Expanded home mobility with Pete Newstrom

Zach Wojtowicz:

Welcome to “The Building Code,” I’m Zach Wojtowicz-

Charley Burtwistle:

And I’m Charley Burtwistle, and we are back in the studio with a very exciting guest, Pete Newstrom from Arrow Lift. You want to tell us a little bit about what Arrow Lift does Zach?

Zach Wojtowicz:

Yes, so we wanted to kind of take a look from the subcontractor perspective of Buildertrend, but also kind of an area of construction that we do not hear a lot about, which is elevators. Growing thing for a lot of custom home builders to obviously have elevators in their home. Sounds like you might be interested when we are looking at the website.

Charley Burtwistle:

I am very interested. We will definitely have a link to ArrowLift.com in the show notes, but really, really cool designs out the there. It sounds like, and obviously we will ask Pete about this, but it is transitioning a little bit more away from, this is just something that people are putting their homes for accessibility, people with wheelchairs, things like that, to no, this can be a feature in your house. They are cheaper, they are better technology, it is not just for giant LA mansions anymore, but little Omaha family home that I just bought can now have an elevator in it.

Zach Wojtowicz:

You really want to make this happen? I can see it on your face.

Charley Burtwistle:

Yeah, I do not know how I’m going to make it happen. I will just keep talking about it and then maybe somehow going to manifest it, huh?

Zach Wojtowicz:

Yeah, that is what we are going to go for.

Charley Burtwistle:

Well, the interesting about this company is small company, but they have 13 locations, started as a family business, now across many markets in the United States. Let us get Pete in here, let us start talking about Arrow Lift and see what we can learn.

Charley Burtwistle:

Let us do it.

Zach Wojtowicz:

Pete, thanks for joining us today on “The Building Code.” It is great to have you here. Let us kind of start with the basics, we always like to ask our customers, tell us about Arrow Lift.

Pete Newstrom:

Yeah, absolutely, it is a pleasure to be here, nice to meet you all. So Arrow Lift is our family business. I work in business with my father who started the business in the 1980s and my two brothers, and of course we have a great team that works with us every day. We are a specialty subcontractor. We sell, install and do service work on accessibility lifts and specialty elevators, including home elevators, and we’ve been doing that for just over 35 years.

Zach Wojtowicz:

Where are you guys located? I kind of was poking around just in a little research, like Charley and I like to do get to know you a little bit before we actually get to meet you, and I noticed you have quite a few locations. It is really interesting to see kind of all the markets you are in, and, and you are a family business, but you have quite a presence across the U.S., huh?

Pete Newstrom:

Yeah, we have been fortunate to be able to grow our business as time goes along. We started in Northern Minnesota in a town called, Duluth, which you may have heard of because now they have funny commercials on TV, but-

Zach Wojtowicz:

Duluth Trading Company, right?

Pete Newstrom:

Yes, exactly, and back in the day it was just kind of a small town on Lake Superior in Northern Minnesota in the Northwoods and anyways, a great place to grow up, and that is where our company started as well. Over time, we added offices in the Twin Cities and Wisconsin, right next door, and then some other states, including Ohio, where I live as well as California, where one of my brothers lives as well.

Charley Burtwistle:

That is awesome, like Zach said, I was definitely surprised when I was visiting your website, all the different locations you guys have. So I guess to zoom back in time a little bit, how did you kind of get started with Arrow Lift and kind of what is your current role there now?

Pete Newstrom:

Yeah, so growing up in a family business, you are kind of always involved to some extent, at least in my experience, I would say whether you like it or not, but it, but it has always been pretty enjoyable-

Charley Burtwistle:

Yeah.

Pete Newstrom:

In one way or another. So I remember just doing things like staffing the state fair booth, handing out brochures about Arrow Lift in high school and stuff like that, and then helping out on construction sites during college and then I actually, after college, went to, I joined the Air Force for a few years and I did that. Afterwards, did not really have my heart set on joining the family business quite yet, I went to business school and worked for a large company. At one point during business school, started working for the family business, Arrow Lift part-time and it just kind of had the… The hooks were set, and the involvement grew and grew and made it a full time job about eight years ago and have just really enjoyed doing a little bit of everything from sales to installation, and now I help with a lot of the back office functions like accounting and marketing, and that kind of thing.

Charley Burtwistle:

You wear a lot of hats in those family businesses, don’t you?

Pete Newstrom:

Yeah, which is… It is one of the challenges and it is also something that keeps it interesting day and day out.

Charley Burtwistle:

The kind of various products that you guys offer, I know you had some listed on there, I mean, look awesome. I –

Zach Wojtowicz:

Charley is interested, you are going to bring elevator service to Omaha, Nebraska to hook up Charlie’s –

Charley Burtwistle:

A hundred percent- I would say you have a boat, a very hot lead in Charley Burtwistle right now, Pete, for installing one of these. What would you say kind of like, who are your kind of typical clients outside of podcast hosts, who do you typically serve, what are kind of like their range of needs and how does that kind of build process generally look like?

Pete Newstrom:

Yeah, so our clients are both, well, I just, to take a step back… We do both residential and non-residential work, and in both cases, our clients can either be the building owner, so obviously in our… In a residential sense, it is the homeowner, but also construction professionals and that includes design professionals, so home builders, architects as well. So those are folks, obviously where we are located in the Midwest and out on the West Coast as well.

Zach Wojtowicz:

When you are talking to customers from like a residential standpoint or from a commercial standpoint, what are the kind of the differences between working with those builder populations? I mean, I’m just curious of kind of your relationship with… Do builders that you are kind of always working with, or do you have kind of an outbound approach or, from a homeowner standpoint, does it change the way that you provide services? I’m just kind of curious about that aspect.

Pete Newstrom:

So, we really try and be relationship focused either way, right? Whether we are dealing with a private homeowner or whether we are dealing with a home builder that we have done a number of jobs for. We just, we try and put that relationship first and turn it into a long lasting relationship. You asked about some of the different products we work with, and so that could be something as simple as a chair that goes up and down the stairs, a stair lift, or it could be something as complex as a luxury glass home elevator, which might have been what Charley was looking at earlier-

Zach Wojtowicz:

Yeah, definitely within budget.

Pete Newstrom:

So we do some… What is that?

Zach Wojtowicz:

Definitely within his budget, the glass elevator. He wants the most grandiose-

Charley Burtwistle:

Top of the line-

Zach Wojtowicz:

Elevator that he can get.

Pete Newstrom:

I hope so. We will talk about that offline Charlie.

Zach Wojtowicz:

Perfect.

Pete Newstrom:

I look forward to it, but yeah, so whether it is something relatively simple or fairly complex, we are really just looking to meet or hopefully exceed the aims of the client. Again, that could be a home builder where each job is different, obviously, and so we try and have a broad array of lifts and elevators to satisfy… something that we are… For home elevators, for example, a lot of times the designer or the homeowner is looking to have the elevator blend into the home design. You match the fixtures and maybe you match the flooring and stuff like that. A lot of times it is also to stand out and be a design statement, like one of those, like a high-end glass elevator, and so really we just try and prepare ourselves to be able to meet the need, whatever it is, and, and maintain that long-lasting relationship.

Charley Burtwistle:

So I think when you talk about meeting the need and maintaining relationships, you are in a really unique position and really interesting position for Zach and I, where you have been with, this is a family business, so you have been able to see Arrow Lift over the past couple decades. What kind of… How have those needs of your clients kind of shifted as technology advances, different codes, change in the building in site and then just general trends of having home elevators and things like that to make increased accessibility? Also as you mentioned, just have it more of a feature and a design thing, what kind of shifts in the industry have you had the ability to view over the past few years?

Pete Newstrom:

Yeah, there has definitely been a shift as you say. Obviously the average age of the American population is getting older, there is more baby boomers who are either building or planning or already moved into their “forever homes.”

Charley Burtwistle:

Right.

Pete Newstrom:

So the type of thing that we do is, is much more common than say, 20, 30 years ago, where accessibility was maybe more of a… About the utility, the being able to physically access things, which is obviously still part of the equation. But at the same time, I think there is a couple things that have changed. Number one, there are more options for folks, so whether it is aesthetic options or again, being able to match the decor of the homes more fully, or whether it is more practical type of option, like the drive system.

Pete Newstrom:

I mean, we install a type of elevator that is actually powered by air, which is really cool. Then they have, this is another example, something these days called a shaftless elevator, where it almost looks like a large, nice looking phone booth. It does not have a shaft, then it just moves in between two floors and, and so there is kind of a false floor when it is on the lower floor, and then when it goes up, it just kind of disappears and, and the space is open, it is really cool. So there are more options in that regard too.

Pete Newstrom:

The other thing that I think has changed over the last few decades is more people are planning ahead as opposed to being reactive and adapting to a sudden or unexpected set of circumstances and making a home that was built like all the other ones around it, wheelchair accessible. Now it is much more common for folks to plan ahead, and a lot of times they are putting the elevator in before it is physically looked at as a need, or if that is not in the budget, they might just stack closets in advance so that however many years in the future, when an elevator is in the budget or is needed, it is that much easier to add to the home. So those are a couple of the main changes that I have seen.

Zach Wojtowicz:

So do you think it is fair to say that compared to when you were getting started and coming back to work at your family business, that accessibility in general has improved kind of industry-wide compared to where it was 20, 30 years ago?

Pete Newstrom:

Yeah, I think that is definitely true, and there is also on the builder side and the remodeling side, there is certifications and programs that help with that, like the CAP certification and NHB has similar programs. I do think that the focus is the focus on accessibility has grown as it should, obviously to serve more and more people throughout the country.

Charley Burtwistle:

So shifting from the trends in the past that you have seen to the future, what kind of, what excites you about the future of elevators, and improved accessibility in the home space and where do you kind of see this industry trending over the next couple decades?

Pete Newstrom:

Yeah, well I think we are entering a point in time where… Back in the day, I think that there were primarily two types of situations where you would find a home elevator, one is if it was needed for wheelchair accessibility and the other is if it was in kind of you a large mansion type of state, where money, was not an issue. I think we are entering into an exciting time when you do not have to be in one of those two situations to add a home elevator to your home. It is very common for folks, again, to be planning their forever home, whether that is a remodeling job or whether it is a new custom home and to just, go ahead and do that advanced planning and add the feature.

Pete Newstrom:

So I think that is really exciting when you think about it, because it has broader ramifications too. There is nothing wrong with senior care facilities or anything like that, they have their place, and a lot of times that is really the best option that needs to happen for a specific individual. But at the same time, if you can plan ahead and you can extend the amount of time that you or your family member is able to live in your home, obviously that is a positive thing. So I think that is really exciting to take that from a relatively small percentage of the population that is able to do that or doing it, based on a specific need to taking that to where it is much more common occurrence and almost at some point, hopefully in the future, it becomes, the norm. So that is a really exciting possibility that I see.

Zach Wojtowicz:

A thing I want to touch on too, that is kind of interesting that piqued my interest is, you brought up the innovation and home accessibility. Is there anything else kind of on the cutting edge or bleeding edge that maybe Charley and I are not aware of, that I didn’t even think about the technology advancement in the actual lift and elevator markets and industry. So, I mean, I’m just genuinely curious, is there other things that are out there that maybe people would not be aware of that you guys also provide?

Pete Newstrom:

Yeah, so it is, I mentioned a couple of the more interesting ones earlier, such as that air-powered elevator and the, what they call a shaftless or through the floor elevator, and those are very eye-catching, but there is also simpler, maybe beneath the surface or behind the scenes improvements that are being made, for example, pertaining to safety. Always have an eye on safety and then also quality, those are two of the things that are always foremost in our minds. Things that are coming would be things like integrating into the internet of things and having remote visibility of the lifts and elevators. So that we are seeing more and more of that as time goes along, and those are pretty exciting, but yeah, in terms of the visual appeal, I would say definitely either the glass elevators or the three, the floor elevators, they kind of reminds a lot of folks of either George Jetson, or the Star Trek beam me up type situation. So we get some good customer feedback from those types of lifts and elevators, so that those are probably the fan favorites.

Charley Burtwistle:

The article that you had sent over before, or this of the, kind of the nine different examples that you had, the glass one is what, what caught my eye caught eye. Yeah. The, the other really cool thing that you said there was the internet of things, which I had not even like thought about before, but man, that starts getting really, really cool when, because obviously, I have like a ring security system and like a nest thermostat and stuff like that, like being able to call my elevator from my phone before I even like, I don’t even have to worry about pressing the button and waiting. It is just like there for me on the schedule, like you start being able to do some pretty cool things. Once you get that integrated in your tech.

Zach Wojtowicz:

One of the things absolutely that I was also curious about and, and I see that you guys also provide the service. I mean, it is the maintenance of home accessibility, a consideration that clients are curious about or is there anything you can kind of tell us about that side of things?

Pete Newstrom:

Yeah, it is definitely an important consideration, and it ties back to two of the priorities that I mentioned there earlier, which is safety and reliability because elevators, it kind of looks like a box that goes up and down, or if you take a stair lift as another example, it looks like a chair that just goes up and down, and it can not be that complicated, but there are a lot of moving parts, like cars or a lot of other things that have both electrical and mechanical components. So it is important that they receive the basic schedule maintenance and that is something that we really focus on and try to communicate about early and often throughout our process, so that folks are aware of that, and it does not have to be a major event or anything like that. Just doing things in a scheduled and intentional manner can, a lot of times, mitigate the chances of something building up and then becoming a bigger deal further on down the line. So we just try and maintain a service-focused mindset, and that is something that I think has benefited our clients throughout the years.

Zach Wojtowicz:

I imagine it is kind of have to be similar mechanicals, make sure they get inspected, make sure you are routinely changing your air filter, all those things. It is something that is there, but if you do kind of the things that you are supposed to do, it should really be an avoidable expense and something that is working great the majority of the time.

Pete Newstrom:

You are absolutely right, and the other side of that too, is that just like the car analogy, there are different types of equipment. One of the advantages of being in business for over 35 years is we have seen what works and what does not, and we are fairly selective about types of equipment we work with. Obviously we want to put our clients in the absolute best position to have an elevator lifter works perfectly every time it is needed, so we definitely put our best foot forward to accomplish that.

Charley Burtwistle:

The one thing I kind of want touch on, which is really interesting, and I think we have been getting better at the podcast, having all sorts of different types of customers across the industry, come in here. I think you are the official first elevator company that we have had-

Zach Wojtowicz:

I think so.

Zach Wojtowicz:

Which is awesome, congrats there, we will make sure to get your medal sent out after this, but know, it, it is cool because a lot of time people misconstrue Buildertrend that is only for home builders as build in the title, but obviously, it can be used across anybody in the industry. So I’m kind of curious, in your specific company, your multiple locations, you are doing this kind of niche thing in the specialty market, but you are still using Buildertrend. So what would be kind of some of your biggest wins, would you say, implementing that in your company, and how do you find it the most impactful or how are you guys using it?

Pete Newstrom:

Yeah, so we love Buildertrend. There is a few reasons. One is usually it is good news when we get an email from Buildertrend. It could be a custom home builder inviting us to take a look at a project where we might contribute with a custom home elevator or, might be, “Hey, there is money on the way.” So that is always good news, right, especially for those of us working in accounting?

Zach Wojtowicz:

Right.

Pete Newstrom:

So that is one of the reasons why we, we like Buildertrend, but really helps facilitate communication as well, and so we do have relationships with several custom home builders that use the Buildertrend platform. Another reason that we like it is that those jobs tend to go relatively smoothly. It might be because the type of builder that uses Buildertrend is the type of builder that really is deliberate with open communication with their clients and subcontractors, or might be because of the added benefit that Buildertrend provides with communicating with subcontractors like us, but in any event, it does seem to help things go smoothly.

Pete Newstrom:

So whether it is inviting us to quote on a project or advising us that a purchase order has been issued, or asking us to sign a lien waiver. Any of those things that can be administrative and somewhat time consuming in some cases, especially when it all adds up is really facilitated by the Buildertrend platform. So, we have definitely noticed that a lot of the custom home builders that we do business with that really do great work have got onto that platform. So we have gladly jumped in just to be able to communicate with them effectively.

Zach Wojtowicz:

I love hearing the subcontractor perspective on Buildertrend, because the reality is we have thousands of subs logging in every day, and so they are… They are doing… They are using it at the benefit of the builder. So I’m just curious, from your perspective, is subs that are like resistant to the technology adoption or adaption, I should say, what would you say to them and say is like, explore it, check it out. What… How did, when you were introduced to Buildertrend, were you kind of concerned or fearful or what was your perspective?

Pete Newstrom:

Yeah, I would say yes, it was a lot of times when you get invited to set up an account, it is kind of like, oh, not again-

Zach Wojtowicz:

Yeah, here we go-

Pete Newstrom:

Do I really have to do this? Can I avoid setting up this online account, cause I already have hundreds of them? Once we actually did it, which was not difficult, it was pretty clear that it was worth our time and it is just not challenging. The other thing I want to mention is there have been times where I just did not know what to do. I do not remember the specific case, but maybe it was how do I get this job that I know is in Buildertrend to show up on my login or something like that.

Pete Newstrom:

There is a number to call, and the people on the other end are really helpful. Like generally, that is not always the case, right. We have all called tech support, and sometimes it is helpful, sometimes it is not, but I, it definitely sticks out of my mind. It has been several years, over the course of several years where it is very reliable when I have a problem, I call, and somebody answers in a reasonable timeframe and can help right on the spot. So it is not only not intimidating, but when you have a problem, you can work through it with the help with of the Buildertrend team. So I would really appreciate that.

Zach Wojtowicz:

Well, we appreciate, I love hearing that. I know Charley does too. I always get fired up and I will be going and talking to some of my people to say that they got a shout out on the podcast, so we appreciate that. How many builders are you working with through Buildertrend, now I’m just curious. If you had a guesstimate, can you?

Pete Newstrom:

Yeah, no, it is a good number. I do not know the exact number, but it is not like one or two or three. It is, like I said, a lot of the builders that we do work with, that do really outstanding work, are on the platform. I would say it is, some that we have done business with for a few years, maybe they were not done it last time, but then next year, it is through Buildertrend, so we have noticed that trend as well.

Zach Wojtowicz:

There you go, that is awesome to hear. I… Your comment about every time you get an email, it is either about a new job or more money, I mean, tough to complain about that. I have a demo account that I use for testing, and I have never gotten any of those emails, so maybe I am not using mine right, but-

Pete Newstrom:

I always open those emails first when I am catching up on emails.

Zach Wojtowicz:

Well, we are about at a time, Pete, thank you so much for joining “The Building Code.” I thought that we covered a lot of really interesting topics and getting your perspective both as a sub and an innovator in your field. It was really great to meet you, and hopefully you found it to be a fun half-hour for you as well.

Pete Newstrom:

Yeah, absolutely. I enjoyed it and enjoyed meeting you, and thanks for having me on.

Charley Burtwistle:

Yeah, thanks a lot, Pete, this was awesome. I will be reaching out about that glass elevator for my little two-story home in my house as well.

Pete Newstrom:

Absolutely, call me.

Charley Burtwistle:

Will do, thanks Pete.

Zach Wojtowicz:

We just said our goodbyes to Pete, here on “The Building Code,” another fantastic guest that joined us. Charley, good job.

Charley Burtwistle:

Yeah, back at you, man. I mean, I meant what I said on there. I feel like we are getting a lot better type of guests that we have on here, type of conversations that we are having. We are really expanding the podcast, expanding our friendship, expanding the Buildertrend reach to all areas of the construction industry and Pete was a fantastic example of that.

Zach Wojtowicz:

Yeah, good perspective from the other side of the Buildertrend ecosystem with someone who is not necessarily a paying subscriber, but still reaping the benefits of using the software. Talk to your subcontractors about getting onboard and really start using the software to expand your business and really grow what you are doing.

Charley Burtwistle:

Yeah, I thought you had a really good point in there when you talked about just our entire user base. We generally think of the GCs and their company, but we have just as many, if not more subcontractors on our platform every single day. So I thought Pete’s tagline, maybe put this in a t-shirt where he said, every email I get is either another job or another payment, like yeah. From a subcontractor, your two most exciting parts of your job, more money, more jobs that could be facilitated through Buildertrend. So that was really, really cool to hear. I always enjoy when people talk about how much they love Buildertrend. I feel like we do a decent job of not always just, this being a sales podcast, but I do think our guests do a really good job doing that for us.

Zach Wojtowicz:

Yeah, let the results speak for themselves, right?

Charley Burtwistle:

Yeah, absolutely, and Pete will go up even higher on my list if he comes through with that-

Zach Wojtowicz:

I’m starting to keep track of your swag or your hit list of things that you are going to get-

Charley Burtwistle:

Yeah.

Zach Wojtowicz:

From your podcast experience, you have got elevator, you have T-shirts-

Charley Burtwistle:

T-shirts-

Zach Wojtowicz:

Other, marketing deal. Well, we worked out-

Charley Burtwistle:

Yeah, even just locations. I feel like we have pitched, we were trying to go to Australia, at one point, New Zealand, we were trying to go down to Florida.

Zach Wojtowicz:

The thing I want to note, we have got none of this, this is all just imaginary, so-

Charley Burtwistle:

Yes-

Zach Wojtowicz:

Join us next time on our podcast, “The Building Code,” where we try and expand Charley’s stuff, and if you don’t want to be there for that, then what do we even do? But for real, thanks for joining “Building Code.” Remember to like, review, subscribe, wherever all podcasts are available. Check us out next time.

Charley Burtwistle:

Thank you.