Horizon Builders is currently involved in 15 homebuilding projects suited for a variety of budgets and tastes.

Joe Bohm and George Fritz, the founders of Horizon Builders Inc., were neighbors when they met in the early �80s. At the time, Bohm was an accountant working for a manufacturing company, and Fritz was a Maryland state trooper. Through a series of backyard barbecues, Bohm and Fritz realized they had a lot in common. Both were interested in homebuilding.

Fritz had just built his family�s home and had previous construction experience. Bohm had bought and sold several homes for his family and was intrigued by the home- building business. They also found that they shared an entrepreneurial spirit. Both wanted to work for themselves. But they had families to support.

In 1982, the two decided to form a company and build homes part-time. Headquartered in Crofton, Md., the company did well from the start and, as a result, with the support of their families, both Bohm and Fritz left their jobs to focus on the business full-time.

In its early years, Horizon took on all sorts of residential projects, but the company�s focus was always on quality. This commitment to quality led to a call one day from a young architect who had just signed a prestigious contract with a client and needed a builder. Horizon took on the project, and through the building process, developed a great relationship with both the architect and the owner, as well as a reputation for high-quality work, the company says. This resulted in more calls from architects, more high-profile projects and kudos in the marketplace. Despite their minimal experience in construction, both believed they could create a successful company.

�If you think about it, what kind of personality does a person need to run a company? Someone with a take-charge personality who can deal with the push and pull,� Bohm says. �In construction, in general, different trades get into altercations with each other. You need someone to get everyone to focus on the job at hand and bring it all together. George brings leadership when he walks on the job site. People listen to him, and that�s absolutely essential.�

Bohm�s experience as an accountant brought his understanding of finance, deb

its and credits to the table, he says. �Businesses have three basic aspects,� Bohm says. �They need to have production, financial administration and sales and marketing. I handled two of these aspects, and we jointly marketed the company. It was a good combination � it�s been working well for 25 years.�

Gradual Expansion
The company started out building single-family homes in Maryland, northern Virginia and Washington, D.C. It �cut its teeth� on smaller projects, Bohm says, and worked its way up to the large-scale projects it does today. It eventually began performing renovation work for past clients or referrals, as well as luxury homebuilding.

Bohm says Horizon Builders has 15 projects going on currently, all of different sizes and budgets. Horizon Builders also works on projects on the Delaware, Maryland and Virginia peninsula, and the New Jersey shore. Bohm says he sees potential for expanding to the entire Mid-Atlantic region.

The company has entered into Maryland�s Eastern Shore housing market, on the other side of Chesapeake Bay. The Eastern Shore has more new luxury homes, he explains, while Maryland and Washington, D.C., have older homes and only recently have begun to develop a luxury home market.

�The luxury market is fairly new in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area,� Bohm explains. �Homes here have been around for 200 years and have always had high-quality craftsmanship. The area started having a luxury market about 15 or 20 years ago.�

Clients in the Know
Bohm says Horizon Builders is seeing more renovation work than in past years. �In Washington, D.C., its suburbs, Maryland and Virginia, there is a lot of interest in people buying old homes and renovating them in order to retain their character,� he explains. �There isn�t as much interest in buying new homes.�

Renovation work takes a different approach because the company is never sure what it could find that could pose challenges, Bohm explains. �We might find the foundation was built poorly, or we might find an underlying soil condition that 100 years later, today, is now manifesting itself,� he says.

Bohm believes no matter what the challenge, to always let the client know about it. �With any project, we have to communicate,� he says. �We have to tell both the homeowner and architect about any problems we encounter. You can�t hide things. We work with the architect to define the problem and solve the problem, and make sure the client knows what�s going on, too.�

Bohm says Horizon Builders is developing a new market niche that is smaller in scope than its current target market, which includes projects within the $2 million to $5 million range and within the mid-Atlantic area. He notes the company will still focus on craftsmanship.