Tory Sigler returned to Greater Des Moines in August from Dallas to take the helm at JE Dunn Construction Co.’s commercial construction division for Iowa. He is no stranger to the area, squeezing in stints with The Weitz Co. and Regency Commercial Services LC between assignments with JE Dunn, which is based in Kansas City, Mo., and has an office in West Des Moines. He has spent that last couple of months sizing up the Greater Des Moines market, contacting old acquaintances and thanking his lucky stars that his daughter hasn’t asked Dad to buy her a horse.

Why did you return to Greater Des Moines?

My 8-year-old daughter was here. I have two kids. I was on a plane every other weekend coming to Des Moines to see her. When Shannon Baird took over JE Dunn’s West Des Moines office, we started talking and the opportunity presented itself to come back. … I’m born and raised in the Midwest. I grew up in Nebraska. I’m an avid outdoorsman, a hunter, a lot of the extracurricular things I love, I couldn’t do in Texas. They don’t have pheasants in Texas. I loved my experience in Dallas, but this is where I’m the most comfortable.

What was it like to work for Regency Commercial?

At the time (2005-2007), the Myers were expanding everywhere. Minneapolis, Kansas City, Mo., all of these places. I worked in the Des Moines area and it was a lot of fun. We worked with Gary Kirke on the Wild Rose casino, did a lot of the West Glen stuff, did a lot of the development along Mills Civic. We were doing a lot of neat things and I probably left before things started slowing down. I had started with JE Dunn in 1995, followed my ex-wife to Des Moines for her residency, then worked for two years with The Weitz Co. I had known Ward Phifer (former president of Regency Commercial) from our days with Weitz, and Ward started hounding me to work for him. I said no at first. But then I got to meet James Myers and see what (Regency) was doing and I thought it was neat. Going from a pure general contractor to more of a general contractor with a development arm had always interested me.

How has Dunn changed over the years?

It’s an interesting group to work with. They are financially conservative and that’s why they are as stable as they are. They don’t take a lot of risks. You won’t see them getting into the development game or hedging their money on things they shouldn’t. Technology has been the biggest change. They are at the leading edge of virtual construction, computerized systems, all the tools in the tool box to make us more productive. The basics of building a good building, blocking and tackling, are as strong as ever. It’s just a continual improvement process: How to make a good building; how to make a building water tight. They’ve focused on the problem areas of our industry, leaky buildings and mechanical and electrical systems, the creature comforts. We have invested a lot in people, in quality assurance managers. … The boots-on-the-ground guys, the project managers and superintendents, have the resources behind them where they can call and say ‘Hey we have a HVAC problem and we can’t figure out.’ We have the resources to make sure they can figure it out. Another thing is that Dunn launched an employee ownership program in 2011.

What is your assessment of commercial development in Greater Des Moines?

What I see here is very similar to what I saw in Dallas. A lot of folks have held their funds over the years. Finally, there is a need, whether it’s taking an existing building that needs some updating, or there are companies in town who have weathered the storm pretty well and now they are ready to grow. But what I expect to see is a very steady growth and not what we saw from 2000 to 2007.

Is that because the banks are more conservative in their lending, or is it a matter of lessons learned?

The banks are very concise in what they want to see and people are still very cautious.

How do you spend your free time?

(My kids) are keeping me busy. I’m just taking it all in, going to the volleyball practices, the dance classes, all of that.