employee spotlight

Interview with Kayla Peppenhorst

1. What is your role at Western?

   “I am the IT Systems Trainer at Western. I work with my team to implement software that improves efficiency and processes for both the home office and the branch offices. After implementation, I typically travel to the branches and train our employees on how to use the software to its full capabilities.”

2. What do you like most about Western?

   “Western is a family-owned company. The thing I like best about this is the company culture. Here, it feels like people are “family,” not only from people at my office but also from the branch offices. It’s an excellent opportunity to build relationships and friendships with people across the country. I get to know people on a personal level, which makes what I do, that much sweeter. I also like that everyone comes together to support each other across different departments and branches, for the success of the company.”

3. What are three words to describe Western?

   “Three words to describe Western are progressive, welcoming, and collaborative. Western is continually growing in the construction industry, and they welcome all employees. Everyone is friendly and helpful. Western does a great job of planning team events outside of the office to build relationships with others.”

4. What is your proudest moment at Western?

   “My proudest moment was my promotion to the IT Systems Trainer role. I have always had a passion for teaching/training others. After teaching, I started working at Western as an IT Analyst. Eventually, a new position was created, and I was chosen for the IT training role. I’m excited to have the opportunity to travel and work with the branches to educate and collaborate.”

5. What has been your favorite project at Western?

   “My favorite project was moving Viewpoint from our servers here are home office, to the cloud. Many details were crucial to the success of the migration. I enjoyed planning, problem-solving, and discovering discrepancies in the details that needed to be fixed before Go-Live. Being an integral part of this project was rewarding. Our hard work, planning, and testing everything, paid off, making this project successful.”

6. How did you first learn about Western?

   “I learned about Western from a posted IT Analyst position on LinkedIn. I was looking to get back into business after being a high school business/computer teacher for six years. LinkedIn was the first place I looked, and I immediately applied.”

7. Before working at Western, what was the most unusual or interesting job you’ve ever had?

   “Although not unusual, the most exciting job I had was working as a dietary aid at a nursing home. I was responsible for the dietary restrictions of about forty residents, which wasn’t particularly interesting. However, it was interesting getting to know those residents. I got to hear all the stories they had from the past. They talked about wars they were in, kids, and life lessons, as an eighteen-year-old, it was refreshing to hear about the “old days” first hand from people who grew up in the 1940s.”

8. What advice do you have for prospective Western candidates?

   “Work well with others and be willing to listen and take advice from peers within the company. Western has a lot of employees who have been here for years. They have valid information and experience that will help you as you start your new position.”

9. What have you gained from Working at Western?

   “I have gained a sense of self-efficacy regarding the workplace. This self-awareness helps me showcase my strengths while improving upon my weaknesses, here at Western. This has allowed me to grow as a professional in my position.”

10. What is on your wish list for the next 10 years with Western?

    “With the company growing, in the next ten years, there will probably be a need for more training positions within the IT department. I want to develop training material while becoming the manager of the IT training section of the department.”

11. What about you? What do you personally enjoy?

    “Almost everything I do revolves around some type of sport, whether it is watching or playing. My favorite sport to watch is hockey. I have been a fan for about fifteen years. So far, I have attended games in three NHL cities, St. Louis, Nashville, and Minneapolis. My goal is to add more arenas to that list, including Vancouver. I like playing golf and continuing to improve. I also play in softball and volleyball leagues throughout the year, which are my favorite sports to play.”

Interview with David Grandbois

1. What is your role at Western?

   “I am the Assistant Branch Manager of Western’s Minneapolis office.”

2. What do you like most about Western?

   “What I like most is the closeness of our team and the small branch feeling. We’re really like a close-knit family. But, then I’m also thankful for the backing of Western’s large national presence. Finally, I like all the opportunities for growth that Western has.”

3. What are three words to describe Western?

   “Integrity: Everyone is out to do what’s right and do what is right by the customer regardless of the outcome. Loyalty: We all become so ingrained in the business that we are loyal to Western as employees and in turn loyal to the customers that we serve. Growth: As a corporation, we are always looking to expand and grow to serve our customers as they grow, and then as Western grows it allows all of us to grow as individuals as well.”

4. What is your proudest moment at Western?

   “Currently, my proudest moment was being promoted to Assistant Branch Manager. It is very rewarding to be a part of our great team in Minneapolis that won ‘Branch of the Year’ in 2019.”

5. What has been your favorite project at Western?

   “This is a bit difficult to answer because we do so many different projects at Western. But, that’s also what I love so much about it. Because every single day is different. In the morning I might stop and check on a post-tension cable repair and then come back to the office and bid on a tuckpointing project, follow it up with a below-grade waterproofing project, and then finish the day doing epoxy injection. We do so many different things on a daily basis. My most satisfying project was in 2017 for a project called Village Shores. We cut an 18′ x 11′ hole in 11 floors of a senior living community and added a new double elevator to the building. Each hole had 18 post-tension cables running through it so we had to cut all and create new anchors on either end of the hole all the way up to the top. It was a very rewarding and challenging project that helped me further understand post-tension repair.”

6. How did you first learn about Western?

   “I first learned about Western from my cousin, who at the time, was a Sales/PM in the Minneapolis office. He introduced me to Mike Mercier while I was working for Kiewit in Omaha. I had interviewed with the Omaha office and was offered a position, but at the time it was not the right fit for me. I kept in contact with Western and a couple of years later I interviewed again with the Minneapolis office.”

7. Before working at Western, what was the most unusual or interesting job you’ve ever had?

   “Right out of college I was hired on at Kiewit’s headquarters in Omaha, Nebraska. My position was Estimator in the Risk Management department and what we did was performed secondary estimates to the corporation on projects that were over 500 million dollars. My discipline was cofferdams for a hydroelectric dam in Northern Manitoba. I was estimating approximately 100 million dollars’ worth of cofferdams on a six billion dollar hydroelectric dam. I didn’t even know what a cofferdam was—ha, thank God for Google—I was able to do that.”

8. What advice do you have for prospective Western candidates?

   “My advice is to dive in headfirst. Be ambitious. Stay late. Ask lots of questions and take on more than you can handle. Learn from those around you. The restoration industry is learned by being involved in it. There’s so much to gain from working with Western. You need to be present and in-the-moment with what’s going on. And to be successful, you need to apply yourself and be eager.”

9. What have you gained from Working at Western?

   “I think I’ve gained a lot of confidence and leadership. Western really pushes you to develop these skill sets daily. We spend a vast amount of time being involved in customer development, networking, and project management.”

10. What is on your wish list for the next 10 years with Western?

    “Within the next 10 years, I hope to be promoted to Branch Manager and to continue to perform as a top branch within the company. I would also like to continue to learn and grow with this company to reach my full potential.”

11. If you could switch your job with anyone else within Western, whose job would you want?

    “Oh boy, there’s so many. I think I would go with Mike Mercier. He always seems like he’s having a good time. But, if not him, Mike Tripp, so I could be ‘gone fishing’. Ha!”

12. What about you? What do you personally enjoy?

    “I enjoy spending time with my family. I have a wife and three kids, and a golden retriever named Howie. Summer (the oldest) is four, Owen is two, and Emma is six months, so we are very busy. In our free time, we like to travel and visit with friends and family. When we’re not doing that, I try to spend as much time as I can fishing and hunting. And the other six months, I shovel snow.”

Interview with Rod O’Bannon

1. How many years had you been with Great Plains Sheet Metal before the acquisition with Western in 2019?

   I began in 2000 as a shop foreman.

2. How many years have you been in the industry? And how has it changed?

   I started with the Sheet Metal Workers Union in 1993. Back then there were no architectural classes. It was simply a basic layout and basic welding. Now, we are seeing a huge increase in training advancements and continuing education. With the use of computers and tablets, apprentices are gaining a strong portfolio of education including drafting and estimating, among several other key areas.

3. What other changes have you seen as the industry has evolved?

   I believe that it is the evolution of facades that have helped shape the future of sheet metal. We used to see sheet metal being used primarily for coping gutter and drip edge. Now we are in a strong design phase, seeing entire facades being crafted from artistic metal. Technological advancements have moved us from having two guys running a hand brake to now using an auto brake. This means stronger production and increased safety for our tradesmen. With the advancements of computers and technologies looking at and measuring jobs has become more advanced and streamlined. Vendors have also played a key role in advancements offering better products, stronger education with installation, and increases in warrantees. Years ago, warrantees on color were only five years, now we see color warrantees for as long as 30 years.

4. How many employees work for Great Plains Sheet Metal?

   On average we have about 17 – 30.

5. What are some of your more high-profile projects?

   – KCI: Kansas City International Airport
   – Fort Riley Hospital
   – KC Pet Project
   – Lawrence Hospital

6. How would you describe your transition to Western?

   Overall, I would say it has been a great transition. As expected, there was some initial skepticism moving from a smaller shop to a large corporation, however, everything to transpire since has been positive. Having standard operating procedures and using a chain of command took some adjusting but the increase and advancements in technology have been a tremendous improvement. Western has also given us a great team to move forward with and above all, I would say that the greatest opportunity to stem from being purchased by Western is the increase in bid opportunities outside of our area. We had some opportunity previously but the direct connection that Western provides to other branches offers limitless possibility. After connecting with the Tulsa Branch at the 2020 Western Annual Meeting, we secured at $450k project at OSU Hospital. This is only one branch out of the 30 Western branches that provide us with potential opportunities.

7. What about you, Rod? What do you personally enjoy?

   I really enjoy pheasant hunting but most of my time is consumed taking care of our 80-acre ranch. We raise and sell cattle and take care of 19 Shires horses. If you are not familiar with Shire Horses, they are very similar to the Budweiser Clydesdale horses. They are extremely large, black horses that are very beautiful. We also have several dogs including 2 Irish Setters (one blind), 2 labs, a Newfoundland and one Shepard. We also have one cat named Bullshit. We named it that because I think its bullshit that someone would dump her, so we kept her after she showed up.