Webb Construction Testimonial
Anthony with Bender Lumber's Tyler Conway.
By Ben Watters
Growing up as a preacher's kid has its challenges. Anthony Webb of Webb Construction spent his early years as the son of a traveling evangelist. Traveling from church to church, his family's financial burdens rested on the "Love Offerings" offered up as Orlow Webb held revival services.
Anthony can remember the struggle it was for his mother to keep the cupboards full considering the limited funds. He still visualizes her, on her knees, in prayer when the shelves were empty. Through the hard times, they did not go hungry and remained strong.
As a sideline and a way to supplement their income, the family would take on remodeling and building projects. Doing these jobs from start to finish is where Anthony learned his skillset. Anthony remembers when he returned to Bedford from college and bought a vacant lot adjacent to their home. The family pulled together to build a spec house. This led to one new build after another as friends and neighbors recognized the quality of the homes and requested their services.
Orlow raised his family using the biblical principle "If you don't work you should not eat". This might be hard to understand but it fostered a work ethic in Anthony that holds true today.
By the late 1990's Anthony was on his own, his business was going strong with mostly new construction projects. Anthony and his crews were building the homes from start to finish. This, of course, meant Anthony was limited in how many he could build. Soon he began to realize his efforts could multiply by finding a few good subcontractors. Anthony could still oversee each project, but his company could grow with demand.
This went well until the economic downturn in late 2006 and 2007. Suddenly, Anthony found himself with the inability to meet his financial obligations. Subcontractors and suppliers all needed to collect but where could he find the funding?
Remembering seeing his mother, Anthony found himself seeking divine intervention while parked along a country road. Soon he got a text. Divine? Well, maybe. It was a good friend who felt like he needed to encourage Anthony. It did! After this experience, Anthony met with Bender Lumber company owner John Bender to develop a plan to attack his debt over time. By partnering in this way, Anthony was able to continue as a general contractor, recover from the stalled economy, and pay his debt.
Bender Lumber partnered with Webb Construction then, and we are still partnering today. Anthony trusts his Bender Lumber Customer Sales Representative, Tyler Conway, and Store Manager, Melissa Hilkey. Anthony says, "They always go the extra mile for me". Anthony has learned much from those years and now balances his cash flow more along with the "Dave Ramsey" school of thought.
The future is bright for Webb Construction with a current backlog of projects to do. We look forward to a long and successful partnership well into the new millennium.