Big business brought money into the Utah Valley area, and Magleby became known and sought after in the community for custom home work.

With 75 employees, Magleby Companies does more than its competitors, and for good reason. “It’s a control issue,” he says. “When we can’t get trade contractors to perform according to a timeline we committed to, we have to take control of it. That’s part of why we have our own framing crew. Not too long ago we couldn’t get a framing crew or excavator to come out sooner than four to eight weeks,” he adds. “Nobody does what we do. Others might dabble in their own mill, or have some excavation equipment, but no one has developed to the level we have.”

In addition to office and field management staff, Magleby Companies self-performs cabinet millwork, excavation and framing. Another residential specialties division handles remodeling and maintenance.

Magleby Companies operates on a cost-plus basis dubbed Clear Build, says Paul’s son Chad. Clear Build is an open-book system that provides clients with a sense of transparency by putting all information on the table. “We don’t hide anything, and don’t try to undersell our clients. They know our costs and margins.” Magleby has lost work because of this, but ultimately those customers have come back and said they wished they chose Magleby because it cost them more in the end than Magleby would have charged, Paul Magleby says.

Magleby attributes much of his success to involvement in NAHB, he explains. “We have always looked to that forum for solutions to our growth problems. We always had a purpose in going to NAHB conventions. In our early days, we were doing accounting manually and made an effort to look at all the accounting software programs at the show. As we grew more, it was employee issues we focused on so we made an effort to go to seminars that helped us understand employees, and to be a better employer.”