Montelongo
Shaping the Future
Ask around a little, and you'll find that the name Montelongo is well-known in San Antonio. That's partly because the remodeling and building firm, Montelongo Homes and Remodeling, has been around since 1977 and is one of the top in the city. But it's also due in great part to Rick Montelongo, the son of the founder. A successful businessman, community leader and industry activist, he's about to make Montelongo a well-known name around the state when he takes over as President of the Texas Association of Builders in November.
Montelongo, 44, hasmore than 30 years experience in the building and remodeling industry thanks to working at his father's remodeling firm from the time he was 12. After spending a couple of years doing commercial construction in Cancun, Mexico, he took over his father's business in 1993 and expanded its focus from residential remodeling to high-end custom remodeling and custom homebuilding.He grew the company quickly and capably to become one of themost respected and most award winning firms in South Texas, then expanded even further in 2002 by opening a commercial division that is now on track to outperform the residential division by a factor of four.
Clients of the company praise it for its commitment to quality work and its high level of talent. Montelongo credits this overwhelmingly positive client feedback to the company's philosophy of C.A.N.I.?ConstantAnd Never-ending Improvement.
"In order to continue to grow, you have to continue to improve everything about your business including your service, your systems, your processes, your team and your service after the project," saysMontelongo. "C.A.N.I. makes sure we're on a constant movement to improve everything about our company.We continue to evolve every single year. We're never content with where we are."
Because of Montelongo's focus on luxury homes, the company's remodeling and building projects are truly spectacular. "We have done remodeling projects that had budgets of $1 million plus, and we have built homes that met or exceeded that amount," Montelongo says. As a true design/build firm, Montelongo Homes and Remodeling has completed jobs that run the style gamut, from Texas Hill Country to elegantMediterranean to sleek contemporary. In addition, the company has an interior designer on staff to help clients make the most of their newly renovated or newly built homes. It is these attributes that not only bring in clients but also make referrals from happy clients the company's number one source of business.
In 2001, one ofMontelongo's more spectacular and challenging projects garnered national attention when it was featured on the HGTV series "Generation Renovation." The project, which took a little more than a year to complete, involved the renovation and remodeling of a 1950s ranch home that the new owner didn't want to tear down.
"It would have been cheaper and much easier to just bring it down and start over, but for sentimental reasons, the owner chose not to do that," says Montelongo. Instead, the company designed a sleek, new look for the home, added a second story and turned it into a showpiece that the owner enthusiastically describes as her "dream home." The project was featured on HGTV from 2001 to 2005.
In the late 1990s, after years of what he describes as "letting someone else take care of it," Montelongo decided it was time to get more involved in shaping the future of his community and his industry. He joined committees, introduced himself to local politicians and began paying attention to the issues and who was behind them. Then in 2005, Montelongo launched a new chapter in his career when he became President of the Greater San Antonio Builders Association.
After successfully leading GSABA for a year, he was asked to run for secretary of TAB in 2006. In 2007, he was elected first vice president of TAB, the last step before becoming president.
One of the projects Montelongo is most passionate about is the one he helped create and has led for the past two years: Vision 20/20, an outreach program to engage minority owned construction businesses in the industry and in the political process, connect them to their legislators and assist them in running their businesses more efficiently.
"With the continually changing demographics in the state and the nation, we realized that as an industry we had fallen short with respect to our outreach to minority business owners in the homebuilding industry,"Montelongo says. "Because our demographics have changed, businesses have changed, and business owners are changing. There's a new population of business owners who for the most part have not been reached but who need assistance, need direction, need to feel connected."
Montelongo goes on to say that numbers create strength, and if the industry can engage these folks in the issues, it creates greater numbers and better results when it comes to issues such as legislation and building standards and codes. "We're creating new associations around the state in small cities that don't have associations or affiliation with TAB, and we're helping them set these up," Montelongo says. "Our most recent is Harlingen, and we have our sights on two new ones in 2008. We have plans to visit the border towns to update them on the new rules and regulations, and provide new contract training."
Although he's still a few months away from taking over as president of TAB,Montelongo is already working hard to hit the ground running when he gets in office. "Our industry is constantly under attack. Our main battles are at the capitol, and I want to be at the forefront," he says. "My 2009 presidency will be during a legislative year for the state, and it will be a key year. The legislature will be reviewing the TRCC to see if it's viable and whether it will continue, so we're already working with the legislators this year."
Montelongo pinpoints this as the main concern in 2009. "We have to be in the trenches," he says. "I have a political philosophy regarding our public officials, whether it's a city councilperson, or a state or federal legislator, that whoever educates them better on the issues wins the battle."
Montelongo also has plans to get more companies actively involved in TAB. "As an industry, politics is a contact sport and everybody has to be engaged in the process, from the small 'mom and pop' companies to the large Fortune 500 companies." The next two years will be busy for Montelongo, to say the least.
"We feel very strongly that we will have continued growth in our companies, even in a down market," he says. "We've got projects in the pipeline, we've got expansion plans and we'll continue to improve systems. At the same time, my other focus will be on my responsibilities on behalf of the industry. It's going to be a busy couple of years, but I'm ready for it."
