Bill Bundschuh grew up enjoying the thrill of putting things together. After some early bumps, he has built Pretech into a Kansas City powerhouse.
Bill Bundschuh’s road to becoming NPCA Chair of the Board was a half-century in the making.
Looking back, though, there is no doubt the direction life was taking him.
Bundschuh grew up in St. Louis and spent summers at his grandfather’s concrete finishing and masonry company in Minneapolis, Kan. The tiny town may be 100 miles from the nearest city anyone has heard of often, but for those important, informative years, it was the center of Bundschuh’s universe.
It also was where Bundschuh came to realize two things: He was happiest working with his hands, and he wanted to own his own business.
“It’s funny how it took going all the way out in the middle of nowhere Kansas to find something you love,” Bundschuh said. “But as the years went on, I learned more and more about the concrete and masonry business and knew that is where I wanted to be.”
Fifty years later, Bundschuh is president and owner of Pretech Corp. in Kansas City, Kan. The company is celebrating its 30-year anniversary.
In October, Bundschuh was elected NPCA Chair of the Board during the 58th Annual Convention.
Pretech’s longevity and his rise within the association’s leadership are the result of his hard work, dedication and respect for NPCA members. It is a natural result of his life experiences that took root in that small Kansas town and first set him down the path.
THE START OF IT ALL
Coming out of Kansas State University with a degree in civil engineering, Bundschuh first worked for a contractor then joined on at Vanguard Products as a production engineer. He stayed there five years until realizing that working for someone else inherently comes with a ceiling.
“As good of a job I was doing and as good of a relationship I had with the family, there wasn’t a lot of room to advance,” he said. “I wanted to make something for myself.”
In 1993, with loans secured from both his father and father-in-law, Bundschuh founded Pretech in Stillwell, Kan. Two years later, the company relocated to Kansas City, Kan.
In what seemed like a blink of the eye, what was once a dream was now real responsibilities.
“I didn’t set out to get into precast concrete from the start,” Bundschuh said. “I found some used equipment in Colorado and went from there. I bought a bunch of used forms. Things just kind of fell in line, some by plan and some by accident.”
Bundschuh and his brother Bob drew up what he called “an ambitious business plan.”
“We had big ideas, but they cost a lot more money than we had, so we tried it again.”
Their father, William Bundschuh, had instilled in his sons a work ethic to see jobs through. Nothing was done halfway around the Bundschuh house.
William Bundschuh made his living as an aerospace engineer, and he built furniture on the side. He took great pride in his sons but even as they struggled early on, he walked the line of making them earn their way and protecting his investment. He did not let his children off lightly.
“He was tougher on us than any bank would be in terms of paying back the loan,” Bundschuh said. “We had to pay him on the first of each month. Not the second, the first. There were times he wired us a loan just to cover the interest payments that we would turn right back around and send to him. He taught us that you always pay your bills.”
INVEST IN PEOPLE
William Bundschuh’s fiscal lessons have carried through for Bill.
Life – and business – have not always been easy. Especially at the beginning. But Pretech always found a way through the lean times.
There were others who helped, too, along the way. People who Bundschuh thinks about and thanks to this day.
And it was NPCA that brought Bundschuh together with this support group.
Jim VanSickle of Vanguard Products took Bundschuh to his first Precast Show. Walking up and down the aisles, VanSickle taught Bundschuh the importance of meeting everyone and shaking hands.
“We talked to every single exhibitor,” Bundschuh said. “We asked them about their products, and we asked them about themselves. You never know when a relationship will pay off. You may need that product a few years later, or you may meet that person again when they are somewhere else.”
It was at The Precast Show that Bundschuh met Leroy Larson, Doug Keen, Pat Voinis, Tom Karvasale and others he still does business with today.
The Precast Show also is where Bundschuh came to understand that every NPCA member company is important.
“You never know when that $200,000 a year company will blossom into something bigger,” he said. “Maybe a new owner or a second-generation owner has the right idea that leads to expansion. Suddenly, that little company is taking on bigger and bigger projects.”
Those relationships opened doors, leading to jobs. Pretech built a reputation of value in the Kansas City area, and word spread regionally as well.
“We had a lot of good people and a lot of good customers,” Bundschuh said. “When times were thin, like in 2009 and 2010 especially, and we owed everybody, I found that people who knew us through NPCA were willing to help us and trust us so we could make it back.”
A FAMILY AFFAIR
In the early days of Pretech, much of the decision-making and responsibility fell to Bundschuh. Today, he has a lot of help, including from some family members.
His son, Ryan, is growing into a leadership role and makes many of the day-to-day operation calls.
His daughter, Kaitlynn, runs the business office, bringing increased efficiency and organization to their processes.
Bob Bundschuh has left Pretech, but Bill’s other brother, Mike, now oversees Pretech’s second facility in Tonganoxie, Kan.
Twenty miles separate the two plants, but the leadership team has the company operating like one well-oiled machine.
“I try to keep an open door and guide people more than run things anymore,” Bill Bundschuh said. “I will answer questions with questions. I have all the faith in the world in everyone at Pretech.”
“Bundschuh allows his managers the freedom to make decisions and control their areas,” said Larry Mauck, Pretech sales and marketing manager. Bundschuh also is not timid about getting his hands dirty when necessary.
“He wants to know what is going on, but he also encourages us to manage people our own way,” Mauck said.
This freedom leads to longevity, Mauck said. Key production positions are staffed by employees with decades of experience. It also leads to an efficiency that keeps Pretech products moving to job sites.
“If we tell you something is going to be there on Tuesday, it will be there Tuesday,” Mauck said.
Bundschuh has instilled a culture of response, said Kelly Poretta, a member of the sales team.
Pretech does not have answering machines or voicemail. If a call comes in, someone picks up the phone. And if the call comes in after hours, it forwards to Bundschuh’s cell phone.
“We have the best quality products, but we also have the best service,” Poretta said. “It’s what we are known for, and it all starts with Bill.”
Bundschuh takes this approach beyond the 9-to-5, said Jeremy Haskin, the former pipe plant production manager at Pretech who now runs production for the Tonganoxie plant. As the company has grown to nearly 100 employees, it retains a small, family-owned feel where employees are encouraged to work hard but also know that they will be able to take care of personal issues that arise.
“Bill always knows what is going on in our lives,” Haskin said. “In large part because we talk regularly and share those kinds of things. He’s helped me and so many others out when things came up at home.”
A FIXTURE IN KANSAS CITY
Pretech products are installed in some of the most recognizable structures in Kansas City.
Stadiums. Highways. Universities. The airport.
It is rare for a Pretech employee’s daily commute to not include driving by a past project.
Among them:
- The Kansas Department of Transportation tunnel on Interstate 435 and U.S. 69 includes a 48-foot ConSpan Tunnel produced with 88 slightly curved pieces.
- Kansas City Chiefs Arrowhead Stadium renovations that include 10-by-10 and 12-by-12 electrical vaults.
- A multiphase project with the Kansas City streetcar that includes electrical vaults, storm utility boxes and reinforced concrete pipe.
- The University of Kansas Medical Center Parking Garage StormTrap detention system and a variety of custom-ordered concrete products.
- The Turkey Creek Flood Control that includes manholes, inlets and nearly 5,000 feet of reinforced concrete box sections.
- The Kansas City International Airport electrical vaults as well as storm and sanitary structures.
- The KDOT U.S. 69 Express that includes 580,000 feet of sound wall, 49,500 feet of reinforced concrete pipe 5,000 feet of reinforced concrete box structures and 885 storm structures.
Pretech’s footprint also includes projects throughout Omaha, Neb. What started with a few jobs in that market has turned into, “probably 20% of our business is shipping up there,” Bundschuh said.
“You go where the jobs take you,” he said. “And if they like your work, you tend to end up going back there.”
BUILDING IN HIS BLOOD
Bundschuh is a long way from Minneapolis, Kan. Maybe not as the bird flies but certainly when it comes to life experiences.
He will never forget the summer before high school when he helped his Uncle Ron construct a 12-foot wide stone arch out in the middle of a pasture.
The arch does not serve any functional purpose but still sticks with a 14-year-old boy who enjoys building things that last.
It is still there to see.
“I thought that was the greatest thing ever, and I had so much fun doing it,” Bundschuh said. “I thought at the time I might never build anything better.”
Bundschuh is still building. A time will come when he and his wife, Cindy, can enjoy retirement and he can build random things for the sheer enjoyment.
For the time being, he has Pretech and the NPCA chairmanship to keep him busy.