Q: What is your official job title, and what are the typical daily responsibilities of your role at Milburn?
A: I’m a foreman at Milburn. My role always starts with safety. That is always my top responsibility, and then production is a close second. I help organize projects, keep an eye on our people in the field, line up subcontractors, schedule upcoming projects, and basically just come up with a plan of attack for how we’re going to complete the project.
Q: What were you doing in your career before you came to Milburn?
A: I did road construction briefly for a couple of years, but I got into the demolition industry pretty quickly. I worked in demo for another Chicagoland demolition company for 19 years. I had known Don Collier for years, and after speaking with him one day, I decided to come over to Milburn. That was in 2016, and I’ve been here ever since.
Q: What do you enjoy about being a foreman? What makes you excited to come to work every day?
A: Every day is a different story, with different tasks and different obstacles. It’s about as far from reporting to a desk every day as you can get. There’s such a variety of challenges.
I may think I know it all, but then every time you open up another structure, you’re always finding new surprises because no two buildings are put together the same way. I enjoy seeing how structures were put together and trying to figure out the best way to tackle each job. It’s a different atmosphere with new tasks every day.
My favorite part of being a foreman is that some of the more intricate or tricky jobs make me use my mind more than breaking my back. Those jobs are really rewarding. I love taking on difficult projects and helping drive them to a positive outcome. I’m very proud of the lasting effect my work has on the community.
Q: Compared to your previous 19 years in the demolition industry, what makes Milburn different?
A: With the group of people we have here, it truly is a family environment. If someone has some hardship in their personal or family lives, or they need help with a fundraiser, we all pull together to help that individual out.
Being part of such a tightly knit group is cool. I’ve been doing this for a while, and to be honest, you often see your co-workers more than you see your family members. I spend 40 hours a week with these guys, so the fact that we all genuinely like each other is great.
Q: What’s your life like outside of work? How do you spend your time?
A: I’m married and I have three boys. I spend the majority of my time at sporting events with them. They’re into just about everything — they play baseball, football, and lacrosse. For the last couple of years, I’ve been traveling with their lacrosse teams to the east coast, and to Vegas. One of my main pleasures is just watching them play sports, and helping coach their teams. Being a part of that with them is very important to me.