I officiated at one of our employees wedding” he says. “It’s not just building—it’s life.” That authenticity creates a bond that endures. “We get a lot of repeat customers. Word of mouth is everything in a small town,” John says. “Believe it or not, people still use the Yellow Pages up here.” Standing Strong Through Fire and Ice Two projects stand out in recent memory— both for the quality of the work and the courage it took to get through them. The first was for retired fire chief Jim Klum and his wife Julie in Seneca, Oregon—a town known as the coldest spot in the continental U.S., where winter temperatures once dropped to 54 below zero.
John’s team had to race against the weather, adding two stories to a modest home and getting it fully enclosed before the snow arrived. “We got it buttoned up just in time,” he says. “And Jim’s whole family was able to spend Christmas there.” The second project—just last year—was for a privately owned building leased to both state and federal government agencies. “It was a $500,000 job, the biggest we’ve done,” John says.
And it came with unimaginable challenges.
Midway through the project, Oregon was struck by the worst wildfire season in state history. The road home was closed. The air quality was dangerous. John and his crew kept working through the smoke.
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