Atlanta Design & Build has reached a wonderful milestone this year; our 20th Anniversary! We also celebrate Steven Roberts, Sales and Design Consultant, who joined our team April 14, 2015.
Construction and how things work has always been an interest
Steven moved when he was twelve from upstate New York to Atlanta with his dad and, except for a brief sojourn in North Carolina, he has lived in this area ever since. He grew up in a family that was active in the construction industry. His paternal grandfather was a master carpenter, and his mother spent some time working for a commercial construction company. Construction is in Steven’s DNA. As a child, he was always tearing things apart. “I dissected everything to see how it worked,” chuckled Steven.
Steven took drafting classes in high school with the thought of studying architecture in college. His direction in college veered to business and accounting but the drafting skills he acquired as a teen still benefit him today.
While a full-time student, Steven helped pay his college tuition working full-time as an assistant manager for a hotel. Steven left college when he was offered the general manager position of an Atlanta hotel. This is when he got involved in his first remodeling project. Drawing on his natural aptitude for construction, Steven renovated his condo in Marietta. It wasn’t long before he moved to North Carolina to manage the Drury Inn Suites in Greensboro and was soon restoring his own 1926 Craftsmen bungalow in High Point. “I single-handedly tore down walls, added a second bathroom, and remodeled the original bathroom and kitchen,” Steven explained. “I learned construction on the fly, doing projects on my own.”
By the time he returned to Atlanta, construction rather than hotel management had become Steven’s preferred occupation. His official start in construction was as a project manager and estimator for a restoration company. He later worked for three years as an account manager in sales and design with another design/build firm in the Atlanta area. Equipped with sales and design skills, Steven enthusiastically opened his own design/build renovation company in 2009. After several years of owning and managing that business, he realized that to continue being successful he either needed to grow his company or go to work for someone else. He chose to pursue the second option.
Atlanta Design & Build is celebrating our 20th Anniversary this year. We also celebrate the addition of Keely Contant, who has been with the company three years now. Keely assists with both the production and administrative teams. She is the wife of H. Dale Contant, President and Principal Owner of Atlanta Design & Build.
Keely Contant and The Importance of Family
Keely and her twin sister, Kirby, along with four siblings, grew up in Boca Raton, Florida. In 7th grade, Keely met Dale, but they didn’t start dating until after high school. Once married, the newlyweds decided to move to North Carolina. Keely’s parents had already relocated to Bear Wallow Mountain in the Hendersonville, NC area, and NC seemed like a great place to start a family.
With the help of his father, Dale built a house for himself and Keely on top of Appalachian Ski Mountain between Boone and Blowing Rock where they lived for seven years. Keely was a certified travel agent and Dale worked as a mason contractor, eventually getting involved in the insurance industry. Their first daughter, Lindsey, was born in Boone. In December of 1988, pregnant with their second daughter, Sydney, they moved to Marietta, Georgia, where they have been ever since—almost 28 years. In 1993, last but not least, their twin daughters, Ali and Alex were born.
Dale and Keely decided that she would stay at home with their children and strive to be the best mom she could possibly be. It was Keely’s wonderful mother who inspired her to do this. “It was not the most popular decision amongst my peers, nevertheless one that made me who I am today. Staying at home and raising my daughters taught me what was most important in life, how to balance and prioritize my life, and certainly how to multi-task!”
As Atlanta Design & Build celebrates our 20th Anniversary, we also salute our amazing Project Manager, Sydney Contant, who has been with the company eight years now. Sydney was born and raised right here in Marietta. As a child she loved sports and was active on the swim team, earned her black belt in karate, and played soccer for many years up through high school. Her other main interests were art related. While in high school she studied photography, linoleum carving and printing, painting and pottery.
Growing up she didn’t learn much about the construction industry from her father, H. Dale Contant, since she didn’t accompany him while he worked on ADB projects. However, shortly after high school, with Dale’s encouragement, Sydney decided to try her hand at working for her father’s company. “I most likely would not have chosen this as my career path, if my father had not given me the opportunity,” said Sydney. “I’m glad I took the offer!”
In the beginning: Apprenticeship
Sydney worked as an apprentice for five years under ADB project managers, Mike Pike and Jamie Franks. Everyday she would learn something new. With Mike, she learned more about the rough end of remodeling—demo, grading, digging footers (LOTS OF FOOTERS!), framing, and trim work. With Jamie she learned more about the finishing part of the job—paying close attention to all the small details. Each part of her training was just as important as the rest.
Eventually, Dale challenged her to study for the Certified Remodeling Project Manager (CRPM) certification exam through the National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI). “That class was intense!” said Sydney. “It lasted eight weeks, with just as much reading and paperwork as a college course. I would never have had confidence in myself to take that class if my father had not pushed me in that direction.” Sydney is very proud to have passed the test. It has opened the door to a whole new world in the industry for her.
Sydney Contant, Project Manager
With the CRPM under her belt, Sydney’s official title at ADB is now Project Manager. Her main job responsibilities are: creating schedules for her projects; selecting her sub contractor team; meeting with subs to walk through each job at the beginning, middle and the end; reviewing sub contractor quotes; communicating with customers; demolition; framing; trim work; reviewing sub contractors’ work; ordering materials, and meeting with inspectors for all trades. Her detailed note taking throughout the various stages of each project helped win Sydney the “40 Under 40” award this year from Professional Remodeler magazine. This award commends the best practices of remodeling’s best and brightest professionals under 40.
One of the things Sydney enjoys most about working for ADB is the fact that it is a small company. Teamwork is crucial, since the team members all depend on each other. A job would not be able to be completed without everyone’s hand in it, at least at one point. “Considering the length of time the majority of the people have been at this company, we have grown to be almost like a family,” Sydney said. “We trust and rely on each other.”
Sydney also enjoys every day bringing something new. She has the opportunity to continuously learn. One day she will be helping out at one of Mike’s jobs with the whole crew trying to jack a room on a house back to level, and the next she will be installing trim and doors on one of her own jobs. Or changing a window out. Or assisting a customer in choosing the perfect paint color, etc. It’s always something new.
Outside of work
Repelling into a cave in North Georgia
Sydney spends the majority of her free time making art of all kinds for friends and family. In the past couple of years, the artwork that has taken up most of her time has been letterpress, stained glass, wood working and painting. In the past she has enjoyed screen printing, linoleum carving and printing, photography, woodblock carving and printing, pottery, and much more. She hopes to have time in the future to learn more about all printing processes and marble making, among many other arts.
Other activities Sydney enjoys include scuba diving with her father, traveling, and minor gardening. She stays active trying out hole-in-the wall restaurants around the city, camping, caving, hiking, exploring Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park with her boyfriend and three dogs, and spending time with her friends and family.
“I am one of four daughters in the family,” Sydney explains. “My parents had my older sister and then me. They wanted a boy and decided to give it one more shot and ended up having twin girls. I have always been a tomboy—I’m the boy they never had. My older sister lives locally, while the twins are currently living in other states, but we all remain very close. We (10 of us including all of the significant others) get together for Sunday dinners as often as all of our busy schedules allow.”
My immediate family at younger sisters special day in college
My cousin Kyle and I, he is a huge inspiration to me with all of the challenges he has overcome in his life, he never gives up.
Acting dramatic while getting sprayed with a hose by my cousin Kyle when I was a kid.
My sisters and I at my eldest sisters (Lindsey) wedding.
Atlanta Design & Build is celebrating our 20th Anniversary this year. We also celebrate the 11 years we have been blessed with the accomplished skills of our Project Manager, Dave Newell.
Dave’s Early Experience in the Building Industry
Dave describes himself as a “good ol’ country boy.” He was born in Kennestone Hospital right here in Marietta, but he moved away to Florida when he was just 15. While living in Florida, Dave began working in the building industry alongside his future father-in-law. That five year stint was the first experience he had in construction and he learned everything on-the-job.
After that Dave moved to Indiana to work for Bristol Pipe, a company that manufactured PVC pipes. He was the Assistant Foreman on the nightshift at the factory, until he decided at age 35 to move back to Georgia. He returned to his roots just one year before Bristol Pipe unexpectedly closed the doors on its Indiana facility. Dave considers his move back home a very fortunate one.
Join us in congratulating our Sales and Design expert, Steven Roberts. He earned his NARI Certified Remodeler (CR) credentials by meeting all the requirements for the CR designation. This includes a minimum of five years continuous experience in the remodeling industry with commitment to NARI’s code of ethics. Steven was also required to complete 16 hours of continuing education in the remodeling field. He then passed a one-day written exam covering general remodeling practices and business.
We are proud of Steven Roberts receiving his CR designation! This is one way to be assured that you have a dedicated, experienced professional working on your project.
As Atlanta Design & Build celebrates our 20th Anniversary this year, we also celebrate the 14 years we have been blessed with the diverse skills of our Director of Administration, Vicki Wadsworth.
Learning sales and management from a young age
Raised in the Midwest, Vicki Wadsworth received her BS degree in Business Administration from Baylor University, in Texas. She graduated with a dual concentration in Marketing and Management. Upon graduation, she began her career with AT&T in Oklahoma in business sales. Recounting the course of her career, Vicki appreciates the extensive training and diverse opportunities afforded her.
She gives credit to her dad for the most impactful training in sales she ever received. Rising thru the sales ranks for General Mills, he retired as their Director of National Sales Training. According to Vicki, he could sell anything! He also made sure his three children were managed in sales principles from their earliest years. “I was raised chewing on Zig Ziglar and his motivational sales tools,” Vicki laughed.
Her AT&T career included additional opportunities and relocation. She became immersed in the world of computer programming upon successful completion of Programmer Basic Training and relocated from Oklahoma to Florida. Beginning in system administration and ending up in charge of online security programming for AT&T’s Core Billing System. Vicki stated she valued this IT segment of her career for the strategic thinking the training and assignments provided her.
While working in IT, Vicki also worked with the AT&T personnel department conducting campus interviews. Later, an opening arose requiring a sales & programming background. Vicki was offered a position with AT&T personnel as the Management Employment Recruiter for the state of Florida. She thoroughly enjoyed running the remote office hiring for sales, programming, accounting and engineering departments. In 1991 when company budget cuts were needed, she recommended closing the Orlando, FL location and moved to the AT&T southeastern hub in Atlanta, Georgia.
Moving, Marriage and Family——The beginning of a new chapter
