For Love of His City

To hear Bob Fetzer speak about Roanoke, Va., in such fond and uplifting terms, a logical assumption would be that he’s the mayor. But he’s not, which makes his devotion to improving and contributing to the city more impressive.

When Fetzer, president of Building Specialists, moved to Roanoke roughly 30 years ago, he joined various leadership groups which opened his eyes to the needs of the community. In addition to addressing issues such as poverty and homelessness, Fetzer believes improving a city’s physical beauty can benefit a community as well. For example, decades ago he secured a loan to rehabilitate a dilapidated building nobody wanted, which is now a treasured highlight of the downtown area.

Building Specialists’ commitment to community has evolved in many directions. Staff members regularly educate Roanoke’s professional community, including teaching real estate appraisers a course on the true value of remodeling work. “We educated them on how costs have gone up, and how customized work costs a lot more money,” Fetzer says.

“Our goal is to make them more aware so they can provide more accurate appraisals so owners get the benefits of the increased value of their property. Their education is beneficial to the banking community as well, and we’re helping home buyers get the value of their work so they can finance their projects,” Fetzer says.

Building Specialists’ largest recent act of charity was its 2006 participation in the television show “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” which provides a renovated or new home to needy families. The overwhelming challenge was building a new home (pictured on the right) in 107 hours, with thousands of volunteers.