For Cliff Poteet, it all began with taking things apart. Anything with a nut and bolt or a screw was fair game. Ironically, his inclination toward disassembling things led to a career in putting things together—not just buildings, but his own company.
Poteet, a joint partner in Honolulu-based Valluzzi Poteet Building Co., LLC, always had a knack for hands-on work. As a teenager he worked summers in the Mayor’s Youth Program at Kalaheo High School and Kailua Intermediate School as a janitor and on Marine Corps Base Hawai‘i in the air conditioning and heavy equipment maintenance shops.
Poteet grew up in Kailua, O‘ahu, and graduated from Kalaheo High School in 1983. Standing at 6 feet 4 inches, he was a natural athlete, and his football talent led him to the College of the Redwoods in Eureka, Calif.
Enrolling in the college’s two-year construction technology program occurred almost by happenstance, Poteet says. While icing his shoulder after football practice, he noticed two students walking through campus with tool bags on their shoulders, and he struck up a conversation with them. “They said they were building houses,” Poteet remembers, “and that intrigued me. I went to college to play football and ended up finding a career that I enjoy and have been successful in.”
Naturally charismatic, Poteet found the construction industry to be a perfect fit, and he quickly found work after graduation.
Business Partners
Eleven years ago, Rick Valluzzi joined the well-respected construction firm where Poteet had been working for three years. During the next seven years, while working on various projects together, the colleagues became friends.
Recognizing they could combine their strengths as business partners, with Poteet supervising in the field and Valluzzi focusing on estimating, bonding and finances, they launched their own company, -Valluzzi Poteet Building Co., LLC, on May 13, 2005. “I was completely honored when Rick asked me to go into business with him. I respect him more than he knows,” Poteet says.
“When we started our business, we had no work whatsoever,” he jokes. Valluzzi worked from a home office in Mililani, and Poteet stored tools and construction supplies in his barn located on his 3-acre property on the northeastern shore of O‘ahu.
From the beginning, their families supported the new partnership. Valluzzi’s son, Daniel, spent a summer helping his father, and Dash, Poteet’s stepson, worked in the field after graduating from college. Poteet’s brother-in-law Tashi also joined the company’s workforce for several months prior to attending college.
The new business partners first found work renovating and building out offices for commercial landlords. After making some solid contacts in that line of work, the company won its first ground-up building contract for $1.5 million.
Then it was time for Valluzzi Poteet Building Co., LLC to get a real office. “We were told by one of our competitors that he wasn’t going to take us seriously until we got an office in downtown Honolulu,” Poteet says. “So we got a space on the 11th floor of the American Savings Bank Tower, in the heart of the city, and we’ve been there two-and-a-half years.”
The company now employs two full-time project engineers and a handful of journeyman carpenters and apprentices. Valluzzi’s wife, Robyn, is the company’s accountant.
“We didn’t want to take any clients or employees with us from our previous company. It was very important to us that we didn’t burn any bridges,” Poteet says. “Being born and raised in Hawai‘i, and knowing lots of people, we never had a problem finding manpower.”
Today, homes, business offices, restaurants and retail spaces throughout the islands have a touch of Poteet’s handiwork. “I’m always walking around downtown from one project to the next with my ‘VP’ hardhat on,” he says. “I stand out—at my height—but that’s something I want!”
Aggressively pursuing each and every lead that comes along keeps the company strong, even in a recession. Personal contacts go a long way in a small community, especially in the homebuilding sector, where families and their neighbors have a personal stake in bringing a house to life. “I see things as being positive,” Poteet says. “If you consistently perform quality work for your clients, they will continue to keep you busy.”
The renovation of the headquarters for Architects Hawai‘i Limited, one of the foremost architectural firms in the Pacific Basin, is one of the company’s landmark projects. “We sliced and diced their whole space while they stayed onsite and open for business. We knew it would be challenging, and their expectations were very high, being architects and designers. That was one of our most rewarding projects as a company, and it’s been a really good showpiece for us,” Poteet says.
The company also built two Chip & Cookie stores in Kailua and Waikiki for Wally Amos. The stores are known for their unique décor, delicious cookies and promotion of children’s literacy.
Small Business Pride
Being a small business owner brings endless rewards to Poteet. “When I worked for another contractor, I ran my projects like I had my name on the truck. Now that I actually have my name on the truck, I have a new level of pride and motivation,” he says.
Valluzzi drives a hybrid Ford Escape, and the company’s field vehicles run on biodiesel (recycled cooking oil). A sticker reading “Powered By Biodiesel” on the back of the vehicles helps raise awareness about sustainability.
Poteet also takes pride in supporting training initiatives for the islands’ diverse ethnic labor pool. His company actively participates in the
Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) Hawai‘i Chapter carpentry training program, and Poteet is the chairman-elect for the organization in 2010. He also went out of his way to volunteer his time during ABC’s 2009 National Convention in Honolulu, shutting down one of his jobsites for four days to help set up for the ABC National Craft Championships competition.
“I remember when my older stepson, Eric, competed in the electrical competition when the championships were held in San Diego,” Poteet says. This fall will mark Eric’s fourth year of teaching in the ABC apprenticeship program.
“When I went through school, I felt it was a great opportunity to hold my head high and say, ‘I go to college.’ That’s why I insisted we join ABC, so that our employees would have the same opportunity as I did. It’s also been a positive way for all of us to network,” Poteet says.
Poteet, a member and past vice president of the Punalu‘u Community Association, values community involvement. “You can’t be a part of the solution unless you commit some time to it,” he says.
Poteet, who puts as much heart into his family life as he does his work, remains committed to living the good life on his native island for years to come, enjoying the company of his wife of 18 years, Desi, a writer, editor and English lecturer at Windward Community College.