Scott Heberlein
Vice president & general manager
Mortenson Construction
17975 W. Sarah Lane, Brookfield
www.mortenson.com
Industry: Construction
Employees: 265 (Wisconsin); 5,400+ (nationwide)
Family: My wife, Sara; daughter, Sidney (12); and son, Luke (9)
What was the smartest thing your company did in the past year?
“Invest in our team members. Our success as a professional services firm relies heavily on employing the best talent in the industry. Over the past year, we have made significant investments in our team members by providing training, opportunities to build challenging projects, group engagement and communication, and growth in our lean, quality and safety initiatives. These efforts have resulted in team members advancing their careers and feeling valued while they deliver an exceptional experience to our customers.”
What’s new at your company?
“It’s an exciting time to be in the development and construction industry. Wisconsin has a number of significant projects underway and the revitalization of downtown Milwaukee and the surrounding areas over the next five years will be transformative. As a company, our project management solutions and virtual design and construction expertise allows us to build more efficiently and cost-effectively.”
What’s the hottest trend in your industry?
“Prefabrication, virtual reality and lean initiatives are three trends in our industry. We have prefabricated components for a number of years, but recently we’ve been focused on finding opportunities to prefabricate more systems off-site, which enables efficient and safer installation on-site. Virtual reality gives us an opportunity to walk through high-value and revenue-generating spaces with our customers early in the process to make decisions before design is complete. Also, using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (drones) to capture 3D models of existing facilities and site conditions can prove beneficial for our customers.”
Do you plan to hire any additional staff or make any significant capital investments in your company in the next year?
“With the increase in work comes job creation and economic growth for our area. We are currently hiring and plan to hire additional team members this year to help deliver our projects. With a large local presence and national resources, we have the ability to leverage our collective expertise for our customers.”
What will be your company’s main challenges in the next year?
“One of our main challenges is recruiting and retaining the best professional and craft worker talent in the industry. Over the last several years, we have developed strong partnerships with organizations throughout the Milwaukee community, which will allow us to provide local workers and businesses opportunities to build throughout Wisconsin.”
Do you have a business mantra?
“Create an exceptional experience for your customers.”
From a business standpoint, who do you look up to?
“I admire a long list of individuals – from renowned leaders to people I’ve personally worked with throughout my career. In general, I have an appreciation for leaders who have a clear vision, are competitive and compassionate, have strong values and inspire those around them. I am fortunate to work alongside many of these individuals on a daily basis.”
What was the best advice you ever received?
“Be honest, respectful and dependable. Always do the right thing.”
What’s the funniest thing that ever happened to you in your career?
“Looking back, probably the funniest thing, but also the scariest at the time, was my first full-time job interview. I drove more than an hour for a 10-minute interview – things must have gone OK, though, as I’m still here 18 years later!”
What do you like to do in your free time?
“As a family, we try to attend our children’s sporting events and take in as many Badger, Bucks and Brewers games we can. Personally, I enjoy golfing and working on home improvement projects.”
