Twenty years ago, I set off to start Wember. Why would a thirty-two-year-old do this?

  1. Nobody told me not to or that I couldn’t or shouldn’t.
  2. I had been prepared with an architectural degree, solid years of architecture training with great companies, obtained LEED accreditation, and an MBA.
  3. I always wanted to own my own business. My first businesses were selling worms, an independent paper route, and an auto/boat detailing business. I worked in construction and had some interesting jobs, but owning a company always appealed to me.
  4. Although I was working on great projects, the ceiling at the firm seemed fixed.
  5. I had a backup plan; my wife had stable employment.
  6. My salary was good, but with the hours I was working, my hourly rate was easy to match going solo.
  7. I had mentors in place.
  8. My mom had just lost a battle with Creutzfeldt Jacobs Disease, an incredibly rare disease that led me to the conclusion you just can’t wait to get on with what you want to do.

An MBA sets you in motion, but I learned that writing a business plan does not have to be complicated—the best ones are not. Our plan was simple, and we have followed it.

  1. The business would work to improve projects. This included being on time and on budget and exceeding client-specific goals.
  2. We would work to collaborate and work together. This is cliché now, but 20 years ago, confrontation was very real, even with owner’s representatives.
  3. Serve Colorado, including the Western Mountain Regions.
  4. Be an Employee-Owned Company.
  5. Grow revenue and staff steady with very low turnover.

It sounds simple, and it is. Yogi Berra said it well: “If you don’t know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else.”  So, where are we headed?  We plan to build on what we have started and create opportunities for those who have been loyal to those who have served our clients for so long and plan for the next generation of leaders now. We have changed a bit:

  1. Wember has a new President, Matt Wilhelm
  2. VP of Business Operations, Catherine Robbins
  3. VP: Front Range, Dan Spykstra. Based in Severance, Colorado, serving the Colorado Front Range, Laramie, and Cheyenne, Wyoming.
  4. VP: Southern Colorado, Dustin Black. Based in Colorado Springs serving Castle Rock and the South.
  5. VP: Mountain Range, David Detwiler. Based in Grand Junction, serving the Mountain Region, including Colorado and Wyoming Mountain locations.
  6. We are now a team of twenty-four amazing project managers/shareholders.

Wember 2.0 is here. Our team is taking all the skills that we have acquired and has begun to apply our internal resources to development. Our goal is to find unique opportunities and work as a collaborative team to build upon the relationships and experience we have in place. We look to test new technologies, agreements, and delivery models that our amazing but more conservative clients don’t have the will to undertake. We welcome your ideas, potential projects, financial interest, and support as we work to do what we have always done: make projects better.

Paul Wember, CEO
Wember