Joel and I grew up in the same small town, Banks, and became friends in our teenage years while driving around listening to music on our car stereo systems. Our first jobs together were at local gas stations and now here we are both at O’Brien, continuing to work together. I joined O’Brien about 13 months ago when Joel told me that I should come over here because I would be treated better than at our previous employer. Joel likes to keep me handy.
Joel is a great match for O’Brien because he is super honest and if he says he will do something, he will do it – you can trust him. As a superintendent, problems come up every day and you must be creative in how to deal with them. Joel handles his problems, and we rely on each other to figure out solutions, talk to our subs, and make sure that everyone is on the same page.
He has great communication skills, which are the core of collaboration. Also, Joel is a go getter who faces problems head on, tackles stuff, and is always in a good mood. I can see Joel work his way up over the next few years with our team. He is great with people and is an organizer. Joel would be really good at operations and even a management role once he has more O’Brien time under his belt.
Go have a beer with Joel and his partner who own Crooked Creek Brewery in St. Helens – I can’t miss the chance to give him some free publicity!
-Will Salser, Superintendent
Looking forward to trying out Crooked Creek Brewery for sure!!