Employee Profiles

Ed Tuchler trained in architecture at Virginia Tech before applying his knowledge to practical field experience. Having spent many of his 16 years here in the field as a supervisor he is now the company’s manager and Owner. Handling sales, planning, scheduling and some design work he’s likely to schedule himself off for a hike or a dance.

Chris Hudson has been the creative force behind many of our designs over the years. With education in both art and architecture he’s had the thrill of walking into the home of a new client to discover an artwork on their wall that he had sold them as a student 20 years prior. Full time with the company for over ten years he contracted many of our designs before that. With a strong three-dimensional vision Chris is able to consistently think outside the box.

Joe Bassett started on the company’s first house as a carpenter more than 16 years ago. His strength is in his breadth of experience having held the positions of field supervisor, estimator, and scheduler on his way to becoming a designer. His ability to focus on all aspects of a project also gives him the vision to find a golf course or fishing hole on many a sunny Friday afternoon.

Eric Jones joined the design team in 2001. With a few years of experience computer drafting many of our projects, he is turning his hand towards design as well. Working along side the other designers he combines our in house experience with a fresh approach to challenges at hand.

Debbie Cheslow first came to know Shelter Alternatives when we built her home in 1998 while she was living in Alabama. She joined our team shortly after that as our estimator, and keeps that aspect of our business running efficiently. Debbie’s commitment to her rigorous exercise regimen and specific eating habits reflect her compulsion to keep all the numbers as up to date and accurate as possible.

Mary Jane Huber has been managing our bookkeeping for over 12 years. She makes the trek in from her recently completed solar powered home in Floyd County a couple times a week. Mary Jane provides another source of inspiration as we build towards the most energy efficient, green homes that we can.

"Gregg" Moneyhun joined our bookkeeping staff in the summer of 2005 on the eve of her youngest child starting school. After nine years at home raising kids she is still able to put up with the characters we have working in our office. She provides the day to day continuity needed to keep the bookkeeping running smoothly and we’re happy to have her on our team.

Steven Kranowski is another part timer in bookkeeping. He shows up like clockwork to help verify the accuracy of all the numbers.

Alice Coddington took the reins from her husband Ken as our client selections coordinator, allowing Ken to spend more time with their 2 boys and bringing new energy to this position. She assists clients in the many allowance decisions such as plumbing fixtures and flooring, and helps track these through the progression of construction. Alice is also working to research new products and evaluate the ‘green’ options available on the market.

Steve Crate is our senior field supervisor with over 9 years with us after 23 years of experience previously. He likes a complex project and is extremely thorough from start to finish. He’ll often drive hours in an evening to see his daughter in a volleyball game or some other event.

Larry Gardner with 32 years experience, ran his own building company for years before joining us in 1997. His design-build experience fit right in with our own and he’s been pleasing clients ever since as a field supervisor. He makes the trek most days from his peaceful home in Stuart, Va., and has his hands full with two daughters in college.

Bill Sterling’s experience included years of building log homes and running his own company installing Solatube skylights before joining our supervisor team late in the 1990’s. He’s put his experience to good use for us completing many homes, additions, and remodeling projects, and always knowing where to find his subs getting breakfast in the morning.

Donna Belay handles many of our remodeling and small addition projects. With many years of running her own remodeling business for 15 years before her 5 years with us she has an eye for how a home can be transformed. Donna also manages all of our warranty work, mixing it in, as necessary, with the supervision of her ongoing projects before retiring at the end of the day to her home in the Shadow Lake co-housing community.

Keelan Utzinger worked for us for years as a carpenter before taking on the supervisor roll. His skill with his tools, inventiveness, and commitment to the end result, keep his jobs running smoothly. His own recently completed home in Blacksburg is a testament to his creativeness, sporting local materials, a naturally curved rail and open air tower.

Butch Conleyjoined us after many years of building homes at Smith Mountain Lake, enabling him to slip easily into his roll with us. In just a short time he has built our confidence and that of our clients. We look forward to many great projects with Butch.

Bill Cook through his Cook Family Enterprises, joins us in association to provide supervision to some of our projects. With over 25 years experience building we are proud to have Bill out there coordinating the details, and answering questions.

Steve Noll has been painting for us since the early years of the company. He has an eye for what it takes to make a home look its best, and knowledge of the available products to make them shine. Steve has tackled many jobs both large and small for us and is always ready with a bit of wit or political insight.

Company founders Eric Sallee and Cliff Dowdy began the company in 1988. They stand here beside the first of many homes built by Shelter Alternatives. We owe a great deal to their vision and hard work to create the company that now continues their legacy.