{"id":2948,"date":"2018-05-16T18:25:39","date_gmt":"2018-05-16T18:25:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/?p=2948"},"modified":"2018-05-16T23:06:10","modified_gmt":"2018-05-16T23:06:10","slug":"lorena-business-owner-uses-tstc-drafting-and-design-experience-for-construction-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/?p=2948","title":{"rendered":"Lorena Business Owner Uses TSTC Drafting and Design Experience for Construction Work"},"content":{"rendered":"

(WACO) \u2013 There are two years that have been pivotal in Charlie Montgomery\u2019s career.<\/span><\/p>\n

One was 1978, the year he graduated from what was Texas State Technical Institute (now Texas State Technical College) with an Associate of Applied Science degree in Architectural Drafting and Design.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI was able to gain knowledge to go forward in life,\u201d said Montgomery, 60, of Lorena.<\/span><\/p>\n

Then there was 1988. Montgomery\u2019s brother committed suicide, and he felt the need to stop what he was doing and move as far as he could from Waco. So, he moved to Fort Worth, where he lived and worked for four years.<\/span><\/p>\n

But Waco pulled him back.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis was home,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was where all my family was. I started to get my life in order again.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He started C.O. Montgomery Construction Services LLC in Lorena in 1995 with a pickup truck, a handsaw and tools, and no employees. He learned quickly how well-developed people skills can help build a business.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe thing that helped me the most was the Jarrell tornado,\u201d Montgomery said. \u201cI started to learn how to weld. I designed and sold 63 storm shelters.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He said one of the hardest parts of having a business is the management, from taxes to insurance.<\/span><\/p>\n

His company has 10 employees and also hires subcontractors. He wants to work with TSTC\u2019s Building Construction Technology program to provide internships and fill needs for estimators.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cUs older guys are dying out,\u201d Montgomery said. \u201cIn our day, we sacrificed to do what we had to do to get the job done.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

One of the jobs Montgomery\u2019s company is doing is building Bush\u2019s Chicken locations throughout Texas. The restaurant being built in China Spring is how Bobby Horner, a city of Waco inspection supervisor and classmate of Montgomery\u2019s at TSTC, reconnected after years of taking different career pathways.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was neat to see Charlie around,\u201d Horner said. \u201cCharlie has done everything we have asked with the project.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Keith Bush, founder of Bush\u2019s Chicken, said Montgomery is his preferred builder. Bush\u2019s Chicken uses a standard 3,000-square-foot design for all locations.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s so comfortable and reassuring knowing Charlie is on your project because you don\u2019t have to worry,\u201d Bush said. \u201cWith other contractors, you have to worry they will do something that is not in your best interest. He does what is in the best interest in the buildings he builds and the work he does.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Montgomery grew up in McLennan County and graduated in 1976 from Midway High School.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI was always artistic and did a lot of drawing,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

He said taking drafting classes at Midway helped prepare him for TSTC.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe trades are completely ignored,\u201d Montgomery said. \u201cIf the schools focused on that, it would help prepare the students.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He was hired for a drafting job after his first semester in college and after graduation worked for Centurion Mobile Homes in Waco designing mobile homes. One project he remembered was building their own hydraulics testing mechanisms for trusses.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI had a knack for designing things and laying things out and making it work,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Montgomery said his later work drafting and designing at Bob Hoover Construction in Waco opened his eyes to the construction side of designing. He said he valued his time observing the building process on-site at projects.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe need drafting and construction taught together,\u201d Montgomery said. \u201cEach needs to know about the other.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

For more information on Texas State Technical College, go to tstc.edu.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(WACO) \u2013 There are two years that have been pivotal in Charlie Montgomery\u2019s career. One was 1978, the year he graduated from what was Texas State Technical Institute (now Texas State Technical College) with an Associate of Applied Science degree in Architectural Drafting and Design. \u201cI was able to gain knowledge to go forward in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2948","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-waco"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2948","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2948"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2948\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2950,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2948\/revisions\/2950"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2948"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2948"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2948"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}