Keeley'n Spotlight: Josh Ridler

The heavy industrial construction industry is booming, and our Industrial Group saw an opportunity to tap into our strengths and vision for growth, expanding into the heavy industrial space. We opened a full-service office in Canton, OH and built a team of experienced, strategic Keeley’ns who are dedicated to bringing the Keeley difference to our heavy industrial customers. Josh Ridler, Director of Preconstruction, has been instrumental to this growth.

Josh joined the team in 2021 to help bring the Industrial Preconstruction team to the next level, bringing in new processes and streamlining operations, creating more efficient projects. Josh has worked closely with Andy Cottle, Vice President of Heavy Industries, to build this team from the ground up and in just a short couple of years, the team of five has grown into a team of 325 Keeley’ns nationwide. Being able to join the team at its inception and help grow it into the powerhouse that it has become has allowed Josh to feel very empowered in his work:

“Keeley has empowered our group to do what is needed to succeed. For example, in early 2022, we parted with our UX Team to internally develop a propriety estimating software, streamlined for the self-perform business we focus on. The system went live in late 2022 and has been a huge success for our team! This could not have been done if leadership did not trust us to do what is right every step of the way.”

Josh has been part of the construction industry for 20 years, beginning his career as a carpenter. Starting as a carpenter at a young age allowed Josh the experience he needed and gave him a strong work ethic to support getting himself through school and receiving his Bachelor’s in Construction Management. Since working his way up in the industry, one thing has remained the same – his love and appreciation for being able to see his hard work transform skylines and see the process through from beginning to end on a jobsite. Josh’s career has been extremely rewarding and he knows that there are others out there who will have the same experience as him once they make the leap into the industry. So, if he could give a piece of advice to those just starting out, it would be:

“Say yes and volunteer for the difficult tasks. If you have an opportunity to go to the field and participate in executing a job, do it! Take risks to gain unique experiences early and often in your career.”

As Josh has expanded his career experience, he has learned a lot of lessons. The most important thing that he has learned and that he actively lives by every day is the importance of truly listening. Customers come to Josh and his team for solutions, so it is vital that they take the time to understand the full situations and how innovative solutions can be implemented. To Josh, it’s important to always dig deeper to understand the full picture. This mindset has allowed Josh to form strong, long-lasting relationships with his team members, customers, and partners, giving him the confidence he needs to take his team to the next level. When looking towards the future, Josh is excited to build a Preconstruction group based out of Fargo, ND. He envisions this office acting as an estimating base and a people pipeline for recruiting and training future Keeley’ns who are looking to make Keeley Construction their career destination.

“Every day is an adventure as we continue to accelerate the growth in our business. Our teams are eager to learn from each other, develop new skills, and improve our process. This rapid, nationwide growth is an exciting thing to be part of.”

Josh, thank you for your leadership and eagerness to take on this new adventure. We are incredibly proud of how you have helped built up our Heavy Industries team and we can’t wait to watch your vision become a reality!