Ostovich draws on family models at JM Brennan

Matt Ostovich –
JM Brennan

Matt Ostovich knew from watching his father and grandfather that he wanted to pursue a career in construction.

Growing up, he watched them run their residential construction business and saw how much they enjoyed their work. But at 14, he got a taste of construction firsthand.

His father and grandfather enlisted Ostovich to help as they were building a new house for the family.

His grandfather, an architect, drew up the plans. Ostovich and his family then executed the design, performing rough carpentry, building the flooring and installing the roof themselves.

“That was my first real-life experience of what they were doing for a living,” Ostovich said. “I was eager to help. But also a part of it was they told me, ‘you are going to help.’”

Ostovich’s other love was wrestling. He’d been practicing the sport since he was 11 and had competed in Wisconsin’s yearly statewide contest in high school.

At the Milwaukee School of Engineering, Ostovich could pursue both. He studied architectural engineering and mechanical building systems and competed on the school’s wrestling team — he’s among the school’s most successful wrestlers, lettering in the sport four years.

“One of the things I got from wrestling was determination,” Ostovich said. “There’s a lot of passion and determination that is required if you want to be successful.”

On the suggestion of his grandfather, Ostovich took an internship at the mechanical contractor JM Brennan in 2012, working alongside the company’s senior project managers and lead estimators. He joined Brennanfull-time after graduating in 2013.

Ostovich is now working on some of JM Brennan’s largest and most complex projects. He recently completed work on downtown Milwaukee’s BMO Tower, a 25-story building across the street from City Hall. He also recently managed work on the St. Camillus Senior Living tower in Wauwatosa.

Ostovich, meanwhile, is continuing to push himself to tackle bigger projects.

“I’m always working to further develop the skills that I have,” he said. “My goal is to run larger projects and more challenging projects to continue that development.”