Where Did CBMS Come From?
In 1979, Bill Schoen founded his custom homebuilding company, Bridgewater Construction, Inc. Through the 1980’s and 1990’s, the company grew to be recognized as the premier builder of high-end residential homes in northwest Ohio. Bill was an early adapter of integrated, computerized management software (BuildSoft) in the mid 80’s, and was well-known for his management and construction innovations while designing and building more than 250 homes over 25 years. After a number of years in the Marine Corps, Nate joined his father’s company in 2001.
Bridgewater Construction has been recognized nationally with feature stories in Professional Builder (Mid-June 1987) and Custom Builder (September 1997) magazines, and recognition as ‘National Builder of the Month’ in Custom Builder (November 1989). Local awards include the Home Builders Association of Greater Toledo “Home of the Year” (1999 & 2000) and “Builder of the Year” (2001).
As members of Builder 20 Club #11 ‘The Craftsmen’, a National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) peer group program, Bill and Nate concluded that the common lack of basic organizational structure and management systems was at the heart of most issues confronted by Custom Home Builders. In 2003, the Builder 20 administrators came to a similar conclusion: there really was no “School for Builders”. The administrators then asked Bridgewater Construction to put together a template for basic organizational processes, and outline necessary operational systems so that each club could follow a similar process in learning and sharing ideas within a proven business template.
The ensuing systems and processes that were written, developed and improved over the next two years by Bill and Nate, grew into Custom Builder Management Solutions (CBMS). Bill subsequently retired and Nate drew down Bridgewater Construction operations, finally closing the construction company and reforming Bridgewater Consulting LLC in Beaufort, South Carolina (headquarters of all current operations).