Roger Moyer joined his local BBB to demonstrate Aspen Painting, Inc., is a reputable business—he joined in 2001 as soon as the organization began promoting trustworthy businesses in his region.
Roger Moyer joined his local BBB to demonstrate Aspen Painting, Inc., is a reputable business—he joined in 2001 as soon as the organization began promoting trustworthy businesses in his region.
“It was the source people could go to find a reputable business. It was and is the only source, except for the Painting Contractors Association,” said Moyer, president of Aspen Painting. “Not many people know of it, but everyone knows about the BBB.”
Moyer officially started his painting and carpentry business in 1973 after operating it as a way to earn extra money in the summers. The BBB Serving Northern Colorado and Wyoming was founded 10 years later and is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year by featuring various Accredited Businesses each month.
“The BBB is something that I encourage businesses to join,” Moyer said. “I always tell people if you’re looking for something, go to the BBB, because your chances of finding someone to fulfill the project you want to do will be better than word of mouth or an ad on TV.”
Moyer didn’t originally get into the painting business when he moved to Aspen in 1965, arriving on a motorcycle. He provided photography for one of the two local newspapers at the time, and worked in a restaurant for a year while doing ski races. Another racer suggested he coach the local ski team, which he did starting in 1966 a year before Aspen Snowmass opened. He also became a certified ski instructor through the Professional Ski Instructors of America Association and taught private and group ski lessons on a part-time basis until the mid-1990s. Through the years, four of the students he coached became Olympians and 10 students made it to the national ski team.
In 1968, Moyer started painting after working part-time for a couple of years taking photos, realizing it wasn’t as fun when it was a job. He already was familiar with painting growing up with a father who worked as a contractor for a living, so he went on his own, followed by hiring staff in 1973 when he made his business official.
“I approached my athletic and my painting life similarly and made sure I was educated, since both required skills and both required you to relate to the customer,” Moyer said. “I’m teaching movement or helping customers understand how a painting job should be done, the importance of good materials and that a job not be done quickly but efficiently.”
By the 1980s, Moyer had a staff of 60 people, but now has 10 to focus on the core of his business. Initially, he handled contractor work, something he does occasionally, as well as design work and decorative painting. His services include indoor and outdoor residential and commercial painting, carpentry, drywall, plastering, furniture restoration and wood finishing, plus occasional industrial painting of bridges and metal stairways. He also provides project management, remodels that include painting work, and plaster installation. He imports plaster from Italy as an alternative to paint, which can be coarse or fine and have a patina or dull appearance.
“We do some new construction, but we do more repaints than new,” Moyer said. “New construction is not terribly profitable. The most profitable painting is industrial—the reason being it’s very technical. It requires a lot of skill, and the products are incredibly expensive and difficult to use. Next is commercial repaints, then from there, residential repaints.”
Initially, Moyer painted several Victorian homes, using original color schemes to keep within Aspen’s historic requirements. He joined the Aspen Historic Preservation Commission in the 1990s, remaining a member for 10 years and returning five years ago.
“For me, the fun part was meeting people and doing the color schemes,” Moyer said. “What color should you use is a whole art form.”
Today, part of Moyer’s business continues to include historic preservation and restoration to help protect the “charm of the town,” he said.
Whatever type of project he does, Moyer wants to make sure his customers understand the timeline and costs and how the products he uses work. He also gets to know his customers on a personable basis, he said.
“Usually the customer feels like they can trust me and my staff not by the first meeting but by the second meeting,” Moyer said.
Part of that trust comes from being on time and starting on the promised date or calling if adjustments need to be made. Trust can be established in three main ways, he said. First, check with the BBB, then the PCA, and third, visit a paint store and ask the owner about the manufacturers’ paint reps. They should be knowledgeable about the different types of paints that are used for residential and commercial versus industrial settings, he said.
“You always want to use people who make the effort to join an organization that has camaraderie and classes,” Moyer said. “The customer is going to be the beneficiary of that.”
Moyer, who joined the BBB advisory group in the late 1990s, appreciates that the BBB gives businesses like his credibility, plus a way to check the credibility of other businesses.
“BBB’s ethics are very important, and the concept of treating people legally and fairly is one primary goal of members of the organization,” Moyer said. “I’ll use them first, I’ll go to that person, because they made an effort to join the organization to be better.”