Topeka Business Hall of Fame | Dan Foltz

Photo by JOHN BURNS

Dan Foltz is no stranger to hard work. Growing up on a farm, the youngest of eight children, he spent long hours on a tractor. He also spent long hours working in the bowling alley and restaurant his dad built in Garnett, Kansas, where he grew up.

“That experience taught me how to do a lot of different things, but loafing wasn’t one of them,” Dan said. “I knew how to fix a bowling pinsetter, fry cook and wait tables before I could drive.”

He didn’t resent the long, often grueling hours, however, because it taught him to learn to enjoy work, no matter what he was doing. The tractor provided quiet soul-searching time, and the bowling alley let him interact with people and learn the art of customer service. And above everything else, he learned to think critically, and problem solve at a moment’s notice.

TURNING POINT

Losing his father in a car accident during Dan’s junior year of high school, altered his vision for the future and set him on the path to a college degree. That path was a little winding for Dan. He spent a semester at Pittsburg State, then the next one at Allen County Community College. His sophomore year found him at Johnson County Community College, but he then followed a friend to Kansas State University, where he finished his last two years and received his business degree.

He had been working summers at a construction job in Kansas City, which is where Dan also met his future wife, Monica. So, when a small Topeka contractor offered him a job after graduation, he took it. Dan spent the next 10 years at Tefft & Donaldson Contractors, learning the intricacies of the construction business. Placed in charge of safety for the company’s largest client, Southwestern Bell Telephone, Dan found himself on the jobsite, where he learned about telecom and switch rooms. During this same time, Monica began her career with a large pharmaceutical company, where they both learned about navigating a large corporate structure and the power of focused training programs.

“It was basically a 10-year apprenticeship for me,” Dan said, “that, along with earning my MBA from Washburn, set us on a path to a successful future.”

ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT

After Tefft passed away, Dan was faced with a choice: take over someone else’s company or start his own. Monica’s career provided a strong foundation for their family, which now included sons Paul and David, so they chose to “build a better mousetrap, so to speak.” With the help of an experienced project manager/estimator, Neil Fisher, and two superintendents, Terry Dlugosh and Dave Hayes, KBS Constructors opened for business in October 1989. By November, they had landed their first job building a telephone switch room for Southwestern Bell. The only caveat was that it had to be completed by February.

“We worked round the clock to finish that job on time,” Dan said. “But we got it done on time and on budget.”

That led to additional jobs for Southwestern Bell as well as work for the State of Kansas and the University of Kansas. By 1995, KBS employed more than 30 people and was working on 15 jobs at a time. That same year, Southwestern Bell changed to a strategic alliance model where they only hired one contractor to manage all jobs within a specific state.

EXPONENTIAL GROWTH

Dan used the knowledge he acquired while earning his MBA and the experience of his partners to develop a business plan that incorporated the Total Quality Management model into the strategic alliance thought process and pitched it to Southwestern Bell. Winning that five-year contract meant hiring almost 100 new employees and opening satellite offices across the state. Throughout that growth, Dan refused to compromise on quality.

“Two years into our contract, Bell hired us to take over Oklahoma as well.”

From 1995 to 2000, KBS revenues topped $30 million a year. But that success was only possible because of the company focus on quality control and expertise on critical projects. Dan brought in Kansas State University professors to build training programs, and employees underwent 20-40 hours of continuing education each year. KBS still conducts six training sessions per year.

“Total Quality Management is a huge part of our history. It is part of our company DNA,” Dan said.

OVERCOMING ROADBLOCKS

After so much success in such a short amount of time, Dan suddenly found himself faced with a gut-wrenching reality. At the end of their 5-year contract, AT&T, who had taken over operations for Southwestern Bell, did not renew their agreement, meaning KBS would lose a significant portion of its business.

“I gave myself about a minute to panic and then began exploring other opportunities,” Dan said. “I knew we excelled at critical environment construction, so I asked myself, ‘who else needs that?”’

The logical answer was a company with projects closely related to work KBS had already been doing: Sprint! Immediately they began bidding on projects for Sprint they would have passed over when working with Southwestern Bell and were rapidly able to replace more than half the lost SWB volume. In addition to those Sprint projects, KBS diversified into jobs with rail, energy and manufacturing. BNSF, Evergy, Hill’s Pet Nutrition and Michelin are now their largest clients.

“That rough patch we faced was actually a blessing because it allowed us to diversify. It opened our eyes to other clients that we now have key relationships with,” Dan said.

THE POWER OF PEOPLE

Under Dan’s leadership, KBS Constructors has seen incredible success, but Dan will be the first to give the credit to the people he has had the privilege of working with over the years. Dan has seen firsthand the importance of employee training and development and has worked to create a culture of continual learning and caring. KBS adopted the “Open Book Management” system where every team member is taught how the company works, their role in its success and how they participate in the company’s results.

“I have worked to chart a course where everyone is pulling together in the same direction,” Dan said. “It makes it less likely someone will rock the boat.”

That focus on training has even become ingrained in the succession planning currently underway at KBS.

“As we look at what the future holds for the company, we learned we needed to educate future CEOs and people in other leadership positions about what it means to be a leader,” Dan said.

That means holding CEO roundtables and bringing in experts to offer advice and training in a variety of managerial and leadership aspects.

NO REGRETS

As Dan looks back at his professional and personal life, he has a few words of advice for those following in his footsteps.

“Pay attention to the details, but don’t get lost in them.”

“You will never have all the information. If you over analyze, you may never move forward.”

“Transparency and openness is how you build trust.”

But most importantly, “Give of yourself and you will find that you } get back much more than you have given.”

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