Making all the right moves

How Jeff Belle’s developing company JHB Inc is willing to share them with you.

It’s the story you hear about the ferocious bear in the woods. The one everyone’s talking about but not many have seen.  As the stories circulate the bear becomes so huge in imagination that people think twice about going into the woods.  When you first lay eyes on Jeff Belle, you may feel as if you just came face to face with such a bear.  A man who stands over 6ft tall and weights in at 272 lbs may look like a threat when he comes your way, but Jeff is more interested in building you up than tearing you apart. You see Jeff Belle is a developer. He started with developing a family, and his wife and two sons are at the center of his life. It then branched off into land, business partners and a reputation that stems from solid planning and detail orientated thinking. Throughout this process he has also developed a true heart of gold and is not afraid to share the love.  Jeff Bell is the CEO of JHB Inc. and he shared with Flossin’ his story on how he came from living in the projects, to owning a 3 acre estate in a private neighborhood in Reno with a football field in his back yard.  He is truly an example that honesty and hard work do pay off.

Tell me a little about your background growing up and how that has help you to become the man you are today?

Well, I was born in Amsterdam, Holland and came to the United States at 9 months old with my grandfather, his family and my mother. We lived in Culver City, California, in the inner city projects. I grew up very poor, but of course we didn’t know it back then because everyone around us was poor. We got out of the projects when my mom got married. My parents wanted a better life for us, so they pulled us out of the projects and moved to San Fernando Valley where I grew up in Van Nuys, California, and I stayed there through high school. From there my parents said, “Jeff we are moving to Orange County do you want to come along.” I said sure, because there was really nothing for me to do in Van Nuys. So I enrolled in Cal State in Long Beach where I received a degree in financial investment and then got a degree in real estate. From there I started my career in real estate. I actually started as property manager for Coldwell Bankers and was in charge of over a million square feet of residential property space. So I did that for a minute then I got into sales of properties, broker of properties, the only thing I didn’t do was develop the properties. An opportunity came along in Newport Beach to work with a company name Harbor Pacific Development, we did so well in the first 5 years, building up to 20 or more shopping centers, that from there I became partner. After working there I decided to leave the company and form my own.  I was able to better focus on the individual tenants and the investors we worked with and catered to their needs with a more hands on approach. In 1990, that’s how JHB Inc. California was started.

History of JHB Inc.

When I started JHB Inc, it was just the basics.  I started with your corner commercial retail center like 7/11’s and 5,000 square feet retail spaces that you will see all throughout California. From there I was able to build my reputation and started getting into bigger projects, like neighborhood grocery stores Food 4 Less and Albertson’s. Now I have taken it to the next level, we are now doing deals with Target’s, Lowe’s and Home Depot and basically there is one step above that and that’s the malls. I believe we have progressed to that level.   We are at the point to do major regional centers and eventually I will be able to do the mall centers.  We are a company that is growing.  We are open to new ideas and new directions.  We believe that when opportunity knocks, someone should be home to open the door.

Business philosophy/ life philosophy?

I believe that you should treat everybody fairly and with respect. My philosophy has been and will always be that when I deal with somebody I am not taking advantage of them. I’m trying to make a deal that will work for the both of us, a win, win situation.  Whoever I deal with, an investor, a tenant, or the banks, my goal is to create a relationship that will stand the test of time. I have done business with the same people for 10, 15, and even 20 years because of that philosophy. I just try to give the people I deal with the same respect I think I would want to receive.  That ideal has worked well for me. I believe I’m a 24 hour business.   I say that because I treat my business clients the same way I treat my family and friends, because the person I am dealing with business wise will eventually become my friend. I believe when you’re out there the world is stressful enough, why do business with your enemies. I do business with people I can work with and like to work with.

Life?

I would have to say I have had a good life so far. I have a wonderful wife and two lovely kids and good friends around me. That is very important.

Future?

I am very excited about some of our new adventures, they look promising.   The potential we have with the magazine (Flossin’ Magazine), especially the multi-media portion of the company is limitless. It’s exciting teaming up and having alliances with different type of entertainment groups, investors, vendors, etc.  With the team of talented people we have put together so far, I believe that it will be very promising in those portions of the company.  As far as the real estate aspect of the company goes, developing malls is in the not so distant future. I firmly believe that you should surround yourself with people that are at the top in their field.

Civic Responsibility?

I believe as we receive so shall we give back to the community.  I’m the commissioner of the Sierra Football League, it’s a special program that allows every child to play football who would like to. For kids who may be overweight to skinny, we place them on teams by their age not by size. There have been a lot of Pro football players who have grown up and never had the opportunity to play when they were younger because of their size. When we started this league we only had about 400 to 500 kids.  Now we have 1300 in the Reno/Sparks area and a total of 2000 in the surrounding areas in the program. I’m so dedicated to this program that I have had a football field put in my backyard, so that we would have a place to play and practice.  During the summer, we team up with Reno Christians Fellowship and they have 13 NFL Players come down from Florida and the University of Miami.  They come and interact with the kids and they tell them how they grew up and how football helped save their life. A lot of these guys that play Football have came out of the inner city, surrounded with drugs, gangs and poverty. They could have gone either way, but they chose the right way or the football way, in light of getting away from that other lifestyle. So I think football pretty much saved them from that hard life.  With the support of committed individuals in communities anything is possible.

As our readers know Flossin’ is always searching for the hidden formula.  So, we wanted to get Jeff Belle’s take on that formula.

Formula to Success?

I spent a lot of time thinking about that, in fact it took me longer than most people to graduate from college. And one of the reasons  is that I wasn’t motivated to graduate at that time. It’s funny because my kids always make fun of me because it took me so long to finish. I feel that there are five steps to make people successfully in any business field and perhaps even in life.

1. Knowledge: you got to know whatever you’re selling whatever your product is.   You must know it upside down, inside out. 

2. Plan: You need to have a plan, and be willing to take it from point A to point B; Without a plan you lose sight of your goals.

3. Implement: You have to implement, there are so many people  with so many ideas, they just don’t implement them.   You have to be able to do something with your idea and your plan.  Put it into action.

4. Luck:  What I mean by that is that opportunity knocks every single day and it’s just a matter of acknowledging it. People see opportunities in plain sight, but they don’t ever know it’s there.  And once you know it’s there, you must act on it. Luck is when preparation meets opportunity.

5. Spirituality: The inner drive that you have to compete in whatever arena you are in. The football players call it heart; it’s just that special little thing that makes you different.   It’s the thing that drives you on the inside.   As a businessman, you have to have that inside of you, it has to be part of you. 

Your whole demeanor is everything.   It has to be a part of who you are, and I think that makes a successful businessman, successful husband, and successful student.  You must BELIEVE.

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This article was originally published in Flossin Magazine. This article is edited by Edna Waters. This article is optimized for web by Steven Christian (Artist | Author | Podcaster).