Allen Associates’ Leadership Helps Contractors Weather Storm
http://www.noozhawk.com/noozhawk/article/102412_allen_associates_leadership/
By Gina Potthoff, Noozhawk Staff Writer | @ginapotthoff
New President Bryan Henson keeps employed-owned company focused on being innovative and conscious of the environment
Allen Associates President Bryan Henson encompasses every aspect of the Central Coast construction company’s vision.
He’s young, innovative, conscious of the environment, and strives for excellence in all he does.
Henson, 35, has led the company since January, when owner and founder Dennis Allen decided to step into a board chairman role.
The company, which is 30 percent of the way to becoming entirely employee-owned, has weathered the construction downturn better than most.
Allen credits more than 70 dedicated employees, loyal clients and Henson for keeping the faith.
Henson humbly says he’s just glad to work with such passionate people.
That’s even after Henson was named in professional Remodeler’s September 2012 edition as one of the “40 under 40” Top Homebuilders and Remodelers.
“It’s been pretty rough for contractors,” said Henson, a Ventura native. “We live in a really exciting place, where people are really interested in building. I love my work. I jump out of bed in the morning because I get to work at this place. There’s a real passion here. The people that benefit the most from that are the clients.”
While Henson never dreamed of becoming a contractor, he said helping his father fix houses growing up initially steered him in that direction. Money earned from roofing and carpentry jobs put Henson through school at Humboldt State University.
After receiving his master’s degree at the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management at UC Santa Barbara, and working a short time out of the area, Henson said he decided to get into green building because of his environmental background.
Allen said Henson, a LEED-accredited professional, quickly worked his way up the ranks at Allen Associates to general manager and then president.
“He’s a pretty amazing guy for his age,” Allen said. “He’s a very good strategic planner and thinker. He’s really become the vision. I think the future of the company is very bright with him at the helm.”
In addition to directing employees at Allen Associates, Henson has been teaching green building courses at UCSB for three years.
Henson said he’s amazed how energy efficient houses can be made. Energy efficiency is something Henson is working on in the older Ojai home he shares with his wife of 14 years, Rachael, and their three children ages 8, 7 and 3.
“Even I can learn a thing about it,” he said.
Henson said he’s excited about the company’s 30th anniversary next year, and also about the commercial construction division that was added over the summer.
“We’re trying to do something different with Allen Associates,” Henson said. “There’s a lot of momentum behind us that we don’t want to give up on. It’s a really fun role.”
— Noozhawk staff writer Gina Potthoff can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
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