Listen to this articleMoltron Builders, a Black woman-owned general contracting firm based in Minneapolis, is building on the complementary strengths of husband-and-wife leaders Babette and Patrick Buckner.
Patrick, Moltron Builders’ president and a vested union member, got his start in construction at 19. He chose to be a laborer, to understand the assembly process and the order in which the pieces of a building come together as he worked toward his goal of being a commercial contractor.
Babette, meanwhile, has experience with larger construction companies and accounting firms, and has supported other ventures of Patrick’s. She has an economics degree from the University of Minnesota, a certificate in organizational development and a master’s degree in Adlerian psychology, which emphasizes social equality and community action.
“He has the trade experience and knows construction from the ground up,” Babette said of her husband. “What I bring to Moltron Builders is organizational structure. He’s the expert in the field. I’m the expert in the office.”
Babette became Moltron’s majority owner when she purchased shares in 2020. Revenue since has grown 600%, she said.
“Until I became owner, Moltron kind of moved along at a pretty steady state,” Babette said. “With me taking the ownership, I was able to take on the operations and he could focus in the field, and we really did start growing the business.”
Babette was named a finalist for an unrestricted grant in the Center for Economic Inclusion’s Vanguard Accelerator program. Finalists, announced in June, are eligible for $5,000 grants to support business growth and tuition in an accelerator program.
“Vanguard Accelerator is a great program to help me hone my skills,” Babette said. “It helps me continue my education and upgrade the skills I have in place or add knowledge where I may be missing it from an operational standpoint.”
As a general contractor, Moltron, founded in 2007, has completed construction, maintenance and commercial and retail remodeling and tenant improvement projects. It also offers construction management and design-build services. The company recently had 10 employees, but the number varies with the size of projects. Moltron is signatory to Carpenters Local 322 and Local 563 Laborers Union. “As a vested union member, we are pro-union,” Patrick said emphatically.
Moltron provided general construction, construction management and project supervision for the Ridgedale Collaborative Work Center, Babette said. The project included minor remodeling with removal of non-structural interior partitions for six offices and a storage room to create open floor plans for collaborate work areas. Moltron managed construction work of HVAC modifications and other improvements. Moltron also is completing accessibility upgrades to the Federal Aviation Administration’s Minneapolis Air Route Traffic Control Center in Farmington.
“We’re general contractors at the core,” Patrick said. “It doesn’t matter what it is. If we can be profitable, we want to go after it.”
Moltron is working with McGough Construction on the Ramsey County Environmental Services Center in Roseville, which will accept household hazardous waste and electronics, food scraps and recycling. “We couldn’t ask for a better mentor/partner,” Babette said.
As a subcontractor to Meyer Contracting, Moltron is providing supplemental labor on construction of the Southwest Light Rail Transit project. The partnership with Meyer has helped Moltron expand its work in civil construction and its labor union base by providing payroll support so Moltron doesn’t have to wait two or three months for payment, Babette said. Such work also diversifies Moltron’s revenue sources.
Establishing Moltron as a woman-owned small business has opened opportunities for the company to help contractors meet workforce goals for diverse participation on state construction projects, Babette said.
Before George Floyd’s death, Patrick said, incentive programs for working with African American men in construction had been “basically obliterated.”
“The way for us to build generational wealth within our community and within our home is to take advantage of the support of women-owned businesses and specifically Black women-owned business and we have been able to do that with me becoming majority owner of Moltron,” Babette said.
The Buckners’ son, who has a construction management degree from the University of Minnesota and experience with Hensel Phelps, a large general contractor, is working with Moltron as project manager, Babette said. Their daughter, who is working with Moltron as a project coordinator while she’s in college, has interned with Opus Group.
“It’s all about developing revenue and handing over the legacy,” Patrick said.
With strategic partnerships, some of which have brought bonding capacity, and possible future development interests, Babette said the outlook, conservatively, is for Moltron to reach $10 million to $20 million in annual revenue within the next three years.
“There is more balance in how the business is run now,” Babette said. “Moltron has been strengthened because of us being joint leaders.”
Moltron Builders
Business: General contracting company, offers commercial construction, construction management and design-build services.
Headquarters: Minneapolis
CEO: Babette Buckner
Employees: 10 recently, varies by project
Founded: 2007