A Look Back At An Exciting Year at Friede & Associates

From left to right, President Art Shrader, Owner Roger Friede, and Executive Vice President & Partner Scott Truehl.

As 2023 comes to an end, it’s exciting for us at Friede & Associates to look at what an amazing year we’ve had, both with our projects and with our organization. From massive apartment renovations (like the 93-unit project in downtown Madison and the 108-unit project in Whitewater) to new retail buildings (Cottage Grove Retail and Sun Mountain Spa in the Dells), to major industrial projects (Carr Valley Mauston, Horn Plastics, and Milwaukee Valve), the work has certainly been challenging and fulfilling!

We are also proud of our continuing work with some of our long-time customers and friends like Chula Vista, Kalahari, and Wilderness Resorts. And our work has certainly not gone unnoticed with the Friede team picking up six more Associated Builders & Contractors project awards at the start of the year. 2024 looks to be even more exciting with major hospitality expansions, numerous executive residences, and plenty of industrial projects on tap.

With the diversity of projects and our growth in the Madison market, we’ve added dozens of new employees to the Friede team over the last year. New carpenters and concrete finishers, superintendents, project managers, and senior management all are in place and ready for the future. 2023 was the year that brought with it a major reorganization and the implementation of a plan for the future that has been developed by owners Roger Friede and Scott Truehl.

Friede of the Future

The need to plan for the company to continue going and growing has always been top of mind for Roger and Scott, and this year the two unveiled a plan for the future of the company—one with the two of them eventually moving towards more advisory and strategic roles rather than daily operational roles. As a part of that effort, the need for both new personnel and an updated management structure were identified and ultimately unveiled in an all-employee meeting in June 2023. The plan, which took effect in July, included promoting Pat Weber from General Superintendent to Vice President of Field Operations and promoting Ron Kellen from Chief Financial Officer to Vice President of Finance. Further, Morgan Tribbey was promoted to Director of Project Management, Brian Gunder to Director of Safety & Training, and senior estimator Justin Sornsin to Director of Preconstruction Services.

However, the most dramatic move was the appointment of Art Shrader as the new President. With more than 30 years of banking experience and decades of management experience, Roger and Scott felt that Art was the perfect person to lead the company into the future. The three also have been friends for decades and have worked together on multiple projects through the years. Once Art came on board, he immediately led efforts to create and find a new Director of Human Resources, and in October that effort culminated in the appointment of Raynelle Syftestad as the company’s first full-time human resources executive. Shrader noted that Raynelle’s extensive human resources background and strong local ties made her the perfect hire for our growing company.

President Art Shrader

Director of HR Raynelle Syftestad

Director of Business Development Kendall Kolb

Also in October, Carole Shaefer, who had been VP of Business Development in Madison since 2020, returned to her consulting firm, Shaefer Associates, with Friede as her newest client. By once again focusing on her consulting business, Carole was able to continue to assist not only Friede clients but also other local businesses as they work through the municipal approvals and the entitlement process. To fill the sales role, Kendall Kolb joined the firm as Director of Business Development. With more than a dozen years of business development experience in the construction industry, Kendall certainly hit the ground running.

Roger Friede put it best, noting “It has certainly been an exciting year for us at Friede & Associates. I’m confident that we’ve made the moves to keep our company at the forefront of our marketplace, and that with Art at the helm and other new team members that joined us this year, the company is well positioned for the future.”

So as we close the book on 2023, we want to thank all our great business partners and customers for your help in making it an amazing year for our firm.  And we’d further like to recognize and thank our truly amazing Friede Team for all their hard work and efforts in another record-breaking year for us!

 And finally, we’d like to wish you all a truly Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!