Project Administrator
Debra Porter
Debra has been working with WBA for more than 40 years, watching the business grow and providing a wealth of experience and knowledge to our company. Deb meets with our clients after their contracts are signed and walks through the building process with them. She helps clients understand the project’s scope of work, assists them with making their selections, and relays schedule information to them as their job unfolds. Deb also acts as the company’s purchasing agent for associated products, provides staff oversight, and works closely with the tradespeople to keep the jobs running smoothly and efficiently. She considers the WBA staff and subcontractors part of her extended family.
Always having worked in customer service, Deb enjoys seeing the jobs unfold and as they come to completion is excited to be part of making our homeowners dream projects come to reality. Whether the project is small, like a simple window replacement, or a much larger project, each one is carefully carried out with the same commitment to customer satisfaction.
At home Deb enjoys spending time with her husband and three cats. She credits her dad, now passed, for her inspiration. She loves to stay active gardening, walking, and hiking.
Bookkeeper
Kimberley Potter Smith
Kim has a wealth of administrative and bookkeeping experience in the building industry, most recently having worked for her family’s commercial roofing company until her parents retired.
“They are just the nicest group of people,” she says of her colleagues at WBA. “There’s no question that’s too big or too small. Everybody’s willing to stop what they’re doing and help you. We’re all unified in trying to help the customer and make a better product and a better service.”
As full-time bookkeeper at WBA, she enjoys interacting with everyone–customers, employees and management. “I get every piece of the puzzle.” She loves numbers but also doing financial research for bookkeeping problems or questions.
Kim’s proud of her 30-year marriage and four children, two biological and two adopted.
“I love antiquing, going to car shows with my husband, and volunteering at church. I love outreach.”
Fun Fact: Kim confesses to being “pretty competitive” at Trunk or Treat events, earning first and second place at Brimfield Winery and winning three years in a row at the Hamilton Rod & Gun Club. “It’s never scary. It’s always fun.” She loves seeing kids’ faces light up at their costumes (SpongeBob, Bluey, Mario!) and taking pictures with them.
Assistant Office Manager
Jordan Couture
Having recently graduated from Nichols College for business, Jordan is enjoying her first job in her chosen field. As assistant project manager, she is learning the ropes from Debbie. “I’m like her shadow.” Jordan enjoys decision meetings with the clients. “We sit in and talk about every little thing that they’re putting in their house. I like learning from Debbie what makes things go well together, like that color and that countertop.”
In her free time, Jordan likes to run, watch the Celtics, read and play narrative-based video games. She is also a big fan of Formula One racing, which she discovered when she started watching the reality TV show Drive to Survive with her family. “The cars go about 200 miles per hour and there’s a lot of drama in the sport,” she says.
Fun Fact: Jordan has been recently getting back into the “retro” hobby of paint-by-numbers. She says people are surprised it’s still a thing. “I have one hanging up in my office of a little buggy driving on a sunset coast and right now I’m working on a Christmas one.”
Chief Solutions Architect
Justin Porter
Justin is the Founder of Text Connects and is certified as a Shopify Development Expert. His interest in computers began in high school when he founded the company to serve a hungry market of small businesses with less than ten employees and a list of computer issues.
Today, 22 years later, Justin has been involved in the building, deployment or replatforming of more than 100 e-commerce sites for startups and recognized brands, as well as custom application development and systems integration for more than 60 organizations, from “mom and pop” to enterprise-level.He graduated from Daniel Webster College with a degree in Aviation Flight Operations. His studies led him to appreciate the importance of safety and risk mitigation that carryover in his work today. It also earned him what amounts to a second major in computer science, courtesy of his computer-science-major roommates.
As a Pilot-in-Command, Second-in-Command, and flight instructor, Justin has nearly 10,000 hours in the cockpits of single-engine, multi-engine, and turbojet aircraft.
Founder | Team Coach
Doug Porter
Doug is the last of the original four founders of WBA. He is very proud that while leadership may change at WBA, the concept and direction of the firm has remained the same, “professionals from start to finish”.
As Managing Partner, Doug lends his years of experience and local relationships with building officials and other key stakeholders to shepherd projects forward when needed. Doug also spends considerable time on positioning the company for the future and providing continuity for new leaders. He enjoys the intellectual challenge of thinking about and preparing for the next decade and beyond. Doug’s mission is to make sure WBA does not lose all the experience and goodwill that has been gained over the last 40 plus years of operation. He sees too many successful firms simply close because someone retires.
To that end, Doug has enjoyed opening WBA’s new design center/showroom on Route 171 in Woodstock, CT and new shop space on Woodstock Avenue in Putnam, CT. These are practical examples of his future-thinking capabilities brought into play, hiring new staff and renovating the Village Plaza and the well-known Putnam Candy Building.
On the personal side, Doug is the consummate family man with four close siblings, two adult children, and three grandchildren. He and his wife, Gail, have spent their time with their local grandkids almost every Sunday since their births. As an avid road cyclist, Doug has added gravel biking, so he has another activity to do with the grandkids along with kayaking and hiking. He spends as much time as possible with them because “they grow up quick”.
Doug traveled extensively working for a bank in his early career, but truly loves where he lives in the beautiful “Quiet Corner”. A little-known fact: Doug might have switched to Tim Horton’s and became a Canadian as he attended college in Canada as an undergrad and almost stayed there. He eventually returned home to Connecticut.
Family and team are Doug’s foundation. As he says, “I am the owner, but WBA is a team, it’s always been, and will continue to be a team”.
Office Cat
Woody
Woody was found as a kitten, crying “all dirty and sad” on the side of the road near the old office building in Woodstock. The neighbor didn’t claim him, so Deb brought Woody to work as WBA’s second office cat. Woody is now 11 years old and lives at the new office full time. He does not go outdoors and usually stays in the back out of the way. He loves visiting with the carpenters and tradesmen and enjoys meeting clients. Woody is fully inoculated and does not bite. Deb calls him a comfort kitty, as he typically hangs out on her lap.