We recently connected with Gene Myers and have shared our conversation below.

Gene, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.

I am a green homebuilder in Denver, Colorado. In 1992 I launched my company, long before people knew the “green” I was aspiring to. I am a part of a huge industry, dominated by very large builders. It is also a cyclical industry that ebbs and flows with mortgage interest rates and economic trends. An interesting paradox that I have learned is that sometimes taking certain perceived risks actually reduces greater ones.

From the beginning, my company built a durable brand that delivered energy efficiency, including homes that generate enough power with rooftop solar to offset the entire annual energy use in the home. We couldn’t have foreseen the building code advancements that would require all builders to become more energy efficient, but when those codes were adopted, we were ready.

A few years before the pandemic we added healthy indoor air quality to our brand attributes. We couldn’t have foreseen the emphasis on health in the home that resulted from the pandermic, but when it happened we were ready.

Now we are focused on carbon reduction. By eliminating fossil fuels in our homes and generating electricity on the roof, our homes’ operations can be carbon neutral. By calculating the embodied carbon of our homes and purchasing legitimate offsets, our homes are among the first carbon neutral homes available. We cannot foresee future requirements for carbon reduction that the climate action plans of the cities where we work will mandate. Nor can we predict national standards that will be set to facilitate meeting the country’s Paris Agreement commitments. We can foresee that both are inevitiable. When they come we will be ready.

Over my career, our business model has been seen as too risky. “What if you build your homes and nobody comes?” Our customers’ green consumerism is far ahead of our industry. We captilize on that.

Homebuilding is now in a difficult market resulting from unprecedented mortgage interest rate increases. Building permits are down 20% to 30% in our area. The big builders are slashing prices and incentivising interest rates. I am glad that we are not directly competing with them. Our crisp product differentiation means that if customers want what we build, we are their only choice.

So, just how risky is our business model after all? I have learned that to build comodity homes just like every other builder is the greatest risk of all.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Thrive Home Builders is based in Denver, Colorado. It is among the top high performance builders in the nation. In 2021, we were named the most energy efficient builder in the US and Canada. In 2022, we were named the most energy efficient production builder in the US and Canada. We have been recognized as Builder of the Year by ProBuilder magazine and have received two National Housing Quality Awards. Thrive is one of the largest builders in the Department of Energy’s Zero Energy Ready Home program, having won 13 Grand Awards for Housing Innovation in the last 10 consecutive years.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

We have sold homebuyers as many as three different homes as their housing needs changed. Because homes are such an large purchase, most in the industry discount the potential of repeat customers and are happy with only referrals. People stick with our brand because we have stuck with our mission.

We see opportunities for projects that others don’t because the cities where we work seek us out.

Our brand and reputation are a result of sticking with our focus over 30 years. We spent the first 15 years working very hard for our brand. Now the brand works for us.

We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.

Most homebuilders can’t wait to get rid of their customers! Many see a relationship with their homeowners as exposing the builder to warranty and service claims, an expense rather than an asset.

We want customers for life.

We set up a sister company called Dwell Home Maintenance. Our closing gift is an app preloaded with every piece of equipment in the home. The app registers each item for warranty coverage from the manufacturer and reminds our owners of recommended maintenance. For a small fee we will take care of the maintenence for them.

Through Dwell Home Maintenance, we are building a tremendous database on customer satisfaction, and reliability and performance of equipment we specify in our homes. Most of all we reinforce our brand that we actually care about our customers long after they buy.

Being the builder who cares fosters their loyalty to our brand.

Contact Info:

• Website: thrivehomebuilders.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thrivehomebuilders/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ThriveHomeBuilders
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/thrive-home-builders/mycompany/