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Staff photo by Mark L. Thompson Buzzy Coleman got involved with the United Way after seeing how it provided programs for a disabled nephew. |
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By Terry Scanlon The News & Advance Perhaps the clearest sign of Alfred Clifton Coleman Jr.’s success is his starched white shirt with the nickname “Buzzy” stitched on the cuffs. Custom-made shirts aren’t highly unusual for business owners, but as a high school dropout and a Harley Davidson rider, Buzzy Coleman’s not a typical custom-made shirt guy. Just as extraordinary is Coleman’s commitment to helping others. For the past 15 years he’s been donating time and money, lots of each, to local schools and the United Way. Coleman, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Coleman-Adams Construction, served as head for the United Way of Central Virginia’s 1996 fund-raising campaign. On two other campaigns, he led the construction division fund-raising. In that role Coleman was responsible for raising money from his competitors, friends, subcontractors and suppliers. The United Way can be very time consuming, he said. During the 1996 campaign he devoted two days each week exclusively to the United Way. He’s never regretted the time or money. “The United Way does a good job to help people in need in this area,” he said. “And if we keep the quality of life good in this area by helping people in need, it makes you feel better personally and it shows support in the community.” |
Who influenced you?
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Eric Aft, president of
the United Way of Central Virginia, termed Coleman’s work
as critical in the United Way’s efforts to attract other
Bedford businesses. “Buzzy helped provide us an energy that is extremely unique and was very needed to not only help us succeed in Bedford but help us understand how important it was for us to succeed,” Aft said. “He draws out of people their ability to care.” Coleman attracts people that aren’t always targeted by United Way fund raisers. A Harley rider himself, last year he bought a motorcycle and raffled it for the United Way, raising about $25,000. The local United Way touches about 70,000 people through 33 agencies, as varied as domestic violence shelters, food banks and child care centers, Aft said. About 17 years ago Coleman’s nephew, Lance Underwood, developed a hearing problem. “I saw what the United Way did right then and a couple years later I got involved,” Coleman said. Underwood recently graduated from the University of North Carolina. Coleman believes that wouldn’t have been possible without the United Way’s help years ago. “The United Way helped him with what he need to do to overcome his hearing problem,” Coleman said. “...They helped him build his confidence up. Coleman has also developed an affection for the New Vistas School. He donates money and raises money through a pig roast at his Sedalia home each year. Last year it raked in $17,000. “Buzzy is absolutely one of the best, most giving people I know,” Lucy Ross, director of New Vistas, said. Coleman’s donations have paid the tuition of some of the school’s 40 students. Students at New Vistas are children of at least average intelligence who struggle in public schools, Ross said. “Buzzy will do anything for you if he believes in what you’re doing,” Ross said. “And he believes in what we’re doing.” In 1971 Coleman and partner Vince Adams formed Coleman-Adams Construction company. Today it is one of the largest builders in Central Virginia. Coleman’s not shy about his rocky road to success. “When I was 16 or 17 I didn’t think about anything but raising hell,” he said, recalling the days he dropped out of E.C. Glass High School and later Augusta Military Academy. “I raised too much hell. I got kicked out of everywhere I went. I graduated from the school of hard knocks,” he said. He went to work in construction with his father. Coleman prides himself on being frank, and through the years he has earned a reputation for being a straight shooter. “In everything he does he’s extremely honest and direct,” Aft said. “That helps people understand his sincerity when he’s talking.” He credits his success to hard work, which was instilled in him by his father and uncle. The success of his business he credits to, among other things, the company’s concern for its employees. In 1990, it became an employee-owned company. “We’ve got real good key employees who have been with forever. We have very little turnover in personnel. We try to get good people and try to hold onto to them,” he said. Employees own 62 percent of the company. All profits go back into the company, and the employees earn a better retirement plan than a typical 401K plan, he said. “They work just as hard as I do,” Coleman said. “Why shouldn’t they have a retirement plan?” |