03/ 29/ 2006
by Emily McMackin
Millions of viewers of ABC's hit show "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" don't know that the real heroes of the show aren't the corporate sponsors who typically get national television exposure from the program. It's the local small businesses that make the quick renovations happen.
Dust and drywall flew everywhere as rival construction crews, electricians and plumbers worked night and day without pay to build a new home in less than a week for a family they didn't know. Local vendors kept workers refreshed with continuous deliveries of free water, soda, hot dogs and pizza, while thousands lined the street--cheering as walls went up and clamoring for a glimpse of celebrity carpenter Ty Pennington and his star-studded crew.
Everyone in tiny Boardman, Ohio, knew what was going on: ABC's hit reality show, "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," had hit town. What many onlookers (and millions of television viewers) didn't know was that the real heroes behind the effort were small-business owners like brothers-in-law Tony Esposito and Chris Abraham of TC Quality Homes in nearby Canfield--not the show's stars nor the corporate sponsors who get national exposure from the program.
Picked by producers last fall to construct a new house with more space, style and amenities for
Jeff Novak, a recently widowed father of three girls, Esposito and Abraham organized much of the build themselves and turned to the small-business community to donate services and materials that corporate sponsors couldn't provide.
"All the producers did was film and bring the Hollywood talent and a couple of corporate sponsors," Esposito says. "Everything else was left to us."
The show enlisted TC Quality's help because it wanted to "portray one family helping another," Esposito says. Despite getting only six weeks notice, the business owners were intrigued by the challenge. Seeing a tape of 6-year-old Zoey Novak sealed the deal.
"All you had to do was look into her eyes and see her smile, and it made you want to help her," Abraham says.
The men shut down their business for a month to plan construction, recruit subcontractors and volunteers, and convince suppliers to donate materials. Planning got so overwhelming that they had to delegate duties to their competitors.
"As people became aware of what was happening, the giving snowballed," Abraham says. Local businesses donated their time, materials and services. People canceled vacations to help with construction. Abraham and Esposito even convinced the bank to pay the family's mortgage and a local university to offer scholarships for the girls.
Hundreds of crews worked around the clock to double the size of the Novak home in a record 89 hours. Many of the workers, who contributed $1 million in free labor, stayed until the house was finished, even though most never made it on television. Esposito and Abraham got a few cameos and some name recognition, but the real pay off was the look on Zoey's face when her family's dream house was revealed.
"Getting is good, but giving is phenomenal," Esposito says. "It's contagious."
Hollywood Meets Small Business
Producers of ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" have worked with dozens of communities to orchestrate successful builds for deserving families over the years, but they underestimated the determination of small-business owners in the Ohio Valley heartland. When a subcontractor donating his time promised to frame the Novak house in eight hours instead of the usual 12, the show's project manager urged Tony Esposito to revise the construction schedule or risk jeopardizing the build.
"He knew what it took to get the job done in other places, but he didn't know the kind of people we had working on it," Esposito says.
Instead of revamping the schedule, Esposito waited for the "Extreme Makeover" crew to arrive the next day and greeted them with a firm handshake and his guarantee that the job would be finished in time. The crew completed the framing in five and a half hours, setting a quick pace that continued throughout the week.
"A lot of guys wanted to show the country the heart and soul of this community."
Work site crews didn't give celebrity carpenter Ty Pennington and his posse any special treatment, Esposito says. "We never made them feel like Hollywood stars. They really appreciated that."
