For the Daltons and Enfingers, building homes is more than construction—it’s a deep-rooted family legacy of trust, craftsmanship, tradition, and community. They blend hard work with family values to create spaces where future generations will always have a home. Through collaboration and a commitment to quality, these hometown builders have laid the groundwork for their families and the families they serve to thrive. They aren't just building beautiful houses and subdivisions, but a stronger, more connected community...one brick at a time.
Black Crow Building Company
What inspired you to go into business together, and how did the idea of building a legacy come to life?
Landon: I grew up in the residential construction world watching my father build a very detailed, high level, custom home and fell in love with the craftsmanship and the artistic skill of creating these homes with your own hands, much like a sculptor creates a masterpiece from a void form of stone. Fast forward years, and I’m in the depths of a design-build engineering and construction career where it’s strictly business and numbers, and I wanted something else in my life, something where I could use my passion and knowledge to build something for a family to create lifetime memories, something more than just numbers on a page.
Keith: My inspiration came from Landon’s vision—his dream of building high-quality
homes on a larger scale.
How do your individual strengths complement each other in the business, and how do you handle differences in opinion or style?
Landon: Having my father involved in Black Crow Building Co. allows us to combine our individual strengths and experience to constantly elevate the quality of our homes and each other throughout the process. Our differences create discussions, which lead to learning and knowledge transfer, which leads to a better understanding of the problem and a better solution for the project. I typically have more of a dreamer perspective where the sky is not the limit and it’s never been done so we should try, and Keith is more logical with the process and steps to take to execute the work, so together we are able to leverage our personalities and strengths, with our disagreements and discussions, to create what we believe is truly the best product possible.
Keith: Landon brings a strong background in structural engineering and business, while
I bring over four decades of hands-on building experience. Together, we’re able to
approach projects in a way I couldn’t have done on my own. Landon manages the
day-to-day operations, and I focus on what’s happening in the field which allows
us to play to our strengths. We don’t really have many disagreements—we trust
and respect each other’s expertise, and that goes a long way.
What values or principles have been most important in guiding your work and your relationship?
Landon: Honesty and integrity are what our company was founded on and what our relationship stands on. We are going to be open, transparent, and honest with each other, every person involved in the company, and every family we have the privilege of working with. We define integrity as simply doing the right thing, doing what you say you’re going to do, and treating people right. We hold these two principles as pillars of the company as well as our business and personal relationship together.
Keith: Honesty and integrity have always been at the core of everything we do—in both
business and life. We believe in treating people fairly, doing what we say we’re
going to do, and building something we can be proud of.
How has the father/son dynamic shaped the culture of your company?
Landon: We hold each other to a higher standard each and every day, and we are constantly trying to improve everything we do. I believe true improvement comes from making mistakes and listening to the opinions and experiences of others. At any time, anyone can have a good idea or solution to the problem, so by seeing my father and I constantly discussing, learning, and working together in all aspects of the company, it promotes a culture where everyone has valuable input, and it is always welcomed. There is no boss in this company, we all are equal members of the process with differing responsibilities, and no one is above any job, we all are responsible for taking out the trash when it needs to be taken out. Every person we have as a part of this company is invaluable and seeing my father and I work together each day with the mind set of how can we make either other better and a servants mentality of how can we make each other’s job easier, promotes a strong culture within the company where we are all looking out for each other to give the best home we can to the families that we have the opportunity to work for.
Keith: I think it creates a strong, positive atmosphere. The mutual respect and support we have for one another carries over into the company culture. I’m proud to work alongside Landon, and I’m motivated every day to contribute to the company’s success—not just for him, but for the whole crew.
What does legacy mean to you, and what do you see for the future of your company?
Landon: The legacy of this company must be larger than myself and my family. Black Crow Building Co. is a collection of all families associated with what we do every day, and the legacy needs to be one that includes all families involved. My goal is for this company to endure through generations where my children are working here, and our superintendents’ children are working here, and our pre-construction department has children working here. It needs to be a lasting legacy focused on our families and neighbors to better Huntsville as a whole, not just my family, but improving and serving all that are around us in the community.
Keith: To me, legacy means building something that lasts—something known for quality
and commitment to customer satisfaction. I want BCBC to be a name that people
trust and respect. More than anything, I hope it continues for generations. I'd love
to see my grandchildren one day be a part of it, and I want them to be proud of
what we’ve built.
What advice would you give to other families considering going into business together, especially in a hands-on industry like construction?
Landon: I’ve never viewed what we do as doing business together. My father and I have always worked alongside each other helping on weekend projects, helping others in need, working on charitable projects and this is just an extension of that. It’s never been work to us, it’s what we enjoy, working together to help other, it’s our hobby. If you are wanting to work with your family, I think it needs to be that way. If it’s about how much money can we make, and increasing our margins, I don’t think it will ever work. If your desire is to bring together common minds with common goals to benefit others, it can be wildly successful, and you shouldn’t hesitate to dive in.
Keith:If you get the chance to work with your family—take it. It has been incredibly rewarding to build something together and see the results at the end of each project. I feel truly blessed to be where I am today.
Jeff Enfinger- Enfinger Development, Hays Farm
What inspired you to go into business together, and how did the idea of building a legacy come to life?
As a dad you want to teach your children to be successful however they want to be successful, and in some cases they choose to move and do their own specialty...but in our case my children have chosen to stay and work in real estate which gives me an opportunity to work with them and mentor them in these businesses.
How do your individual strengths complement each other in the business, and how do you handle differences in opinion or style?
They're younger and they have more energy than me...each person is different and we all have strengths and weaknesses. The key to getting along is knowing that everyone is working as hard as they can.. It's not ever a matter of trusting each other with money but just trusting that everyone is doing their best and working hard. When we have disagreements we wait a week and have another meeting. Let each other think about what we've heard or consider any new information. We rarely do anything without full consensus. We have a cooperative, collaborative relationship and this is how we all learn and succeed together.
What values or principles have been most important in guiding your work and your relationship?
Work ethic. This is a competitive world and you have to be willing to compete and take chances. You have to work hard and smart to build confidence in each other and the business.
How has the family dynamic shaped the culture of your company and the way you serve clients?
Fairness.. You can't give everybody everything they want but you have to fulfill your obligations. Always do what we say we are going to do. If people put a question mark behind your name then they don't trust you.. we make every effort to fulfill every obligation both written and verbal so people trust us personally and professionally.
What does legacy mean to you, and how are you intentionally building it for future generations?
Legacy to me is that all of the family members and children prosper. We spend a lot of time trying to keep children on the right path, even if that path isn't the same as ours. In my case I'm lucky that all my children work with me but the legacy is that we have a strong happy family that prospers in the world.
What advice would you give to other families considering going into business together, especially in a hands-on industry like construction?
Have common goals and spend time together deciding what the main goal is. Pinpoint everyone's role and decide how hard everybody is going to work to make sure the goal is reached. If you lose faith in anyone on the team then you have a breakdown, so always talk it out and try to resolve reservations before it gets to that. Everyone has to work toward the goal. We're all committed to having a business that is successful and puts out a good product.