2023 AWARD WINNERS
Annual Jacket Recipients
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MARY SLY
Mary Sly is our incredible & radiant leader of the #KeeleyCares Foundation. She has an amazing passion to make us better humans and make a difference in the world. You will see Mary radiating her positivity through the halls on a regular basis. Her attitude is absolutely contagious. Mary’s ability to blend compassion with strategic vision has not only grown #KeeleyCares, but inspired Keeley’ns from across the nation.
ANDY COTTLE
Under Andy’s leadership the Heavy Industries group had ZERO recordable injuries since starting at Keeley Construction! The Heavy Industries Group has grown from $13M to $70M in their second year with a gross margin of $6M. Through Andy’s leadership, the Heavy Industries Quality program was ASME qualified and had one of the best pipelines Keeley has ever seen! Andy, your leadership of the Heavy Industries group has led to incredible success already - and is only beginning. Congratulations!
KYLE BURNS
Kyle was an incredible asset to the KRS team in 2024. He handled numerous change orders while margins increased, battled against top-tier restoration contractors to win a job, and received positive feedback from customers on his project management service. Kyle, thank you for your incredible commitment to serving every customer at the highest possible level of service. Congratulations!
ROB LOCHNER
When it comes to Keeley Properties, Rob does the dirty work. Rob thrives in difficult situations on deadline-stressed projects, from Chroma to Olive Crossing. He practices a “patient command” employed less and less these days. Most importantly, he keeps his eyes on the prize at all times: seamlessly working with property management to get "heads in beds". We thank Rob for his contributions and accomplishments - he's just getting started!
Corporate Award Recipients
Larry Keeley Award
gary quaethem
Gary truly lives our our core values of PRIDE each and every day. Despite facing the health challenges, Gary’s commitment to Keeley has fueled his determination - always focused on how he can get back onsite as soon as possible. His resilience over his tenure with Keeley has not only showcased his personal strength but also exemplified the values embedded in Keeley’s culture. Gary’s dedication is not only reflected in his commitment to his projects but also emphasized by how he enhances our Keeley culture day in and day out. The Larry Keeley Award is designed to recognize individuals who embody what it means to be a Keeley'n and Gary is a shining example of that!
KeeleySafe 'Group of the Year'
industrial manufacturing
2023 was an outstanding year for our Industrial Manufacturing team, who made an incredible comeback from a challenging 2022. In 2023, this group made a strategic and intentional effort to focus on our Safety culture. With new processes and campaigns implemented, such as the ‘Plan | Prepare | Be Aware' initiative, the Manufacturing team was able to send all team members home safely every single day in 2023. We applaud every leader and Keeley’n who made a conscious effort to Safety which has resulted in ZERO recordables. Congratulations, Industrial Manufacturing!
Power of One Project of the Year
BAYER HH SUBSTATION | CHESTERFIELD, MO
This project was a powerful collaboration between the Industrial Manufacturing and Civil Infrastructure groups for a longtime Industrial partner. The proactive safety culture on this project resulted in ZERO injuries. With Keeley tradespeople self-performing nearly all aspects of this project outside of electrical, this project brought in $1.7M at 33% gross margin. The total Keeley Team worked very collaboratively to overcome major redesign & delivery solutions for the customer. This project was a great example of the POWER OF ONE in action!
PROJECT CONTRIBUTORS:
MATTHEW VOEGELE, Austin Maraman, Maureen Decker, MICHAEL DIMMETT, Tim Eagan, ANDREW KAASE, AUSTIN HEDGE, ZACHARY HAVERSTICK, BRET WERNER, JOSEPH STERKIS, CHRISTOPHER BOETTCHER, MICHAEL TUCKER, ZACHARIAH CZAIA, BRANDON RECAR, KEITH SMITH, DALTON ADAMS, DAVID BUEHLER, ANTHONY DAVIS,Nick Timmerman, Curt Mauldin, Matt Evrard, Don Recar, & Ed Reinken
Group 'Person of the Year' Recipients
Civil Energy
MIKE JENKINS
Mike is the textbook example of our Keeley Culture - Amazing Family Man, Patient Teacher, Great Friend, Incredible Mentor, Helpful, Giving and Kind… The list goes on and on! The team knows that when Mike is assigned to a project, our team is going home safe, our customer's expectations are going to be exceeded, and the project will be financially successful. Mike is picked for our hardest projects. Whether it is a new, challenging client or outside the Energy normal project - Mike shows up with the same smile on his face and can do attitude.
Civil Texas
ESEQUIEL MENDOZA
Esequiel was a HUGE part of why 2023 was a resounding success for the Texas team. The group took on a huge load of work beating our goals by more than 30 percent and the key to our success was people and attracting enough qualified craft labor to man our projects. Our Texas Region manpower ballooned from 60-80 people to more than 180 people at one time. Esequiel was instrumental in finding, attracting, motivating, and retaining these craftspeople to put our work in place. On top of manpower, Esequiel was a huge part of allowing Keeley Texas to estimate work successfully. Esequiel spent untold time in the field looking at projects to bid, analyzing projects in process, and helping us to evaluate and plan new projects to start. Esequiel’s drive to go above and beyond and be 1-2 steps ahead of the field operations truly set him apart making an easy choice for our Person of the Year award.
Civil Infrastructure
JASON FORNEY
Jason brings the team-player attitude to work everyday. He has had some challenging clients and projects throughout his career at Keeley, however his can-do attitude and company-minded mentality has resulted in multiple repeat customers and projects. Most recently, Jason’s field office has been located at two of Waste Management’s Landfills in Northern Illinois. Jason has been on the road away from home for the better part of this past year and will be into 2024. He understood the need to have a trusted Keeley’n lead our first project with Waste Management ensuring we delivered the highest quality & safety standards. That standard was recently recognized by Waste Management directly noting that Jason’s leadership and team's performance is one of the key reasons Waste Management is wanting to continue their partnership with Keeley on all future work. Thank you, Jason!
Paving West
TOM WELBY
Tom has excelled in his new role this year of Lead Account Manager. His great attitude and willingness to always help the team is incredible. Tom has a high level of customer service focus and consistently runs toward the challenge to put our customer first. He is always willing to learn and grow and Person of the Year is a well-deserved honor for him.
Paving South
BILL BERRY
Bill has been instrumental in building and developing a new market in Florida. His mentorship by Mike Stankewitz and assisting with his workload as he transitions into a new role has been hugely impactful. Bill has developed and attracted new team members from his network that have been great assets to the team. He truly has an all around great attitude and is an absolute team player.
Paving Central
Paul chesney
Paul puts an incredible emphasis on Safety and Quality. He stepped into a new role this year leading our STL teams and has done amazing work. Paul always keeps a great attitude when it comes to challenging situations and we can always count on his positivity. He is extremely deserving of this recognition on our Central Paving team.
Milling Services
JASON KIA
Jason started his career in milling less than a year ago and has already grown leaps and bounds. Even with no milling experience at all before starting at Milling Services as a ground man, Jason has already worked up to a 4-foot mill and now the big machine. We're excited to see where Jason's growth continues to take him and our Milling Services team!
Building
TOM MOONEY
Tom has led his Financial Facilities team throughout several significant challenges including a global pandemic, unprecedented supply chain issues, and hyper-inflated market conditions. He created a culture within his team that feels like family, always works together to achieve the same end goal, produces quality projects, has generated significant loyalty within the team, and forged strong relationships with his clients. Tom takes great pride in his team and is always working hard to give them opportunities and make them successful. The FinFac group is poised to have a strong year financially as they've rebounded from challenges. Tom's dedication to his team, clients, and Keeley set a great example for others to follow.
Heavy Industries
BRIAN CREAN
Brian oversaw the onsite construction of Project Commander for nearly a year and half. He had perfect safety and quality performance on this very challenging project which was also during a very challenging winter in Iowa. Even with the difficulties of extended travel, Brian maintained an excellent work ethic and dependability at his own personal sacrifice. He developed and led a robust safety culture onsite while helping his team exude a 'No Compromise' safety culture.
Manufacturing
JAMES BENSON
James leads all our Industrial Manufacturing Preconstruction efforts. He is instrumental in Power of One collaborations with the other groups to develop winning strategies and drive additional revenue and margin for all business units. James is data-driven, hardworking, and cool & calm with constant, countless deadlines looming. He always can be counted on to have a great attitude and is an all around amazing team member.
Group 'Support Person of the Year' Recipients
Keeley Companies
layne black
Layne has embodied our core values since he started as an intern over 6 years ago. Since day one he has served all the cultural pillars and functional groups. Through the years he has helped grow the events, communications, and analytics teams within the marketing department in order to drive ROI and spread our mission & culture to every Keeley’n nationwide. With his unmatched work ethic and desire to grow as a person and leader, Layne is the example Keeley’n. Congratulations on being named Keeley Companies Support Person of the Year. Thank you for all you do for our Keeley’ns every single day.
Keeley Restoration
NANCY SIGG
Nancy's support has been incredibly impactful to the KRS team - by spearheading a new accounting system for KRS. She exceeds expectations with her positive attitude and helpful demeanor. Nancy, you are a pleasure to work with and an incredible asset to Keeley Restoration Services! Your hard work, customer-centric attitude, and commitment don't go unnoticed. KRS is extremely proud to call you our Support Person of the Year!
Civil
JILL LAUER
We celebrate Jill's exceptional dedication, unwavering reliability, compassion, and commitment to helping others. Her compassionate nature shines through in every interaction, making her a pillar of strength for those seeking guidance. Her quickness to act in critical situations showcases her ability to overcome challenges with grace and efficiency while getting the best care for our team members. Jill's impact extends far beyond her official duties, as she genuinely cares for and has a positive impact on all who she supports. Thank you, Jill, for all you do!
Paving
MATT RUSSELL
Matt has a great attitude when it comes to supporting the growing paving group. He is a workhorse - always there any time we need him. Matt is forward-thinking and always looking for a more efficient way to help. He’s our go-to team member for Salesforce and has been instrumental in in developing and enhancing processes.
Building
jonathan cox
Jonathan is always the first one to extend a fist bump and make you smile with his infectious, happy, attitude and is always willing to help. When our FinFac Planning Analyst position became vacant, Jonathan stepped in big time. Our FinFac team was busy and had a backlog of work that needed to be done, including several planning studies. Jonathan filled the role on an interim basis until a new analyst could be hired. For five months, Jonathan diligently completed studies, attended client presentations, and helped the FinFac team earn new business, all while keeping up with his huge role in the marketing department and becoming a dad at home! His efforts exceeded expectations and truly exemplify our values.
Heavy Industries
GRACE KMETZ
Grace played a pivotal role in onboarding 300+ Keeley’ns for the Heavy Industries group. She onboarded these team members seamlessly and with a positive attitude. The growth of Heavy Industries in 2023 could not have happened without her organized and detail-oriented approach to welcoming new Keeley’ns to the Heavy Industries team across the nation. Grace, thank you for your support this year! Heavy Industries could not have grown and integrated new, educated, team members without you!
Manufacturing
KYLE NIEMAN
Kyle drives all Industrial Manufacturing monthly project controls efforts. He has a strong work ethic and is dedicated to delivering the very best information to the team to make informed project and business decisions. Kyle overcomes difficult situations and adversity with a calm and steady approach. He is truly an amazing team member – always willing to help out others! He is more than deserving of this recognition as Manufacturing's "Support Person of the Year".
Award Winners
White Glove Service
LILY HANLON
Lily is always thinking of what’s best for the residents while keeping the building and ownership goals in mind. Being on the front line, she handles difficult situations and conversations with balance and true grace. Residents walk away understanding the messaging and reasoning behind her response. As a leader, she teaches these skills to rest of her team – from interactions with our customers and the leasing team to the right touring and welcoming philosophy, Lily ensures her team delivers customer centric solutions to all residents and guests.
Rising KP Star
ROB NOONAN
Rob joined Keeley Properties in 2022, and in his short time here has made a huge impact on the Accounting department. He took the lead on new initiatives, successfully implementing projects and processes both proactively and in reaction to where he sees opportunities. In overseeing the Accounting team, he offers Strong leadership and resources. We are very lucky to have him; he has a bright future ahead at Keeley Properties!
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Joined a trusted partner (Michels) on a challenging schedule to work with an Established developer in NextEra Energy
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Utilized agile practices to increase efficiency and optimize quality control by minimizing delays and improve workflow efficiency in the construction process.
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Committed Leadership and Team to drive focus and success
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Pile driving time was increased 10X from the estimate to production through preplanning
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Maintained a think customer attitude throughout the project to get ahead of potential issues or conflicts prior to occurrence
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Brokered a negotiated saving on material procurement
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No Safety Incidents
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Solved Our Customer’s Challenges
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Weekly Cost Discussions/Daily Production Discussions
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Industry Best Craftsmen and Field Leadership
PROJECT CONTRIBUTORS:
JOSE ENRIQUEZ DE LA CRUZ, John Tolson, CHRISTOPHER KUBALA, RICHARD HUBBARD, ELIAZAR MARTINEZ, FRANCISCO GONZALEZ CARDONA, John PaparO, Jesus Rodriguez, Travis Stivors,
& Esequiel Mendoza
Group 'Project of the Year' Winners
Civil Energy
CALVARY BESS | MONON, IN
The Keeley Civil Energy team joined a trusted partner (Michels) on this project with a challenging schedule to work with an established developer in NextEra Energy. They utilized agile practices to increase efficiency and optimize quality control by minimizing delays and improve workflow efficiency in the construction process. This project had committed leadership and team members to drive success. Pile driving time was increased 10X from the estimate to production through preplanning. The team brokered a negotiated savings on material procurement and held weekly cost discussions and daily Production Discussions. They maintained a strong customer attitude throughout the project to get ahead of potential issues or conflicts prior to occurrence. This project had ZERO safety incidents with the industry's best craftsmen and field leadership.
PROJECT CONTRIBUTORS:
KARL ROETTGER, ANDREW COOSEMAN, JEFFRY FIELDS, SCOTT BEASLEY, Christopher Wagner, JOSHUA ROBINSON, AARON ELLINGER, JEREMY WELLS, WAYNE WALDO, KYLOR BELL, EDWARD WINNINGHAM JR, Mark Wojtal, & Dave Debord
Civil Infrastructure
memc | st. peters, mo
The MEMC Project is globally significant as the facility was an expansion for the manufacturing of the 300mm silicon-on-insulator wafer which is a critical component of computer chips used in industries ranging from telecommunications to automotive and aerospace (excerpt from below). General Contractor McGough took the project on with a very tight schedule due to the product demand and McGough solicited Keeley Civil Infrastructure to partner on the project. The Keeley Team played a pivotal role in keeping the project moving forward despite multiple challenges ranging from design to subcontractor performance. The team was able to deliver a high-quality product and service to McGough (and Global Wafers) while maintaining the schedule and staying within budget which is always a challenge when working long hours and weekends. The team completed 120,000sqft of concrete pours on multiple elevated decks and slab on grade in 1.5 months WITH no quality issues and with ZERO SAFETY ISSUES.
PROJECT CONTRIBUTORS:
LEE MURPHY, NICHOLAS HOUSE, NATHAN BRETZm SCOTT MILLER, NOAH RIFFEE, BRAYDEN POGUE, JUSTIN PARKS, Matthew Alberding, MICHAEL BOWMAN, OMAR SOLIS, RICHARD HOUSE, RICKY JOHNSON II, AUSTIN PUCKETT, DEVON SWAN, BRYON HOOD, BRANDON RECAR, DALTON ADAMS, MARK MCCARTHY, JEFFERY STEWART, RODNISHA BROOKS, TIMYRA GRANGER , DHU'SHAWN ALLEN, TILAR FRICKE, DAVID BUEHLER, MICHAEL TUCKER, DANIEL WEHMER, JAMES WAGNER, JOSHUA CLIVER, JASON CAVANAUGH, JUSTIN MAYNARD, AARON BRIGANCE, Don Recar, Matt Evrard, Ed Reinken, Nick Timmerman, & Curt Mauldin
Civil Texas
Grupo Ortiz – 7V Solar Panel Installation
This project is a great success for our Texas Region team and highlights how a project can deliver an exceptional client experience. Our relationship with Grupo Ortiz started as a small fence job with additional misc. change orders being given to Keeley as we excelled. When large delivery problems occurred with the clients existing subcontractors, Keeley was asked if we could help install more than 338,000 solar panels in a very short period of time. Keeley’s Texas team put a plan of action together and worked our relationship to get the project. Keeley leveraged multiple staffing agencies as well as direct hire team members to staff the work. Client changes required Keeley to accelerate the work to achieve an early startup and Keeley was able to respond quickly. Our manpower quickly ballooned from 80 to 180 direct hire Keeley craftspeople on site. Our production went from 2-3k panels per day to greater than 9k panels per day. Keeley eventually over ran the client who couldn’t supply enough panels to keep up. Keeley easy helped our client succeed with early delivery of the project. Keeley’s staff grew both in numbers and skills. Our team stepped up and ran with the challenge of employing vast numbers of unskilled labor in a very remote section of Texas. Our team learned great skills in managing a diverse work force as well as very detailed quantity and production tracking. Our team stepped up to the challenge and grew the bid profit for an exceptional finish.
PROJECT CONTRIBUTORS:
John Tolson, John Paparo, Jesus Rodriguez, Travis Stivors, JOSE ENRIQUEZ DE LA CRUZ, CHRISTOPHER KUBALA, RICHARD D HUBBARD, ELIAZAR MARTINEZ, FRANCISCO GONZALEZ CARDONA, Esequiel Mendoza
Paving Central
WALMART | BENTONVILLE, AR
The Paving Central team self-performed two large capital projects near the Walmart home office in Bentonville, AR. The project was completed safely and on time with the highest quality standards. The STL Paving team and West Plains concrete team executed the project exceeding expectations.
PROJECT CONTRIBUTORS:
Adam Kramer, Joey Nickles, Paul Chesney, Aaron Taykowski, Robert McKinney, Mikey Gould, Scott Finn, Deron Wilbourn, Ron Glover, Bobby Volz, Mike Brueggemann, Stan Rodgers, Ricky Fowler, Erika Kunkle, Tyle Hall, Kevin Bell, Robert Phillips, Josh Johnson, Jarrod Johnson, Jason Verne, Orin Curbow, Roger Estepp, John Curl, Alison Long, Jonathyn Markum, Wil Rodgers, & Cole Roettger
Paving West
target | ft. collins, CO
This challenging project was big win for the Paving West team as they maintained a customer relationship and kept the store in operation throughout the project. Multiple plant and equipment break downs caused the team to change plans multiple times throughout and the team maintained great communication despite these challenges to still present a quality product to our partners.
PROJECT CONTRIBUTORS:
Jacob Kunkel, Dakota Walker,
Penny Curl, & Marcus Dupree
Paving South
WALMART | BLACKWELL, OK
The Paving South team was assisted by the Paving West team on this project! The teams completed the project safely with high quality and exceeded a tight schedule - delivering the project two weeks ahead of schedule. This project helped with customer development in a new market (Oklahoma). This project was a true Power of One effort within the Paving Group.
PROJECT CONTRIBUTORS:
Mike Flom, Zach Limoges, Yvonne Ping, Simon Martinez, Jacob Charlovich, Carlos Colosio, Andres Leyva, Jesus Rivera, Luis Renteria-Chaira, Marc Salazar, Rafael Torres Ochoa, Reuben Garza, Richard Payton, Silvestre Lopez-Betancourt, & Ignacio Concha
Building
MARS PETCARE | MATTOON, IL
The Mars Petcare project is an 18,000 SF office renovation and 3,000 SF expansion of their facility in Mattoon, Illinois. The project team was led by Domenic Serena as PM and Robert Luebbers as Superintendent. This job is a multiple phase project that was set up to allow for Mars Petcare to continue plant operations, uninterrupted for 3 shifts/day, 7 days/week. The job included a full plant power shutdown that had to be done on Sunday of Labor Day weekend as we added new electrical services and rerouted the main power feed. The job was competitively bid for the renovation phases, but by providing excellent service, Domenic and Robert earned Mars’ trust and were awarded the expansion phase of the project as a negotiated job. This was also the first large scope of work where we were able to utilize our newly created self-perform crews that executed all the demolition, carpentry, and drywall scopes of work. This self-perform crew was led by Bronson Holland, Joe Philipp, Mike McDonald, Mike Kiwala, Zach Czaia, and Tristan Sandage. The expansion project has been a huge success and our self-perform efforts increased our margins by over 30% of the fee in our base contract with Mars.
PROJECT CONTRIBUTORS:
ROBERT LUEBBERS, Domenic Serena, TRISTAN SANDAGE, MICHAEL MCDONALD,ERIC CHOJNOWSKI, BRONSON HOLLAND, James Grzesik, BENJAMIN QUAETHEM, JOSEPH PHILIPP, ZACHARIAH CZAIA, AMBER RETTBERG, RONALD SCHROEDER, JUSTIN JOHNSON, Kerry VickerY, & Jackie Henderson
Heavy Industries
CARGILL | FORT DODGE, IA
The Heavy Industries team accomplished nearly 100,000 self-perform hours on this project without a recordable or serious first aid. This resulted in the project, named "Project Commander" being awarded the Safest Project of the Year within the Cargill organization - a huge accomplishment! The project team included Jim Sartorio, Brian Crean, Edgar Bonilla, Sergio Maciel, Jim Smith, and Jimmie Voland. Project Commander brought in $21M in revenue and increased Margin more than 12.5% after starting out at just 8%. Peak manpower on this job was about 75 Keeley'ns and an 80%+ diverse workforce. The team was mostly from out of town which greatly contributed to the economy of the local community. The project was completed ahead of schedule and with outstanding customer feedback.
PROJECT CONTRIBUTORS:
James Voland, Brian Crean, James Sartorio, Sergio Maciel, Edgar Bonilla, Pedro Carnero, Morales , Sergio Catzin, Jimmie Smith, Melvin Ramos Ortiz, & Daniel Flores Castillo
Manufacturing
OSTARA | ST. LOUIS, mo
This project included the expansion of a new agricultural product line right in the heart of STL’s North Broadway Industrial Corridor. The team's dedication to safety resulted in ZERO injuries – all while performing high risk work with large crane picks, hand rigging, and a highly congested environment. The project brought in revenue of $5.2M with gross margin at16.3%. The project team was led by Kris Havelka as PM with John Zoglman as PE, Joe Brussels asSuperintendent, and Mike Robinson leading the preconstruction efforts. The vast Majority of the work on this project was performed by the Keeley Millwright team. The team continues to do 24/7 maintenance support due to their PRIDE in exceeding expectations for our partners.
PROJECT CONTRIBUTORS:
JOSEPH BRUSSEL, John Zoglmann, Kristopher Havelka, TIMOTHY COBIN, JOSEPH SNYDER,
TRAVIS DAWSON, KEVIN KIRKPATRICK, & Mike Robinson
