10 Years of Schuber Mitchell:
How Schuber Mitchell Homes Got Started
When an EF5 tornado swept through Joplin in 2011, the resulting destruction caused over 2.8 billion dollars worth of damage and the even greater, invaluable loss of many members of the community. In the midst of this destruction, many families were left without a place to live, and the number of homes that were lost to the storm meant that it was crucial that Joplin begin to rebuild.
As home builders and contractors from all over the country flocked to Joplin to take advantage of this huge housing need, not all of them were building homes with integrity. Daman Schuber and Dan Mitchell saw a need for quality housing and a builder who cared about the community, so they each decided to do something about it.
Without knowing it, they both reached out to Rick Betenbough, of Betenbough Homes (The #1 Homebuilder in West Texas), and asked him to come and help rebuild Joplin. While Rick had a heart for the community, he knew that building homes in a state 10 hours away from where he lived was not feasible. So, he challenged Dan and Daman to join forces and take on the job themselves. With the strong foundation provided by Rick’s knowledge and experience, they began Schuber Mitchell Homes; and here we are - 10 years later!
Check out the whole story below:
Dan Mitchell, Chief Land Officer & CEO of Land Development Group:
“The Betenbough family had been family friends of my wife Donna for years.”
Daman Schuber, Chief Marketing Officer:
“I always loved talking to Rick and hearing about the homes they built in West Texas. How they’re all brick and tile floors... granite countertops and architectural shingles at prices that were better than in Joplin.
“After the tornado happened, there was so much destruction here and so many homes were lost. I reached out to Rick and said, ‘Man, I know what you guys do. I know what kind of homes you build. I know what you do with your profits. You’re an amazing kingdom company. You guys should come and help rebuild Joplin.’
“I didn’t know, but Dan called him at the same time, independently as well. When I called Rick, he was in Dallas with some business meetings there, and he said I’ll just jump on a plane and come up to Joplin. So he did in a couple of days, and we spent time driving around Joplin, and the destruction, and thinking about what could be done and praying about the situation. At the end of all the discussions, Rick’s thought was: I love Joplin. I’ve invested in Joplin. But we can’t come 10 hours and help rebuild homes here. You guys should do this. You guys should help rebuild Joplin. I’ll help you - I’ll teach you what I know about homebuilding, but you guys should do this.
Daman Schuber:
“It was pretty early on that we recognized that this idea of affordable luxury being built with quality and integrity was a needed product, and so we sought to hire a couple of people who could help shoulder some of the load and we started adding team members.”
Dan Mitchell:
“One of the most important moments was when we connected with Joe Harris and his family to help build the future of the company.”
Joe Harris, Chief Executive Officer:
“At the time, my wife and I were running Harris Homes, which is a single-family rental company serving families in Carl Junction and Webb City school districts. I was considering expanding that business, and so I came to Dan and Daman to look at opportunities to buy more homes to expand that rental company.
“And as we got to know each other, I noticed some interesting things about how they ran their business, which is they ran it with a very strong Christian mindset and that’s how my wife and I ran Harris Homes. And so, after many, many weeks of getting to know each other, we came to the conclusion that - why don’t we just join forces? So in 2015, we actually merged Harris Homes into Schuber Mitchell and I officially became part of the Schuber Mitchell family.”
Dan Mitchell:
“Joe led us through creating a better approach to hiring. He has really - with heart - professionalized Schuber Mitchell Homes and set it up to grow in all aspects.
“Joe, Daman, and I – our lives have been changed by God. When Christians, the people of God, are in the mix; the place where you work should feel peaceful. You should feel safe. You should feel like you can progress and grow in your career.”
Joe Harris:
“We’re here to honor God. And that means we want to honor God with our work and we also want to serve others with our work. When our team goes in the field, how they treat their trade partners, how they treat their vendors, how long a day that we work, how we take care of people well - is part of who we are. It’s part of what we stand for. And so, each and every person who works at Schuber Mitchell not only works hard because they want to do a good job, but ultimately, they work hard to serve others and to honor God with their work.”
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Dan Mitchell, Chief Land Officer & CEO of Land Development Group:
“The Betenbough family had been family friends of my wife Donna for years.”
Daman Schuber, Chief Marketing Officer:
“I always loved talking to Rick and hearing about the homes they built in West Texas. How they’re all brick, and tile floors, and granite countertops, and architectural shingles at prices that were better than in Joplin.
“After the tornado happened, there was so much destruction here and so many homes were lost. I reached out to Rick and said, ‘Man, I know what you guys do. I know what kind of homes you build. I know what you do with your profits. You’re an amazing kingdom company. You guys should come and help rebuild Joplin.’
“I didn’t know, but Dan called him at the same time, independently as well. When I called Rick, he was in Dallas with some business meetings there, and he said I’ll just jump on a plane and come up to Joplin. So he did in a couple of days, and we spent time driving around Joplin, and the destruction, and thinking about what could be done and praying about the situation. At the end of all the discussions, Rick’s thought was: I love Joplin. I’ve invested in Joplin. But we can’t come 10 hours and help rebuild homes here. You guys should do this. You guys should help rebuild Joplin. I’ll help you - I’ll teach you what I know about homebuilding, but you guys should do this.
Daman Schuber:
“It was pretty early on that we recognized that this idea of affordable luxury being built with quality and integrity was a needed product, and so we sought to hire a couple of people who could help shoulder some of the load and we started adding team members.”
Dan Mitchell:
“One of the most important moments was when we connected with Joe Harris and his family to help build the future of the company.”
Joe Harris, Chief Executive Officer:
“At the time my wife and I were running Harris Homes, which is a single-family rental company serving families in Carl Junction and Webb City school districts. I was considering expanding that business, and so I came to Dan and Daman to look at opportunities to buy more homes to expand that rental company.
“And as we got to know each other, I noticed some interesting things about how they ran their business, which is they ran it with a very strong Christian mindset and that’s how my wife and I ran Harris Homes. And so, after many, many weeks of getting to know each other, we came to the conclusion that - why don’t we just join forces? So in 2015, we actually merged Harris Homes into Schuber Mitchell and I officially became part of the Schuber Mitchell family.”
Dan Mitchell:
“Joe led us through creating a better approach to hiring. He has really, with heart, professionalized Schuber Mitchell Homes and set it up to grow in all aspects.
“Joe, Daman, and I – our lives have been changed by God. When Christians, the people of God, are in the mix; the place where you work should feel peaceful. You should feel safe. You should feel like you can progress and grow in your career.”
Joe Harris:
“We’re here to honor God and that means we want to honor God with our work and we also want to serve others with our work. When our team goes in the field, how they treat their trade partners, how they treat their vendors, how long a day that we work, how we take care of people well - is part of who we are. It’s part of what we stand for. And so, each and every person who works at Schuber Mitchell not only works hard because they want to do a good job, but ultimately, they work hard to serve others and to honor God with their work.”
