Robert Milligan is a project manager with North Florida Builders.
HISTORY
Milligan started out as a trim carpenter for North Florida Builders 25 years ago. He then became a Warranty/Punch Out man for about a year and a half and then was promoted to project manager.
CELEBRATING 25YEARS?
“It says a lot for me and it says a lot for Howard White [president of North Florida Builders]. He has to be a good person to work for or I wouldn’t have been here for 25 years. When he hired me, I told him I was looking for a home. I wasn’t looking for a subcontractor’s job, I was looking for a home, a place that I could stay with and grow with.”
DID HE FIND A HOME?
“Yes, I said it and I meant it. Howard has treated me very good over the last 25 years. I’ve seen the company come from very small to what it is today. It’s quite an achievement. This is not like working for a company, it’s like working for a family. If someone doesn’t feel comfortable working for North Florida Builders, then they will never feel comfortable anywhere.”
WHAT DOES HE DO?
He manages two subdivisions, Bartram Plantation and Plantation Estates West in Julington Creek Plantation. “I meet with the homeowner from the clearing of the lot where we discuss which trees we are going to take down all the way to move in. I meet with the buyer on the clearing and then meet with them again at trim stage. I schedule all of the subcontractors all the way through the house. If they have fancy built-ins in the house, we design them right in place. We meet on driveways and design the driveway. And of course there are a ton of little meetings all the way through in between.”
THE GO-TO MAN?
“If there are problems, the homeowner calls me. On night and weekends they leave a message on my voicemail and I return the call during working hours. You just do the best job you can and try not to let people bother you. There is no way you are going to make everybody 100 percent happy, it’s impossible.”
HOW ARE THINGS DIFFERENT NOW?
When he started, Milligan said they were building homes in 90 days. “There is no comparison between the homes we built then and the homes we build today. It took 90 days to build them. You had 8-foot ceilings throughout the house and one vault ceiling in the living room. There were no circle windows; they had not evolved yet. Many of the homes they build today have seven-month contracts on them. Changing with the market was so unbelievable. What we do today is no comparison to what we did 25 years ago.”
HOW DOES HE GET HIS CREATIVE FIX NOW?
Since he’s been in a management position for so long, he still finds ways to work on projects outside of work. “I still really enjoy working with my hands. I’ve done a lot over the years on nights and weekends because it’s my enjoyment. I live in a 50-year-old house that I gutted and remodeled. I’ve helped friends build their houses and I always seem to have some project going.”
RETIREMENT IN SIGHT?
“I hope to semi-retire when I’m 60, which is nine years away. I don’t think I ever want to totally retire. When I say semi-retire, I mean I still want to piddle with something in the construction trade. What I would like to do is go to work for homeowners on remodels or other home improvement projects.”
WHAT MADE HIM GET INTO THE CONSTRUCTION BUSINESS?
“Probably my father. I went to work with my dad when I was 14 years old at Riverside Memorial Cemetery. My dad was a retired brick block mason and was a jack-of-all-trades. He did all the marble monuments and we poured all cement crypts and vaults on-site. That’s really where I started because it was construction related.” Eventually, he moved to Tampa and worked in a union hanging drywall. After three years, he moved back to Jacksonville and started hanging drywall again. “I was working with a partner that wouldn’t show up to work on time. There was a trim carpenter who was also working in the subdivision who kept asking me to come to work for him. So, finally I got frustrated one morning when my partner didn’t show up - you can’t hang drywall by yourself, so I quit and went across the street and started trimming houses.”
OWN BUSINESS?
He worked for the trim carpenter for three years and eventually opened his own trim business, Interior Trim, before going to work for North Florida Builders.
LESSONS LEARNED?
“How to deal with people is the best lesson I’ve ever learned. At times I wasn’t very good at it, but it took me years to learn that even though you are right, the customer is always right.
WHAT IS ONE BEST THING THAT YOU COULD TELL REALTORS?
“Have trust in us. Back off and let us do our job. A lot of Realtors want to tell you what is wrong before you even reach that part of the job. But, because they do not understand the phases of construction, they don’t know that. I’m all for a homeowner calling if they have any problems or if they see something. Even if I’m not to that point yet, it helps them feel better.”
ADVICE FOR
THOSE NEW TO CONSTRUCTION?
“The best advice I could give is if someone thinks they are through with a job, always turn around and go back through the job and check what you have done. If you do that daily, you will stay on top.”
HOMETOWN
Tampa. He moved to Jacksonville in 1967.
FAVORITES
A movie he saw recently and liked was “Matrix Reloaded.” He enjoys visiting New York City and his favorite restaurant is Gene’s Seafood.
— by Michele Newbern Gillis