Exceeding Expectations

those submitted by more experienced builders. After interviewing the WBI principals, buildingarchitect Fred Williams was satisfied that they could satisfactorily complete the project andrecommended that they be awarded the contract.Wayne Brothers not only purchased $10,000 of the bonds that were sold by UnityMethodist to finance the costs of construction, but instituted special training for its crews toensure a higher standard of dress and conduct out of respect for the building that they wereconstructing. As a result of that meticulous planning, the sanctuary was completed to thesatisfaction of the congregation, within the specified time, and within budget.John Ashworth, now VP and Project Executive for WBI, was looking for work in his nativeWest Virginia in 1988, when he was attracted to the Kannapolis area by a Wayne Brothersadvertisement in the Charleston Daily Mail. He was hired by Bobby Phillips, now Vice-Presidentof Preconstruction for Wayne Brothers, and began working on the Embassy Suites project inGreensboro for which Phillips was Estimator/Project Manager. He recalls that the company hadabout 30 employees in the field at that time, and that Eric Wayne was working as a kind ofsuperintendent in the field. In addition to the Greensboro contract, the company was workingon the huge Guardian Glass project in Richburg, South Carolina, and the Unity MethodistChurch sanctuary, as well as jobs for Fieldcrest Cannon.Ashworth, who began work as a carpenter’s helper, worked at first under the immediatesupervision of Harold Mayhew, whom he credits with teaching him many basic skills. Work onEmbassy Suites acquainted him with the multiple uses for concrete in modern architecture, asthe Wayne Brothers crew placed concrete for the water fall and other decorative features in theatrium. When Mr. Mayhew left the company, John Ashworth was able to complete the concretework for the Durham Omni. He enjoyed working for WBI and felt that he had a future with thisyoung, but growing, company. One of his four brothers, David, came to North Carolina and wasalso hired by Bobby Phillips, who was then unaware of the family connection. Eventually, allfour of John Ashworth’s brothers accepted positions with Wayne Brothers, and three of themcontinue to work there. On one project, the Harris Teeter freezer warehouse in Matthews, NorthCarolina, in 1994, all five of the Ashworth brothers were on the same job site for the first time.When John Ashworth began work with Wayne Brothers, the company was housed ina shop building located at 8819 Columbus Street off Archer Road, on a portion of the farmClaude and Juanita Wayne had purchased in 1960. The simple, wood-sided building, builtby Wayne Brothers in 1985, quickly became too small to meet company needs, and was24 EXCEEDING EXPECTATIONS