"They can come in here, at one place, and look at all the plans they want to if they have a day off or if it's a rainy day. Rainy days are pretty busy here." - Sandy Bakalars

Rejecting Technology

By Jack Bess

		Address: 427 Gillette St., P.O. Box 875, La Crosse, WI 54602 Phone: 608-781-1819 Fax: 608-781-1718 E-mail Web Site Hours: Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Plans available: Southwest Wisconsin and neighboring parts of Iowa and Minnesota, 30 to 100 plans Services: Weekly bulletin, member directory and blueprint copying and directories Membership: $200 annually

Subcontractors coming into the La Crosse Builders Exchange plan room never ask for an Internet connection.

And they can't stand looking at project plans on CD-ROM.

The technology is basic here. Most contractors rely on the "project book" they sign requesting additional information about jobs. Office manager Sandy Bakalars calls each member who signs the book as details filter in.

"A lot of our guys rely on that (book) big time," Bakalars said. "We will call sometimes 20 or 30 people in the morning as soon as I pick up the mail and get the information in."

That's the kind of user-friendly touch that makes the plan room a great place to work, Bakalars said. The members, 417 of them at last count, are competitive, but they're also considerate, she said.
"I've heard some masons call up another mason and say, 'I don't think I can go on this job. Do you want to do it?' They help each other out here," she said.

In her eight years at La Crosse, Bakalars has gotten to know the plan-room users, mostly subcontractors, pretty well. That's because they can't use their colored markers to make notes on a computer screen. "They just hate it when some plans come out only on CD-ROM," she said. They rely heavily on the office blueprint copier.

Subcontractors do more traveling than ever, so it makes sense that the exchange last year did away with the plan-room's two-tier membership, based on whether a member lived inside or outside a 40-mile radius.

"That (distinction) just didn't apply to us anymore," Bakalars said. "Traveling 40 miles is nothing like it used to be."

Bakalars has gotten to know the area's projects as well. Last year, the La Crosse service area saw "a lot of new schools and a lot of Wal-Mart stores," she said.

From what she has seen so far in 2000, Bakalars expects a trend in plans for office buildings and assisted-living residences for senior citizens that are "more like apartments than nursing homes," she said.

While Bakalars has heard people at other exchanges complain that design/build projects have decreased the flow of plans to their respective rooms, she said that trend hasn't reached La Crosse.

The $200 annual fee entitles members to take plans home overnight and to use the full-range of plan-room resources, not least of which are the problem-solving abilities of plan-room staffers. If a plan is only available on CD-ROM, staffers will contact a general contractor who can create a hard copy on a plotter, Bakalars said.

Members also receive a directory of members and a weekly bulletin.

And, of course, those phone calls from Sandy Bakalars.