Webcor 50 Year Anniversary

Diversity is not a new initiative at Webcor but during the COVID-19 pandemic, the company was inspired to revisit its approach to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). This led to a solicitation of employee feedback through a series of listening sessions, followed by goal-setting and planning.

Pat Reidy has been a Webcorian for more than half of the company's existence. In this podcast interview, Pat recounts memorable episodes from his tenure at Webcor and shares his perspectives on what has changed since he joined the company and what has stayed the same.

Ron Hanneman has been at Webcor for nearly half of the company's existence, starting as a laborer during the days when one could walk onto a project site and get a job. Today, Ron travels from project to project in a unique role within Webcor, one he recognized was needed but never expected to have himself.

In this special episode of the Webcor@50 podcast, President and CEO Jes Pedersen joins the leaders in charge of the three categories of the company's new Corporate Social Responsibility strategy. The framework for the strategy is Environmental, Social, Corporate Governance (ESG), with 14 goals and 35 targets spread across the People, Planet, and Performance categories. The discussion covers the genesis of the CSR plan, the reason for the approach taken, and examples of goals and targets in each of the categories. In the photo, clockwise from upper left, are Pedersen, COO Matt Rossie (leading the Performance effort), Sustainability Director Jenelle Shapiro (responsible for the Planet category), and HR Sr. VP Mei Lin Wolff (accountable for the People goals).

Jim Sammon Jim Sammon is a Webcor Construction Manager, currently working at the 195-room Citizen M Hotel project in San Francisco. Jim joined Webcor in 1998 and has seen a lot of changes in the organization. Having worked for others and as an independent contractor before he joined the company, Jim is able to draw on his long experience in his discussion of Webcor's growth.

Tom Soohoo worked in software consulting and design for nine years before making a career change into the construction industry in 2004 with Webcor. The last 10 years of his Webcor career have been focused on business acquisition: both the strategy and execution of winning projects. He currently leads the Marketing Department at Webcor where the focus is attracting new work and driving the Webcor brand to external markets.

Andy Ball Andy Ball is currently the president of oWow, an Oakland, California-based vertically integrated housing company that designs, develops, and builds net new housing. Andy was CEO of Webcor until his departure in 2012 after spending 18 years with the company. He joined when his company, A.J. Ball Construction, was acquired by Webcor. When he left, he joined Suffolk as president of the West Region for four years, then spend two years as a partner at RAD Urban, a unified group of architects, engineers, builders, manufacturers, and real estate developers working together under one roof. For the Webcor at 50 podcast, Andy was interviewed by Webcor Marketing VP Tom Soohoo.

Sue Keating joined Webcor in 1996 in a role that was entirely different than her Accounting Manager position today. Webcor's recognition of talent and willingness to create positions that leverage that talent made her pivot possible.

Jose Ortiz is a construction manager in Webcor's Los Angeles region, currently working at our 960 W. 7th Street project, a 56-story tower comprising approximately 780 residences, indoor and outdoor amenity spaces, above- and below-grade parking, and retail.

Shelley Doran is Senior Vice President for Webcor Builders and a member of the Webcor Executive Committee. She has led Webcor’s business acquisition, external affairs, and government liaison activities, as well as the company’s philanthropic involvement. Currently, she is focused on development opportunities in San Jose and the South Bay region.

John Wilson brings to his current assignment 15 years in the field as a engineer, project manager, and director involved with many projects including ground-up office, garage, high-rise residential, hotel, retail, and schools, as well as commercial tenant improvements. Since then, he has spent 18 years in estimating and preconstruction, with experience ranging from detailed, hard-bid estimates to conceptual estimating and preconstruction services.

In this conversation with current Webcor Marketing VP Tom Soohoo, former Marketing VP Kerry recalls growing up with Webcor and shares her experiences bringing modern marketing to the company.

Jes Pedersen Jes Pedersen joined Webcor in 2000, leaving Koll Construction, where he had been a project director. He initiall was a project director at Webcor, working on a number of iconic San Francisco projects. He succeeded Andy Ball as president and chief executive officer in July 2012 and has focused much of his time building a leadership team designed to guide Webcor through the challenges of the next 50 years. Jes earned a bachelor's degree in Construction Engineering Technologies from Cal Poly Pomona in 1985. In addition to his work at Webcor, Jes has been active in the community, volunteering with the Ronald McDonald House/Stanford, CityBuild San Francisco, public radio station KQED, and Rebuilding Together.

joined Webcor Builders as a Project Manager. Rich started by running Webcor’s Interior Construction division and moving into the building division a few short years later as a Vice President. In the mid-'90s when business began to take off, Rich was promoted to Executive Vice President and soon after assumed the role of Chief Operating Officer.

Janet Godfrey was honored at the end of 2020 with a Webcor lifetime achievement award as she approaches her 40th year with the company, which makes her one of the longest-tenured employees currently with the company. In this conversation with Hamza Shallwani, a Webcor senior project engineer, Janet recalls her first interview and her early days with the company, and reflects on the changes and growth she has seen.

Los Angeles-based Project Director Cicely Rice initially joined Webcor in Northern California but headed south to work on the Los Angeles W Hotel -- and she stayed. In this conversation with Webcor Communications Manager Natalie Fakhreddine, Cicely recalls hard times during recessions, the culture of the much smaller company she joined, and some of the projects to which she has contributed during her 2-1/2 decades with the company.

Webcor's VP of Marketing, Tom Soohoo, joined Webcor co-founder Ross Edwards for this informative and entertaining conversation.

Webcor Communications Manager Natalie Fakhreddine sits for a conversation with Gust Soteropulos, senior vice president and general manager of Webcor's Southern California operations, headquartered in Los Angeles. Gust joined Webcor in 2009 at the height of the recession that devastated many construction companies. With a background in the types of projects that would help Webcor diversify its portfolio, Gust helped the company move into these kinds of projects while growing the company's Southern California footprint.

Sixteen-year Webcor veteran Hank Brasch brings a unique perspective to his reminiscences and insights. While Hank enjoys helping projects get started, he brings a different viewpoint based on his role as Webcor's top lawyer and a member of the company's four-person board of directors. His observations about Webcor's culture and Core Values are particularly interesting given his role as co-chair of the Employee Experience milestone initiative, one of four under the banner of Webcor's strategic plan.

Todd Mercer remembers his first day at Webcor -- in 1995 -- like it was yesterday. Todd, a vice president in the Northern California Operations group, shares a variety of memories about projects and people in this interview. He also offers insights into technology (Todd chairs the Webcor Technology Task Force) and the future of construction (he is a co-leader of a strategic plan initiative to pilot a new construction delivery model).