Keeley'n Spotlight: Ryan Crawford

Keeley Construction is growing across the nation, building upon our existing presence in markets while entering brand new cities. One of those new cities is Canton, OH, expanding our reach across the eastern US. Ryan Crawford, Project Director for Heavy Industries, is one of the Keeley’ns leading the charge in Ohio.

Ryan joined the Keeley family last year along with eight of his former co-workers. They soon began the process of starting a subgroup within our Industrial Group known as Heavy Industries. This group specializes in the self-perform/non-union area of the Oil & Gas / Petrochemical industries. Ryan and the rest of the Heavy Industries team have been working hard creating this new business unit and creating higher margin projects while aiding in the growth of the entire company. This is such a unique opportunity, and Ryan is incredibly grateful to everyone that has allowed him to forge a new path for the group and build the team from the ground up.

“I feel very empowered in the work we are doing in Heavy Industries. At no time have I felt that leadership has not provided myself and our group with an opportunity to grow and create our own business line. From allowing us to purchase equipment/office/tools to pursuing what myself and our group felt was the best work to tackle, they have let us work and run our business group.”

Ryan grew up on a farm, but his father owned part of a small residential construction company, so he was always around the industry as a child. In college, he was interested in business, finance, and engineering, but realized he could make a career of the industry he grew up around, so he ended up graduating with a degree in Construction Systems Management. His favorite part of the industry is being able to see the fruits of his labor on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. Everything that he and his team put into the work gets facilitated and is built for a customer. In the end, Ryan is able to see where he should have done things different or where they made great decisions and exceeded expectations. Ryan loves this industry, so if he could give one piece of advice to someone just starting out, it would be:

“Get in the field and learn as much as you can about how the work is done by seeing and being around it as much as you can. Try to keep your mouth shut and your ears open. You will take in a lot more useful information in this manner when first starting out rather than trying to make a name for yourself.”

Throughout his career, Ryan has grown and learned a lot. The most important thing he has learned is to embrace mistakes because the mistakes he has made along the way have turned out to be his biggest asset. He has learned to use those mistakes to his advantage and turn the mistake into a positive by improving processes and educating his team to ensure that the mistake does not happen again. When starting a new business unit, plenty of mistakes are going to be made, but that does not stop Ryan and his team from visioning towards the future. Ryan’s vision is to see the Heavy Industries Group become one of the leading financial units for Keeley Construction while helping grow the company nationally and even internationally.

Ryan is still somewhat new to Keeley, but he has fully embraced the culture, mission, and values. Our values – PRIDE – are engrained in every Keeley’n and Ryan’s favorite value is People. Our Keeley’ns are spread across the nation and Ryan is proud to be able to work with amazing people who all share the same pride in being a Keeley’n.

“My favorite thing about being a Keeley’n is that Keeley gives team members the resources and ability to grow in their career as much as they want, whether that is creating new ideas, strategies to enter new markets, or enroll in various professional development opportunities.”

Keeley is a career destination and Ryan knows that he will be with Keeley for a long time. His team is growing and he wants people to know that they can find their place at Keeley while being empowered to take their future into their own hands.

Ryan, thank you for taking on the challenge of creating our Heavy Industries Group and working with the entire team to make it a success. The growth over this past year is nothing short of amazing and we can’t wait to see what incredible things you accomplish in the future!