WINSTON-SALEM — Most companies, as they take on more projects and gain notoriety, add employees to help handle the workload. As Beau Dancy grew his business, he had a different plan.
Dancy, owner of The Dancy Cos., which includes a real estate sales and development company as well as a construction firm, found that he could get his projects done more efficiently by simply maintaining good relationships with various subcontractors and hiring them for his jobs. With fewer full-time employees, there was less to worry about in the way of health care benefits, insurance and other details that can sometimes bog down small businesses.
But deciding to use subcontractors exclusively isn't the only risk that Dancy has taken. He was also one of the first developers to take a chance on housing in the area between Old Salem and downtown.
The Dancy Cos. got its start in 1960, when Beau Dancy's father, Norman, started his construction company out of the family house in Winston-Salem. The son was immediately involved, and grew with the company as his dad expanded into some development and brokerage opportunities.
Beau Dancy went off to college at UNC-Chapel Hill, but decided to join his dad in the family business in the late 1970s, working as a broker and allowing his father to focus on the construction and development side.
Dancy's sister, Katherine, had also joined the company as a bookkeeper, making it a true family business.
The son quickly realized he had a hankering for the development aspect of the business as well. By the mid-1980s, Dancywas helping his father with new developments, mostly town homes in the suburban Winston-Salem and Forsyth County market.
In the 1990s, a new opportunity came along. Dancy's father was on the board of directors at Old Salem and had the lance to purchase some property from le organization along South Marshall street, just south of downtown, to build )me condos and town homes. His father as hesitant to pull the trigger on the deal, as there had been no residential development along that corridor.
"At the time, that whole area was pretty ragged," Beau Dancy says. "It looked iffy then."
Making some changes
But the son was firmly behind the project, and convinced his father to move forward. That was the start of Tanner's Park, 74-unit town home complex and one of le first downtown-area residential developments in Winston-Salem in years.
"He was truly visionary," says Rence Callahan, a principal at Walter Robbs Callahan & Pierce in Winston-Salem and partner with Dancy in some of his developments. "It was contradictory to what is father was doing, but Beau found his niche by finding an alternative market to nurture until it was successful."
The development continued downtown, but soon Dancy was thrust into a new role — head of the company. His father passed away in 1999, and he and his sister began to make all the decisions.
One of Dancy's first moves was to reorganize the company, creating Beau Dan-Y Construction, of which he was the sole owner, and Dancy Real Estate, where he and his sister split ownership.
At the largest point, Dancy's father's company had about 25 workers. When Dancy took over, it had about 10, he says. Slowly, that number started to go down.
"When I took over, the first five years we had three full-time superintendents and several laborers and engineers on staff," Dancy says. "But as things evolved, I realized the best direction I could take was to subcontract everything out. It was simpler just to have great relationships with certain subcontractors."
Getting back to the 'burbs'
Now, it's just Dancy and his sister, and with annual revenues of between $3 mil-on and $5 million, the project load is perfect. But, Dancy says, he may add full-time staff again if the business continues to grow.
“If I was to take on more work, I’d have to hire other people,” He says.
Business has grown as downtown development has taken off in Winston-Salem and across the country. Right after he took over from his father, Dancy was contacted about redeveloping the former Indera Mills factory on South Marshall Street, just south of Business 40. The original plan was for a mixture of office and residential space, but the living space was so hot that Dancy changed that plan. That development became The Mill at Tar Branch, with 28 residential units along with some ground-floor office space, now occupied by Dances companies and Meridian Realty Group. Soon after, and across the street, came Tar Branch Towers and its 27 residential units.
Now, Dancy is in the early stages of two more downtown projects - 248 South Main and South Marshall Brownstones.
"His real enjoyment is the urban stuff," Callahan says. "He's a very extroverted, social guy, and I think he loves that side of downtown."
Downtown development has picked up, with residential projects now dotting the center city map, but Dancy says he doesn't fear the competition since it brings more people downtown.
"There's a lot of demand," he says. "The more that we build, the more there is activity, and that will breed even more activity."
Still, he sees opportunity outside of downtown as well, in areas like Lewisville and Kernersville.
"As I get older, I want to ease out of the construction business to focus on real estate development," he says. "And I wouldn't mind getting back into the suburbs."
Company Profile
Name: The Dancy Cos.
Address: 314 Indera Mills Court, Winston-Salem 27101
Phone: (336) 723-2981
2006 sales: about $5 million
2006 profits: would not disclose
Web site: www.bdancyconstruction.com
No. of employees: Two
Year founded: 1960
Biggest challenge: Carrying on his father's name and reputation when he passed away
Solution: Sticking with his father's business practices and principles
Who's in Charge
Name: Beau Dancy
Title: President
Age: 51
Education: Bachelor's degree from UNC-Chapel Hill
Family: Wife, Page; three children, ages 14 to 20
Hobbles: Golf, sports, ACC basketball, doing things with his children, traveling
Best business decision: Getting involved in the South Marshall Street area
Reach Matt Harrington at (336) 725-1163 or mharrington@bizjournals.com.
