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Household disasters are a specialty Mail Tribune / Jim Craven Steve Hanlin is owner of Medford-based Restoration and Building Services, which is restoring this Phoenix apartment recently damaged by fire. Qualified Remodeler magazine this fall ranked the company fourth in sales volume in Oregon and 465th in sales volume in the nation. By GREG STILES Mail Tribune Ever have one of those days when the water heater floods the house or someone forgets to unplug the iron? Those are the times, like it or not, that you might run into Steve Hanlin or his associates. His Medford-based Restoration & Building Services has grown dramatically in the past six years, adding offices in Grants Pass, Roseburg and Eugene. This fall, Qualified Remodeler magazine ranked it fourth in Oregon and 465th in the nation in sales volume for 2000. RBS worked on 203 projects - 90 percent generated by insurance claims - last year, producing $1,615,748 in sales. "I look at the business as an ambulance service for your home when there's a household disaster," Hanlin says. "Often, we'll be there within an hour." RBS's sales are a drop in the paint can compared to the $57 million generated by Denver's Belfor USA Group Inc., the nation's biggest remodeler last year. The Rocky Mountain heavyweight reported 100 percent of its restoration work generated by insurance claims. Oregon's biggest remodeler, Neil Kelly Co. Inc. of Portland, was ranked No. 26 overall, based on its nearly $16 million in sales spawned by 1,300 projects. But its projects were split among whole-house remodels, room additions, kitchens, bathrooms and insurance along with door and window work. Hanlin says he learned the basics of running the company, contracting and customer relations from his father, Warren. The ability to service insurance companies' needs for two generations has allowed growth beyond the Rogue Valley. "The loyalty of the insurance companies is why I bought the business," says Hanlin, whose primary customers are SAFECO, Allstate and State Farm insurance companies. RBS is probably best known to Jackson County residents as Randy's Beehive Services, an element of a company that sprang to life in 1955. Warren Hanlin began a janitorial service on the side while managing the old Robinson Bros. Men's Furnishings store in Medford. He sold clothes and discreetly picked up janitorial customers from the clothier's well-heeled clientele. In 1959, Warren Hanlin struck out on his own and added Randy's Cleaning Service to his holdings. In the early 1960s, he bought Beehive Carpet Cleaners, and within a couple of years the outfit became Randy's Beehive Services. The elder Hanlin began doing insurance work with the help of contractors in the late 1960s. Before long he obtained his own general contractor's license and began restoration work until selling the company to his son a decade ago for $175,000. "I wasn't inclined to expand out of the valley," says Warren Hanlin. "But Steve has grabbed hold of the restoration end and has done a marvelous job." RBS had serviced Josephine County long before opening a Grants Pass office in 1996. But for many years he would have projects ready to go when the question of where his company was located would come up. Seems the once-fierce rivalry between the Medford Black Tornado and Grants Pass Cavemen carried over to the marketplace. "That started changing once the Rogue Valley Mall was built and people started shopping in Medford," Steve Hanlin says. Expansion to Eugene (1997) and Roseburg (2000) were based on insurance companies desiring Hanlin's services for repair programs. "The adjusters said they needed our help up there," Hanlin says. "But that's a tough market and it's tough to grow the business that far from home base." That's partly because there are more than a dozen full-time competitors in Lane County compared to the half-dozen here. Plus, nobody in Eugene knew what Randy's Beehive Services was. Thus, Hanlin figured it was time to turn RBS into Restoration & Building Services. In the next two years, Hanlin plans to expand to Northern California, perhaps into the Redding market. Hanlin flew to San Francisco Wednesday for a meeting in preparation for expansion. "When we flew over the Bay area, most of the people were looking at the ocean," Hanlin says. "I was just thinking about all those plumbing fixtures down there." Reach reporter Greg Stiles at 776-4463 or e-mail [email protected]. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.