Today we’d like to introduce you to Josh Williams.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
My dad started the company with friends in 1963 and incorporated it in 1968. I grew up with WEB Construction and began working for WEB in the summers through high school. The experience helped me gain perspective and aided in the decision of going to college. I still worked for WEB intermittently through college, but I also looked into related fields. I left Minnesota for a while during that time to explore Civil Engineering at Iowa State, but eventually returned to MSU in Mankato and graduated in Construction Management.
I continued to gain experience interning as a Superintendent with Gridor in the metro, and in 2001 returned to WEB as a Project Manager/Estimator. In 2008, changes in ownership were taking place at which point I entered into a partnership with my dad, Jerry. The years continued by and I wore many different hats under the role of Vice President until, in 2019, I stepped into the role of President/CEO. I enjoy the variety of work in construction and appreciate the new challenges the industry brings.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
We worked on a project in 2005, an addition to a manufacturing facility, and a concrete floor was poured. The project was going really well and the owner was happy. When cleaning up, a request was made to add a 2nd layer of sealant to the concrete floor. Something about the change created severe pocketing and what looked like popped bubbles all throughout the floor.
The situation turned quickly and even went into legal battles with the owners which we lost, and then between us and the supplier. What happened is that the supplier hadn’t followed the specifications and included an ingredient that created the issue. We were not aware this had happened, but as the construction manager, it was our name on the project and we represented the end result. It was our reputation affected and was the one and only time we have encountered a legal battle and given depositions. It was a horrible situation and I still feel awful about it, but the learning experience resulted in the changing of our processes and quality control as well as learning a lot about concrete pouring and chemical reactions.
2008 was also a tough time as the recession took hold and the economy reduced construction work drastically. We wanted to keep our staff employed and maintain a secure environment. We shifted focus to our own facilities and made improvements to our own properties to ensure our people stayed working and could count on their position with us. It took a lot more time and energy to coordinate and make that work happen, but it was important for us to keep that support for them too. It was already a hard economy, we wanted them to be able to count on their paycheck and benefits.
Another unforeseen circumstance of working in and then taking on your father’s company are not only things like working with family and therefore not having that separation between work and home, but also encountering time and changes with your loved ones such as considering the future, succession planning, transferring ownership, and how all of those changes look while being sensitive to everyone’s needs. While those changes occur in many companies, it is obviously much more delicate when it is your own family.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about WEB Construction Co., Inc.?
WEB Construction specializes in Commercial Development, Construction Management, Design/Build, and General Contracting. We are a family-owned Mankato company with over 55 years in business. We bring a personalized experience to Commercial Construction and truly believe in our Mission of Quality and Integrity in Building Form and Function.
Safety is a top priority with WEB Construction and our team is our lifeblood. We take on all sizes of projects in various industries from full-service healthcare centers, travel centers, or mixed-use commercial/retail and apartment buildings to additions, renovations, and office buildouts for manufacturing, offices, churches, and more. We self-perform many of our services which allows us to provide on-time and on-budget completion of our projects.
What matters most to you? Why?
Knowing that we went into a project and put forth the best that we could do to meet the owner’s goals truly matters to me. Being a service-first brand is our purpose.
We do our best to minimize the impact of cost and time by researching and offering options to fulfill our client’s vision and are confident we succeed in those efforts.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.webconmankato.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/webconstructioninc/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/webconstructionmankato/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/web-construction-inc
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/WEBConMankato
- Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/webconstruction/
- Linktree: https://linktr.ee/webconstruction
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@WEBConstructionInc
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/web-construction-mankato
- Other: https://www.google.com/maps/place/WEB+Construction,+Inc./@44.1821341,-93.9588996,15z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x6019dc299cb8a76b!8m2!3d44.1821341!4d-93.9588996?coh=164777&entry=tt
