News Release - For Immediate Release - May 4, 1999


David and Ann Rodrigues to Receive Outstanding Alumni Award from UW-Waukesha

News Release Written by Penny Kelsey of the Public Relations Office at UW-Waukesha

They started small. Ann Hanson and David Rodrigues, Jr., graduated together from Waukesha North High School in 1981. Each for different reasons, the classmates but near-strangers enrolled at UW-Waukesha. Two years later, now well-acquainted with each other, they both transferred to UW-Milwaukee to finish their bachelor's degrees, Ann earning hers in mass communication-journalism and David his in political science.

With courage they grew strong. This year, the owners of David and Goliath Builders of Pewaukee, the very successful new home construction business, are being honored as UW-Waukesha's outstanding alumni of the year. David and his Labrador, Goliath, founded the business in 1985, just months before Ann and David married.

Serendipitously, they came to UW-Waukesha. The baby in her family, Ann planned to go away to college. She had enrolled at UW-Eau Claire, paid her fees, been assigned a dorm room, and "chickened out. Instead I went up on the hill" to near by UW-Waukesha. She figured she could keep the comforts of home and ride her bike to school, but she found it easier to drive. David worked full time, doing construction and handyman work for others. He felt compelled to stay home to keep his job and to save money. He bicycled to school and took a lot of night classes.

They met in class, where the two competitive and strong-minded students argued academic questions. They met at the many social functions, where they mingled with both faculty and fellow students. Most important, they met in John Knight's philosophy classes, where they learned to develop and express coherent, cogent thoughts and where they honed the intellectual toughness to start a business. If her practical side had not won the argument, Ann admits, she would have sought a master's degree in philosophy.

Finally they dated. When Ann wanted a companion to attend a wedding in July 1982, she invited David. After that, he began asking her out, and three years later, in August 1985, the wedding was theirs.

It was a year for launching new enterprises. In May, David, who had worked full time since high school, fitting classes into a hectic schedule, phoned Ann to tell her he was quitting. Luckily, he soon found himself flooded with work, mostly remodeling.

Their first complete project, a duplex that David designed, was finished in 1986. Since then, they have been building contract homes as well as one or two speculative residences each year, winning Parade of Homes achievement awards for design craftsmanship and building professionalism in 1988, 1989, and 1996, all the years they have had entries in the show.

David and Goliath Builders maintains three crews, builds houses year-around, and never has had to lay anyone off. They employ rough carpenters, finish carpenters and masons and have won awards for their masonry, notably in the Tallgrass and Five Fields subdivisions.

Pregnant with their first child 10 years ago, Ann quit providing outside support and became solely an employee of the company. During college years, she had worked in the public relations department at UW-Waukesha, under the tutelage of Larraine O'Brien and Lynn (Paque) Knight. After college, she pursued other career opportunities. But children brought her home. Located in the lower level of their home, the company office, however, has its own, separate entrance. On the drawing board is a new office building, allowing space for continuing growth as well as some to rent.

Parents twice now, both Ann and David have found time to devote to the trade. They have assumed active roles in the Metropolitan Builders Association of Greater Milwaukee (MBA). David chairs the Parade of Homes committee this year and serves on the arbitration committee, which he has chaired for the past two years. He also chairs the mediation and the ethics committees and is in the first year of his three-year term on the board of directors. In addition, he is on WCTC's carpentry advisory council. The journalist, Ann is a member of the board of directors of the MBA's Sales and Marketing Council and is chairing the sales and marketing awards committee. Under her direction, David and Goliath has won awards for the best black and white ads for five years in a row.

"It's a challenge to be in business for yourself," David summarizes. "School is easy; working is hard." He advises the young college students of today: "Appreciate those years. They're the fun years."