Building Legacies

Working together as a family can have its difficulties. After all, it’s easier to let the emotions fly when your boss or your partner is a parent or sibling. But as these second- and third-generation homebuilders attest, the rewards can be unbeatable. No one cares more about upholding the name on the company sign than family. “You couldn’t ask for a more dedicated person than a family member,” says Jim McNulty, who co-owns McNulty Construction in Minneapolis with his brother Timothy. “If you’re going to turn some of your work over to someone else when you’re out of town, you know it’s in good hands because they tend to care about it the same way you do.”

Boyer Building Corporation
You might say that building homes is in the Boyer family blood: Joe Sr. constructed buildings on his Minnesota farm in the 1930s, then worked as a shipbuilder in Seattle; Joe Jr. served in the construction battalion in the Navy during World War II, then worked as a carpenter after the war and started his own company, Joe Boyer Builder Contractor. Each of Joe’s five sons are in the home-building business.

“(Joe Jr.) always felt that you needed a trade to fall back on, no matter what your professional career,” says John Boyer, the fourth-oldest child and the third of the Boyer sons. So, while not all the boys intended to work in the family business, they all became experienced carpenters. Pete Boyer, the oldest son, started his own company, Peter Boyer Construction, and the other four sons worked for Joe Jr. until after his retirement and are now partners in the business, which they renamed Boyer Building Corporation.

While Joe Sr. and Joe Jr. weren’t big on talk, the boys witnessed their strong work ethics, like getting the job done right the first time, and being honest and upfront with customers. These are the values they’ve incorporated into their own company. 

The key to running a successful family business, John says, is for each member to have his own area of expertise. “That way, we’re not looking over each other’s shoulders,” says John. Finding the right balance is the key to making a family business work, especially when everyone is pulling for an identical outcome—a successful business. “You’ve always got someone you can rely on who isn’t just motivated by getting a paycheck,” John says.

L. Cramer Designers & Builders
At L. Cramer Designers & Builders in Edina, the survival instincts that helped owner Larry Cramer succeed in a tough business twenty-seven years ago translate into building high-quality upper-end homes that are as unique as each of his clients. “It’s a process of developing the relationship, getting to know the client and what they’re looking for,” says Jennifer Cramer-Miller, Larry’s daughter and vice president of sales and marketing at L. Cramer Designers & Builders. The company builds an average of ten custom homes a year in the western suburbs. About 25 percent of their business is in high-end remodeling.

Since the beginning of his building career, Larry has applied his motto of “Apart from the ordinary” both in his home design and his relationship with his clients. L. Cramer Designers & Builders pride themselves on being trendsetters, offering what’s new and exciting and departing from what’s become common. It’s a philosophy that Jennifer shares and works into her design work with the clients.

Jennifer also attributes the success of the business to Larry’s high standards of customer service. As a testament to this, many of Larry’s clients have built multiple homes through L. Cramer Designers & Builders. In fact, Larry has even built the homes of some of his clients’ children. “He’s always focusing more on what’s fair to the client, even though it gets our accountants’ attention sometimes. He’s more interested in the perspective of the client than a nickel or a dime,” Jennifer says.