Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, February 16, 1995                   TAG: 9502160039
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B-8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MATT CROWDER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

REMODELERS STRETCH TO FILL THE DEMAND

With interest rates rising, many homeowners are turning to remodeling their homes instead of buying bigger, more expensive ones. As business booms, it is becoming increasingly important for remodelers to sharpen their business skills, yet small attendance at a series of seminars shows many are too busy to learn.

The remodeling industry is in such a boom right now that it is expected to overtake new construction by the end of the year, according to Ken Misco, a production manager at Virginia Building Services in Roanoke. From 1985 to 1988, the industry grew nationally from $80 billion to $105 billion. By the year 2000, remodeling is expected to be a $200-billion-a-year industry.

Misco is in charge of organizing Certified Graduate Remodelor Classes in the Roanoke area. The seminars, run by the National Association of Home Builders, are designed to help remodelers become more business-minded.

Despite the advantages of attending the seminars, Misco said, attendance at the first one last month was lower than he had hoped; business is so good for most remodelers right now that they can't afford even to take the time to attend.

The second of the three seminars scheduled for this winter will be held Saturday. It deals with sales and marketing. The first seminar, Jan. 21, dealt with business finance. The third seminar, March 18, will target customer service. The seminars are held at the Roanoke Regional Home Builders Association office on Apperson Drive in Salem.

Each seminar features a speaker sent by the national association and includes a test at the end. After taking a specified number of courses, a remodeler can become certified, which Misco hopes will become a selling point for remodelers.

"The object of [certification] is to bring more professionalism to the remodeling industry," he said. "You're identified as a person who has taken courses in business management."

Misco said the association wants to make the public aware of the certification process so when customers see a remodeler has been certified, they will know the remodeler is dependable and will finish the job.

He also said remodelers are getting some extra competition these days.

"When interest rates are up, new construction goes down," Misco said. "Construction companies are starting to get into it, seeing that there's a place for them" in remodeling.

Bob Kasonick, who taught the business finance seminar, said he covered general accounting principles and industry standards in overhead costs. Also included were the keys to financial analysis a banker uses in evaluating a potential borrower, and general business practices such as planning and implementing long-term goals. Kasonick, of Charlottesville, has been in the remodeling business for 25 years and has taught classes on the subject for about five years. He said increased consumer awareness makes certification an asset to a remodeler.

"Consumers are getting more educated about what's available in terms of products and understanding their rights," Kasonick said. "When a consumer decides they want to go into a remodeling project, a lot of them tend to do a lot of research. They're not just accepting what a remodeler says as gospel anymore.

"If you want to be successful in the '90s and beyond, you have to improve your business skills and your technical skills."

Samuel Doran, a general contractor in Roanoke, said the most valuable part of the business finance seminar for him was learning about financing, ways money can slip away, and how to stay afloat financially.

"I've been in business for 25 years, but I'd never taken a class like this," Doran said. "It opened my eyes to these things."

"It's not like the regular textbook-type information you get when you take a class. It's coming from people that are in the business, people that know the ins and outs," said Chris McFadyen, of Dominion Renovations in Roanoke.

Both Doran and McFadyen said that they are interested in being certified.