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Building Stowe
Steve Sisler has owned Sisler Builders Inc. in Stowe, VT for 39 years, and his passion for building began when he was a child and lived in Ithaca, NY. “I started doing woodworking projects with my father at six or seven. He was a college professor and an amateur woodworker. He also happened to be blind. So, I was his eyes on the project. He had a great imagination and an interest in a lot of things. So, we started doing stuff together at that young age and continued in high school. We renovated a couple of Adirondack guide boats and then built three boats that were skiffs for the Adirondacks. And, for me, it's the tangible aspect of being able to put energy into something and then see the result. It has always been extremely gratifying,” Sisler said about his work.
By the time Sisler was a teenager, he was set on a career path. “At 14 or 15, I kind of had already decided that what I'm doing is what I wanted to do. It was a blessing that I was able to determine that at such a young age. I told my folks. My dad had a PhD, my mother had a master's degree, and they asked me to apply to college. I got an offer from a hockey coach who was well respected and regarded and I said, well okay, I'll go to college. and I'll play hockey and see how it goes.”
Sisler played collegiate hockey for two years and then decided to focus on his career. “I buckled down and took on more rigorous curricula than I could as an athlete. I pursued an industrial economics degree. It was a minor in civil engineering and a major in economics. And that seemed like a good foundation for running a business. I really have never worked for anybody after college. I went to Europe for 11 months and traveled around and looked at the cathedrals and interesting buildings and then came back to Ithaca for a bit. I had a cabinet business there."
As a child, Sisler traveled with his parents to New England, and he always enjoyed the architectural elements and topography of New England. So years later, when a friend asked him to build a spec house in Vermont, Sisler jumped on the opportunity. That was in the early 80s, and the duo built homes for a couple of years and then parted ways. Since Sisler liked living in Vermont, he decided to open his construction business in the state. “So, I assessed three locations and Stowe came out on top. The skiing’s really good, there‘s an ice rink and the Waterbury Reservoir is right here. Stowe had all the attributes for pastimes that I wanted.”
Fast-forward to today—Sisler Builders has over 40 full-time employees who work on a wide range of projects in the Stowe area. And, Sisler’s son, Luke, joined the business. “We're about 42 right now, full-time employees. And then we have a number of subcontractors. I've got six project managers, a shop foreman, the energy division manager and the small projects division manager who also is the property maintenance manager. And then in the wood shop, there are five additional full-time employees, craftsmen who build cabinets, custom doors, furniture and pretty much anything custom wood. We have a number of framing carpenters and a number of finishing carpenters. We do subcontract some work, but it's more the subcontractors work in conjunction with our crews to control what's going on.”
The business owner believes in the power of a positive workplace culture. “I'm quite proud of our tenure. It’s pretty remarkable for a construction company. Our average tenure is just a shade under eight years. I think it's like 7.8 or 7.9 years. So we don't have a lot of turnover.”
Sisler can’t pinpoint a specific reason why employees stay, but he said, “One of the tenants I do is respect for the individual. I coached youth hockey for 23 years. And the thing I would say to my kids is to treat others the way you want to be treated. I mean, if you want to get yelled at all the time, yell at your teammates. If you want to be treated respectfully, treat them respectfully. And that is the same culture that I've tried to establish within the company.”
Although the construction company builds custom homes, Sisler Building is committed to serving a variety of building needs in the local community. “My mantra has been we do a wide range of projects in a small geographic range. Although our website highlights some of the nicer projects we've done, we take that same care to smaller projects. We're not just doing multimillion dollar projects. We have a small projects division as well.”
For more information about Sisler Builders Inc, P.C.check out their BBB Business Profile. To learn more about BBB and read more stories like this, visit Behind the Business Stories with BBB in Eastern MA, ME, RI & VT.
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