The local church builder
Dodgeville, Wisconsin, native Robin Roberts founded Roberts Construction Associates in 1981. He led several church projects for another local construction firm earlier in his career, and similar opportunities followed him when he struck out on his own. Roberts Construction soon earned a reputation as the Madison area’s “local church builder.”
Among the hundreds of churches Roberts Construction built is one of the largest congregations in the Madison area, Blackhawk Church. The firm built the church’s second location on Whitney way in 1986, expanded it ten years later, and in 2006 built the current facility on Brader Way. Roberts’ work spanned religious denominations, including Lutheran, Catholic, Methodist, Greek Orthodox, Buddhist, Hindu, and non-denominational, and often included multiple projects as congregations continued to grow.
A good fit for nonprofits, too
The company’s specialization in church construction later expanded to include construction and renovation for nonprofits. Building projects for both types of organizations are often led by committees, and Roberts Construction had developed a unique process to help committees and other leaders engage their organizations’ members, supporters and beneficiaries, as well as meet financial requirements.
Among the firm’s noteworthy nonprofit projects are the Dane County and Jefferson County Humane Societies and the YWCA. Roberts Construction Associates earned many awards for its church and nonprofit work, in addition to other commercial construction projects.
Transition
After nearly 30 years in business, Robin began to plan a transition that would allow the reputation of Roberts Construction to carry on, but allow him to gradually scale back his involvement.
A mutual contact put him in touch with Jeff Grundahl, a fellow construction entrepreneur from Southern Wisconsin. Jeff founded JG Development in 1990, primarily focusing on residential new construction and remodeling. He had expanded the firm’s work into commercial construction on his own, as well as through the purchase of National Construction Incorporated in 2008.
Robin and Jeff had developed similar business philosophies over the years. Clients of both companies knew the respective firms would – without question – handle any and all of their construction-related needs.
In 2011, JG Development purchased Roberts Construction Associates and changed its name to NCI-Roberts Construction, to reflect its cooperation with earlier acquisition National Construction Incorporated (NCI). For the next five years, both commercial divisions shared responsibility for JG’s commercial work.
Renewed focus
In 2016, NCI-Roberts Construction renewed its focus on what it has always done best: building and remodeling churches and nonprofits, so that they can better serve their missions and continue to grow. We are one of five divisions of JG Development, located in Madison, Wisconsin.
