One of the construction industry’s most venerable leaders retired from the business on Oct. 31, 2000, but remains busy nevertheless.
John Burress has enjoyed a long and distinguished career with J. W. Burress, the Roanoke, VA-based company started by his father, Jack, and mother, Glenna. John was more or less born into the business.
He spent his summer vacations learning the ropes, working in parts and helping demonstrate equipment.
Back then, he earned 35 cents an hour and a 45-hour work week was commonplace. He rode the 6:30 a.m. bus from Salem to Schaffers Crossing, walking the last mile to arrive at work by 7:30 a.m.
He started full time with the company in August 1958, after graduating from The University of North Carolina. He stayed in Winston-Salem, where he worked with Logan Bowman and Frank Angle, and used his contacts to help expand the business.
In 1967, John was promoted to president and the company continued to grow.
According to Burress, he never really thought about doing anything else. “I enjoyed it, I loved it and liked what I was doing. And I sure expected to work until I got to be a certain age,” he said.
In his 42 years, Burress saw a lot of changes in the construction industry. “It has changed a great deal, but one thing that hasn’t changed is the person-to-person aspect of the business. Fortunately, there’s still a lot of integrity, and your word still counts. So much business here is still done with words, as opposed to so many businesses which have lost that,” he noted.
According to Burress, technology has had a significant impact on the business. “We’re selling over the Internet and we’re conducting a lot of business as a result of high technology. But still, the linchpin of our industry is the people,” he said.
He is quick to credit the people of his company for its long-term success. He is quick to say that he will miss them the most.
However, the company is being left in the capable hands of people such as Richard Dudley, who are described as “good shepherds.”
“We had a management team that was pretty exceptional. We had very low turnover in our company, and we had a motivated group of people who kept our customers’ interest first, and the employees’ interest right alongside that, and the manufacturers’ interest right there with it, too,” Burress stated.
He said taking care of those three interests means the fourth interest will also be taken care of: that of the shareholders. “We had a story in our company of the four-legged stool,” Burress explained. “The four legs of the stool are the shareholder, the employee, the customer and the manufacturer. One of them can get out of balance occasionally, but if it stays out of balance, the stool topples.”
According to Burress, the secret to keeping good employees is simple. “Take care of them and offer them opportunity,” he said. “We’re extremely proud of the opportunities created within our company for our people.”
Running a construction equipment company can be a lot of hard work, and Burress has surely done his share. However, he has found it enjoyable. “It was a lot of fun. Neither I, nor others, would’ve stayed with it if it weren’t fun. It’s hard work, it’s challenging, and it’s a cyclical business. You know you’re going to have ups and downs, but it always remained a challenge and a lot of fun.”
As for where he sees the construction industry going, Burress predicts some of what we’ve seen in the past, as well as a few new trends. “I think that it will always remain a cyclical business. We’ve seen a swing in the last 10 years toward more consolidation and more public ownership. I think that we may see a lessening of that, because of the need that the customer has to be in touch locally,” he said, adding that Internet sales and larger companies will still be around in some form.
While he has retired from the company, Burress isn’t just sitting around in a rocking chair. In some ways, he is busier than ever. “I have an office and am involved in some other businesses. I still work a full day and am involved in a lot of civic activities – on the boards of several schools and non-profit organizations, and have plenty to do.”
Burress is understandably proud of his long career, but there’s something of which he is even prouder – his family. He is quick to brag on the newest generation of the Burress clan, and enjoys being with them. “I’ve got four grandsons and I certainly plan to spend a lot of time with them.”
In other words, he isn’t retired in the conventional sense. “No,” he said, laughing. “Far from it.”
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