank you for sharing your story and the Arcon Builders story with us. Thank you.

ALEC: Thank you, Todd. It's been a pleasure.

TODD: And to our viewers — we're thrilled to have you join us. Please hit the like button to help spread the message, and if you haven't already, hit subscribe so you can receive future inspiring messages like you heard from Alec today. Have a terrific day.