28 Feb 2022 American Dream: Arkansas Foundation
By Donna Lampkin Stephens
When Bob Nabholz told his father in 1949 that he wanted to go into the construction business, Emil Nabholz tried to talk him out of it.
“The reputation of contractors then was not very good,” Charles Nabholz, Bob’s youngest brother and Emil’s youngest son, remembered. “Daddy said, ‘Oh, you don’t want to do that. They’re all boozers and chasers.
“When (Conway’s St. Joseph) Catholic Church was built in the 1920s, we had builders up here from New Orleans, and when they got off work, they just drank whiskey and chased women.”
Charles Nabholz, now 85 and chairman emeritus of Nabholz Construction Corporation, based in Conway and now in its 73rd year, remembers that his brother worked hard to improve the reputation of construction workers.
He certainly succeeded.
According to Bob Nabholz’s biography for the Arkansas Business Hall of Fame (walton.uark.edu), the company has become Arkansas’ “most known and respected building contractor, producing more than $4 billion of commercial buildings throughout Arkansas.”
From its Conway beginnings, Nabholz now has other locations in Central Arkansas as well as Fort Smith, Jonesboro and Northwest Arkansas; Olive Branch, Miss.; Oklahoma City and Tulsa; Oxford, Conn.; Lenexa, Kan.; Columbia and Springfield, Mo.; and Nashville and Portland, Tenn.
The company has evolved from a home-building business to a “national multi-service contractor offering a full range of construction, industrial, excavation, facility maintenance, energy conservation and environmental services. We help our clients grow and prosper by committing to build our own business on the principles of integrity, honesty, exceptional customer service, innovation and excellence …. we strive to create exceptional value for our clients, employees and employee shareholders by maintaining an impeccable reputation and providing innovative services. We’re committed to being the best so that our clients can be their best.”
Charles Nabholz said while his brother was a visionary, he was also focused on the day-to-day running of the business.
“We had to balance the ability to make money every year so we could reinvest it and grow the company,” Charles said. “We spent a lot of money on hiring and retention of good people. We reinvested our profits in the company, and now we have offices across seven states.
“That would’ve been hard to imagine. We did the best we could each year and let the rest take care of itself.”
Construction, however, hadn’t been Bob Nabholz’s original dream.
He returned home to Faulkner County following his World War II service. He hadn’t finished high school, but he earned his GED and took advantage of the GI Bill to enroll in what was then Arkansas State Teachers College (now the University of Central Arkansas). But he wanted to be an engineer, so he left ASTC for the closest option for engineering, the University of Oklahoma.
“He struggled with his grades there, but he’d met a nurse who was working at the hospital, and they fell in love and decided to get married,” Charles Nabholz said. “Bob said, ‘I know I can make a living in Conway.’ He’d worked at Hiegel Lumber Company while he was in college.”
So his fiancée Barbara agreed, staying in Oklahoma while he returned to Conway to build a house. Charles estimated it to have been about 900 square feet and probably worth $5,000. But someone else came along and wanted to buy it at a $500 profit. Bob, who had started construction in January before the June wedding, decided he couldn’t afford to pass up that opportunity.
He had time to build another house.
He bought another lot, started again and the same thing happened. He took another $500 profit and started on his third house, finishing just in time for the wedding.
Charles Nabholz remembered his brother’s reaction: “Maybe the good Lord is telling me that I should be in the construction business.”
By the end of the year, Charles Nabholz said Bob had made maybe $10,000 which was a lot of money for 1949. His tax man told him he had to have a name for the company.
“Bob was humble and thinking of a generic name, and the guy said, ‘Let me ask you something. Do you do good quality work? Are you proud of it?’ And Bob said, ‘Oh, yes; I’ve had people tell me how good my work is.’ So the guy said, ‘I’m recommending you call it Nabholz Construction Company.’ And that’s how it started.”
From a focus on home-building, the company expanded to commercial construction.
“There was a lot of work, and we had to have more people,” Charles Nabholz said. “When we had more people, we had to have more work.”
Emil and Mary Nabholz raised 12 children on a farm east of Conway. Charles was the youngest, 12 years younger than No. 5 Bob.
“When Bob went into business, I was so proud of him,” Charles remembered. “I was the last one on the farm, and farming was not much fun. Every now and then, Daddy would let me come to town and help Bob and his crew for extra spending money. After high school (he graduated in 1954), I didn’t think I’d do anything else but go to work for my brother.”
But his father wanted him to stay on the farm until they could get the cotton crop in, and he offered Charles three acres of cotton and a cow if he would stay with him until October.
“That was the best deal he ever made with me, so I took it,” Charles said. “But that was the year we didn’t have any rain. July came along, and there wasn’t going to be a cotton crop, so he said, ‘I’ll relieve you of your commitment.’ That was the second-best deal my dad made with me.”
So Charles started his Nabholz career on a brick-laying crew.
Before Emil Nabholz died in 1963, four of his sons bought the farm, enabling him to “retire and enjoy the fruits of his many years of hard work,” Charles said. “He was so proud of the company and its successes. He came through hard times, raising that many kids, health issues, and he ended up being able to enjoy the last years of his life because of the company.”
Nabholz Construction was local (Conway and Little Rock) from 1949-94. Bob retired in the early ‘90s, but Charles said by the time he died in 2002, the company’s expansion had begun.
“Our first expansion came in ‘94 when we bought a company in Rogers, and that was a big step in the right direction,” he said. “Later on we bought one in Jonesboro. We started expanding our footprint, and then we started having some national customers who wanted us to go beyond our area because they were going to have a lot of business in those areas. So we made a commitment to go to Tulsa, and we added one in Oklahoma City.
“We’ve continued to look for opportunities. We are not aggressively looking right now, but we are keeping our eyes open for companies we might buy to expand. We have done work in all 48 (contiguous) states.”
Charles said he finds it exhilarating when he sees the excitement and passion Nabholz employees have for their work.
“I tell people if you’re not passionate about your job, there’s something wrong,” he said. “Construction is a hard business. There will be good days and bad days, but to see people happy and to know that we’ve made a good business and to see what a difference a company like Nabholz has made, it’s wonderful.”
The company has always had a family focus. All five of Bob’s brothers were involved at some point. Charles is the only survivor of that generation.
“We never really had titles,” he said. “In the 1970s when we were operating all together, I was probably considered CEO, Bob was president, Tommy had Nabholz Supply, a separate home-building supply business, and Ed was the controller. It worked out that everybody had their special expertise. We didn’t compete with each other.”
Bob’s son Dan was CEO in the 90s. Charles was elected chairman in 2000, serving in that capacity until he semi-retired in 2015. Bill Hannah became the first non-family member to serve as CEO in 2002.
“When he came to work in ’71 with a construction degree, he looked around and saw a lot of Nabholzes, and he asked what were the chances of someone like him being able to advance,” Charles remembered. “We told him we had a policy that the best candidate would get the best job — not necessarily a Nabholz. Several family members have worked here but didn’t get into management.
“That was a good commitment Bob made — it’s your qualifications, not your last name.”
Three of Bob’s children have retired from the company, but some still serve on the board. Bob’s grandson Jake is now CEO; two of his brothers are also with the company. Nabholz granddaughters have also worked in the business.
“When you count them up, there’s probably seven or eight third-generation Nabholzes working for the company,” Charles said. “I think it’s in good shape for the next generation. We’ve got some fourth-generation people, not necessarily Nabholzes, working for our company. It’s a validation of how proud some folks are to have been associated with us.”
Sixty-eight years after joining the company, Charles Nabholz acknowledges he never could’ve imagined what was to come.
“It was a great dream,” he said. “The American dream.”
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