Just like the BBB, Shively Construction, Inc., started 40 years ago in 1983 with a focus on promoting trust and ethics in business.
“I feel it’s important for us to have a seal on our website—I promote it with our customers,” said Kate Shively, secretary and treasurer and co-owner of Shively Construction in Steamboat Springs with her husband, John. “It promotes us as an ethical business.”
The Shivelys joined the Better Business Bureau serving Northern Colorado and Wyoming in 1992, when their friend Charlie Kentnor, who sold BBB memberships at the time, encouraged them to go through BBB’s vetting process.
“We thought it would be a good fit for us to help get us out there and to qualify the business,” said Kate Shively, who has 40 years of experience in the construction industry in accounting, payroll and other business tasks. “I also was familiar with the BBB because I used it to check certain businesses out. But you had to do it by phone then.”
The Shivelys started their business by working out of their home before moving into an office a year later and incorporating in 1989. They relocated into their current office at 1495 Pine Grove Road, Suite C, in 1997. They custom built it as an office condominium consortium with other unit owners, plus custom built their own homes. Their latest, the Shively Custom Dream Home, is a three-bedroom home with an open floor plan and grand views, which they moved into in 2010. Five years later, their daughter, Nicole, joined the company and is the vice-president.
Shively Construction, which grew from the owners to a dozen employees, started out with small remodeling projects and building decks, fences and patios, then expanded into high-end, large square-footage custom homes and large-scale remodels and additions. They build an average of five to 10 homes a year primarily in the Steamboat Springs area.
“It is amazing how the market has changed up here since COVID. A lot of new people are here who found they could work from home,” Kate Shively said.
The Shivelys use the highest quality materials and customize all the details of their projects from materials to trim and color selection, seamlessly integrating architecture and engineering with construction. They adhere to the highest industry standards as they build, a process that can take 1.5 to 3 years to achieve the level of detail and finish desired by their customers.
“They need to have confidence in our ability to build their house,” said John Shively, president of Shively Construction, who has 45 years of experience in construction. “We have the experience and the expertise to do a lot of this difficult and detailed work that our upper-end clients demand.”
The Shivelys communicate with their customers throughout the process about all the different choices that go into building a home and any quick decisions that need to be made on the spot, such as a detail or color.
“We need to be able to communicate well with the customer and walk them through the process of different decisions,” Kate Shively said.
The Shivelys work with a large number of suppliers and subcontractors and oftentimes have to send large deposits before work can begin. They look to the BBB to make sure the companies are trustworthy and have good ratings.
“That’s a huge benefit of being involved in the BBB,” Kate Shively said. “That way we know who we’re working with and sending thousands of dollars to before we see the materials.”
The BBB rates businesses based on their trustworthiness and ethics and how they handle customer complaints.
“When you hire an unknown entity, it’s good to be able to check on their status with the BBB to see how they handle their business affairs,” John Shively said.
The Shivelys display their BBB seal on their website and in their advertising.
“They qualified us; they investigated us,” Kate Shively said. “If we can refer a client to our webpage, they can check out our rating.”
The rating especially helped during economic downturns, such as the one during 2008 to 09 when the Shivelys saw their business shrink from 25 employees to one.
“When we started building back up again, our clients seemed to be a lot more skeptical and cautious,” Kate Shively said. “It was especially good for us to keep us going.”
Shively Construction retained an A+ rating since it became BBB Accredited.
“If we have an issue with a client, 99.9 percent of the time we deal with it internally. That's one of our goals is to have a satisfied customer,” Kate Shively said. “I feel we go above and beyond.”
Clients call Shively Construction years after the completion of a project for additional work, such as a repair or remodel, and the Shivelys either take on the job or provide a referral. That’s because they build good rapport and are able to maintain a friendship with them.
“We have a lot of good customers we enjoy working with, repeat customers who trust us to take care of the work,” John Shively said. “They need to have confidence in our ability to build their house. (Through the BBB), they can check out what kind of operation we are and how we do business.”
Kate Shively sat on a former BBB advisory board for about 10 years to present input on proposed changes to the organization.
“I saw the internal side even living in a small town community in Colorado,” she said. “The BBB team was excellent at keeping us informed as the BBB grew in Colorado and nationally, and we also had the opportunity to give input.”