BizTimes Milwaukee: How does being a family-owned company change the way you deliver construction services?
Schmidt: One of our overarching goals is to successfully lead CG Schmidt into the next generation. I view my leadership style as being the steward for our company so that highly qualified people who share our values can continue to build exceptional facilities for the family name like we have been doing for over 100 years.
From that perspective, our focus is more about customer service and our core value of caring. We care about our clients, we care about the communities where we build, and we want to hand these values down throughout the generations to come. Some businesses tend to focus solely on the bottom line; we don’t ignore it, but our primary concern is providing exceptional service for our clients and the communities we serve. We believe that profitability and financial metrics are outcomes of delivering exceptional client service.
BizTimes: What sets you up for success as president?
Schmidt: It’s the teams and the individuals that I am fortunate to work alongside every day who make an real impact on our achievements. When you surround yourself with talented and committed people, you become a team that clients are eager to partner with on projects.
BizTimes: CG Schmidt just opened an office in Arizona. What prompted you to leave the Midwest?
Schmidt: It boiled down to us traveling with an existing client to a new geographic region. Our client has an office in Phoenix and was struggling with finding a construction partner that collaborated and delivered projects the way CG Schmidt does. They approached us about working in Phoenix together on a medical office building. We have developed the capability to travel and deliver the same level of service and expertise that our clients have come to expect from CG Schmidt, wherever they need us.
BizTimes: How is CG Schmidt changing to succeed for the next 100 years? What are you doing to build that culture?
Schmidt: I view our organization as constantly evolving by utilizing emerging technologies efficiently to provide real value for our clients. We are going to keep evolving to stay at the forefront of innovative technologies and systems to best serve our clients.
What will remain constant is our culture and the values that guide our decision making. We always act in the best interest of our clients, regardless of the short-term costs to CG Schmidt. The way we manage our construction projects, and our mission of creating exceptional facilities that improve the lives of others, will never change. We are going to continue to look for people who believe and practice our values, and who are honest, transparent, and diligent, so that we can yield successful outcomes for our clients. With our unrelenting goal to make exceptional our standard, we are dedicated to building a better tomorrow, today.
Let’s start a conversation about your project. Reach out to Meg McKenna at meg.mckenna@cgschmidt.com, 414-758-5572.
11777 West Lake Park Drive • Milwaukee, WI 53224
