Keeley'n Spotlight: Greg Goette
The Keeley Building Group has gone through a lot of growth and changes recently because of our dedicated team members that the Building Group continues to thrive. Greg Goette, Director of Operations for Keeley Building, works every day to ensure that our projects are running smoothly and our customers are experiencing the Keeley’s exceptional quality and customer service.
Greg joined the Keeley family in June of 2021 as a Project Director. When he was first hired, his main focus was to help develop projects for the Financial Facilities Team within the Building Group. After some restructuring, Greg was promoted to Director of Operations to help manage the rapid growth that the Building Group continues to experience. Being able to step into a brand new role and take over new responsibilities is always a challenge, but Greg has felt empowered to succeed, not only in his positions, but for the entire group.
“I genuinely feel like part of a team. I feel that my experience and insights are valued and the decisions I make are respected.”
Greg has always loved building and solving problems, so he knew that he wanted to make a career out of construction in some way. He originally went into engineering, but always had the goal of ending up in the construction industry. Throughout his career, he has been on both the general contracting and ownership sides of the business. He ultimately decided to come back to general contracting because he wanted to be part of the day-to-day operations. This decision ultimately led him to Keeley. His favorite part of the industry is that no two projects are ever the same. There is always something new and he enjoys being able to learn every single day. On one of his most recent projects, an issue arose that he had never seen in his 25 years in the industry, but he learned from that experience and will pass along that knowledge to his team and any project that he works on in the future. So, if he could give one piece of advice to those just starting out in the industry, it would be:
“Tackle issues early. Problems don’t go away with time, they just get worse. Many people struggle with conflict, so have those hard conversations first thing in the morning. This gives you time to rectify the issue and it won’t weigh on you throughout the day.”
Throughout his career, Greg has learned a lot of valuable lessons, but the most important lesson is to always work hard and be passionate about what you are doing. In construction, those that excel and grow their careers are the ones that focus on priorities and immerse themselves in managing the project. Learning this lesson early on has allowed Greg to achieve growth he never thought possible. When he thinks of his future growth, he is excited to see where Keeley Construction goes across all market sectors. He also looks forward to establishing systems and processes to manage this growth and set the next generation of Keeley’ns up for success.
The Building Group lives by Keeley’s core values – PRIDE – and Greg sees Integrity lived out every single day. Greg and his team work with a lot of subcontractors and suppliers on every project. While they might not always agree on everything, they work together as a team to get the job done right while treating each other fairly with openness and honesty. This culture has helped make Keeley a true career destination and Greg knows that he has found his home here.
“The culture at Keeley is amazing. I firmly believe that culture starts at the top of organization. The processes in place and the resources available to all Keeley’ns empower everyone to grow. There are so many opportunities for growth across Keeley Companies and everyone truly lives by our mission, vision, and core values.”
Greg, thank you for your leadership within the Building Group! It has been amazing watching this group grow and we can’t wait to see how you continue to lead this team to success.
