The Daily Reporter – WI Construction News & Bids Wisconsin's Construction Authority
Rising Young Professional of the Year –
Ryan Pfeifer, Gilbane Building Company
Ryan Pfeifer has only been in the construction industry for around four years, but he’s already making a big name for himself.
A graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Stout, Pfeifer joined Gilbane Building Co. after college as a project engineer. He started his career working on a team that delivered a fast-track, design-build project that consisted of renovating a 100,000-square-foot warehouse into a food processing facility in suburban Milwaukee.
Despite working long hours to deliver the fast-track project for a demanding client, Pfeifer held his own. He proved to be an immediate asset to the team despite it being his first project.
Pfeifer has since been part of project teams working on the Milwaukee City Hall Foundation Restoration and most recently the HARIBO Pleasant Prairie Production Facility.
The 600,000-square-foot HARIBO project is comprised of a main production facility that contains a three-story production space, three-story central building, one-story boiler house/workshop and a two-story administration building on a 136-acre campus.
Pfeifer reviews all contract drawings and specifications for completeness and constructability. He also is responsible for ensuring that all labor, material and equipment necessary for the project have been purchased and are in accordance with the contract documents.
Pfeifer’s love for building things can be traced back to his childhood.
“I remember going to the ‘Dozer days’ events and thinking this is what I want to do when I grow up,” he said. “That sent me down the path of wanting to get into construction.”
Asked what he enjoys most about his job, Pfeifer replied: “Being able to see a construction site go from an empty field to a completed building in a matter of months.”
Working for Gilbane has also given Pfeifer the opportunity to build both personal and professional relationships with others in the field.
“I’ve received an immense amount of support from everyone within my company,” he said.
