Tell me about your background in Des Moines.

I was born and raised in Des Moines. I was fortunate be around construction and around the industry my entire life. I’m one of three kids. I went to Hoover High School. … I usually filled my summers, spring breaks and Thanksgiving breaks working in the field, helping to build buildings. That’s where I first got my interest and my feet wet with construction.

What is JE Dunn up to in Des Moines?

Our reach is the entire state of Iowa. It will be my charge to find projects that are a good fit for us and make connections throughout the entire state. Right now, we’re working up in Ames, Coralville and Iowa Falls. We’re doing a small job for Principal (Financial Group Inc.) downtown. We’re not doing as much in Des Moines right now as I would like. My other big charge is to raise our visibility in the community. … It’s an 87-year-old company that started in Kansas City. So everybody down there knows JE Dunn, but not as many people up here know JE Dunn.

How will you accomplish that?

Strategically, we’ll look at the professional, charitable and community organizations that make sense for us to be involved in and then just immerse ourselves in those as much as possible. I’d like to see us be on at least some committee level for various organizations, if not board level, and have a presence and make an impact.

When did you begin exploring this opportunity?

I moved to Denver, and our family grew from one to three children. My wife, who’s a Kansas City girl, kept saying, “Boy, I don’t know if we are doing the right thing out here; I’d like to be close to the family, I want our kids to grow up around their grandparents and their cousins, aunts, uncles, et cetera.” She was always in my ear. … When I heard about this opportunity to join a company I had so much familiarity with, and in my hometown, it was just a no-brainer. So I reached out and hooked up with JE Dunn. They liked what they saw and vice versa, and here I am.

Where else have you worked?

Right after Iowa State, I moved to Atlanta and got a job with a company called AGCO (Corp.), which is probably familiar around here. They are a tractor and farm implement company. That was a fun time, because I got to be in Atlanta during the Olympics, and I’m not sure if that will ever happen again. It probably won’t, actually, if I stay here the rest of my life.

Describe a childhood memory.

I grew up in the Hoover neighborhood near Beaver (Avenue) and Lower Beaver (Road). I remember spending countless hours in the woods behind our house – sledding for hours on end, my brother and I shooting each other with BB guns down in the woods, riding our bikes on the trails that entangled the old brick factory and swimming in the brick factory pond and Des Moines River. All of which formed our youth to believe the world was a safe, fun place to be. Very innocent.

What else are you up to?

The kids pretty much consume all of my free time at present. We’re pretty active in Cub Scouts. I was the den leader for my oldest son’s den, and I usually get roped into a coaching assignment on one of their YMCA teams or something like that. I’m a Sunday school teacher at our church, or at least the church back in Colorado, so I would imagine it will be more of the same here. Pre-kids, I found myself finding time to put my line in the water and fish a little bit; that was always a fun thing. But that’s what kind of keeps me busy.

How did you name your youngest child?

My wife spent five years in Mexico. Growing up, her dad worked for General Motors and they got relocated down to a little town to open up a General Motors plant. One of her good friends growing up, her name was Pilar. She always loved that name, never forgot little Pilar, her little buddy. So when we had our little girl, she said, “What do you think about Pilar?’ And I said, “I love it.” They are either blessed or cursed with unique names.