The Structural Snackdown with guest Tom Jurgens
Can you share a little bit about the origin story of Raeco Builders and what inspired you to start this company?
After several years as a district sales manager in the building industry, the impact of my frequent travel truly hit home during a quiet moment with my young children, Cole (three) and my daughter (five). Calculating the time, I realized I had been away for nearly half of Cole's life. This realization sparked a desire to be more present and led me to seek a different path. Although I explored other roles within construction, none felt like the right fit. Ultimately, the strong relationships I had built through my years of travel, with people still reaching out for their building needs, gave me the confidence to venture out on my own. In 2009, we decided to take that leap.
How has Raeco builders evolved over the years, and what are some of the key milestones that you look back on that helped shape its growth?
Like many new ventures in our industry, my initial concept for the company involved minimal direct labor, operating as a "suitcase contractor" relying solely on subcontractors. My aim was to balance work and family life after years on the road as a district sales manager. We started in 2009 amidst a significant recession, but found an initial niche in agricultural construction.
As our agricultural projects grew, clients desired more comprehensive general contracting services. While our team was good, the increasing volume exposed weaknesses in scheduling and quality control. To address these challenges, I first hired a project manager to improve office organization and scheduling, followed by a field superintendent to oversee site operations.
A persistent issue was concrete quality. I have always believed that our name is on every project, regardless of who performs the specific task. Unsatisfactory concrete work was particularly concerning and ultimately led to a significant decision: we would begin self-performing concrete work. My philosophy was that a flawed foundation undermines the entire project. In approximately 2014, we invested heavily in the necessary technology and personnel to ensure high-quality concrete work.
This was a major turning point. Shortly thereafter, we also established an in-house building crew to further control quality and scheduling. Looking back, launching both internal concrete and building divisions in the same year was likely overambitious. My personal passion for concrete, stemming from my family's history in the field, led me to prioritize its development. For a few years, I deliberately scaled back building projects to focus on perfecting our concrete operations. It took about five years to truly feel like we had established the solid foundation we desired, during which time we tackled many interesting projects and continued to refine our processes.
WATCH EPISODE 01 // MEAT STICK MAYHEM!
EPISODE 01 // MEAT STICK MAYHEM!
The Structural Snackdown with guest Tom Jurgens
Today’s Snack is Exotic Meat sticks.
On todays episode, we have owner and founder of Raeco Builders Tom Jurgens. Raeco Builders is known for their custom steel construction, concrete expertise, and full service general contracting solutions. Tom's built a reputation for delivering projects from concept to completion, and we're excited to learn more about his journey.
We've got a lineup of snacks, each ready to face the ultimate test: the Snackdown! We have 6 items, each snack will have a question and at the end we will rank them best and worst snack.