"We spend a lot of time trying to convince architects and contractors to send us their plans. We explain that it's like free advertising for them." - Fond du Lac Builders Exchange Plan-Room Manager Kathy Gyr

Small, but mighty

By Elizabeth Oplatka

		Address: 815 S. Pioneer Road, Fond du Lac, WI 54935 Phone: 920-924-7442 Fax: 920-924-7443 Hours: Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. Region covered: Statewide, out-of-state plans available on request Plans available: About 50 at off-peak times and nearly 100 in season Services: Phones, overnight plan reservations, weekly newsletter and photo and blueprint copying Membership: Membership newsletter for $80; full membership for contractors headquartered within 40 miles of Fond du Lac is $220 a year; members located outside 40-mile radius pay $160 a year

The nonprofit Fond du Lac Builders Exchange is smaller than many plan rooms statewide, but its 140 members count on its customer service, plan-room manager Kathy Gyr said.

Gyr's "low-tech" builders exchange is an affordable option for contractors based everywhere from Appleton to Green Bay.

With membership fees as low as $220 a year, "what's that for someone who lands just one job he finds here for thousands?" she said.

The plan room carries from 900 to 1,400 plans a year, all on paper, Gyr said. The plan room doesn't have a computer.

"We receive plans from the Department of the Army on CD-ROM, and we let contractors know that they're available," she said. "Honestly, we don't have many requests for e-mail or Internet access because we deal with smaller subs who just recently got a fax machine."

Even members who would like to view plans on a computer ultimately need blueprints, Gyr said.
"They want to see it on paper so they can plot them," she said.

The small subcontractors who find Gyr's exchange most often complain about large general contractors who they say won't give them a shot at big jobs or who don't pay on schedule.

"It irritates them, but they know it's all part of being small in this business," she said. "We spend a lot of time trying to convince architects and contractors to send us their plans. We explain that it's like free advertising for them."