Content area
Full Text
Bill Keller is the classic example of the self-made millionaire:
He was born during the Depression, grew up the poor son of a butcher and worked his way through the ranks in the construction business without a college education, eventually starting and succeeding at running his own company.
But there is an ironic twist to this rags-to-riches story.
Keller now faces the daunting possibility of retiring and turning the business over to his son at the worst financial period ever for his business--a time when his company's revenues have been halved in the past two years, and he has been forced to lay off some of his best people, all because of a real estate recession that likely will get worse before it gets better.
At the age of 64, the founder and chief executive officer of Keller Construction Co. sits in his sparsely decorated office in an El Monte industrial complex he built, looking over his cabinets filled with lawsuits (most of them filed against Keller by subcontractors in connection with projects in which the developer came up short and stopped paying the bills), and wonders aloud: "Why am I putting up with this? Why don't I just get out?
"It's the most difficult time I've ever experienced," he says. "This is a survival time. Guys I used to work for are looking for work. Some of the developers I know have lost everything, including their house. It is really very sobering."
Later, he laughs and admits: "I was going to try to be positive in this interview. My son accuses me of being too negative."
Keller was born in Saskatchewan, Canada, in 1928.
"We didn't starve, but we didn't have...