A Conversation With ... David Roling

Title: Springfield branch manager

Education: Bachelor of Science in business administration and accounting, and Master of Business Administration, Lincoln University, Jefferson City

On work-force development: "Every company has to become involved."

Tell us about Kennedy ESS Contractors, which opened in January.

Our company is the (result of a) merger of … Kennedy Contracting, which has a 30-plus year reputation of reliability and integrity in the Springfield market (and Columbia-based) Emery Sapp & Sons. The strength of Emery Sapp & Sons is (that it’s) a large highway-heavy contractor with (the) ability to self-perform in a lot of areas – concrete paving, bridge building, major dirt and rock excavation, and grading. Kennedy ESS is our Springfield/southwest Missouri region name as a separate market branch for Emery Sapp & Sons, which was started in 1972 and (also has) a Kansas City branch. We have about 65 employees at Kennedy ESS, and the entire ESS family has about 500.

What’s your experience in the construction industry?

I have a long tenure and background in the construction industry, primarily in the highway-heavy contractor industry. I began my career after college in central Missouri with Delong Zink. The Delong family manufactured structural steel for buildings and bridges. As an offshoot of that, I became associated with one operating company that the Delongs had, called Metal Culverts Inc. I was executive vice president and general manager for that from May 1980 through 1995. After spending 27 years with the Delong family … I left to embark upon a new industry in Springfield in 1995, as general manager for Masters-Jackson Paving, an asphalt highway-heavy contractor. In 1998, that became APAC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ashland Inc. From 1998 through 2002, I was division president for APAC Masters-Jackson in Springfield. In 2002, with a consolidation of the two Missouri divisions of APAC, rather than move from Springfield … I left APAC and spent several years as director of development for Conco Cos. in both ready mix and quarry. Then, I had the opportunity (to serve) as vice president of administration and business at Ozarks Technical Community College. While that position had responsibility for general business operations, including legal and insurance, risk assessment and purchasing, facilities, grounds and maintenance, it really had a major emphasis on college construction projects.

What drew you to Kennedy ESS from OTC?

Relationships that I’ve been fortunate to develop and maintain … throughout my entire work history have delivered this opportunity to me. … I’ve always had a strong affiliation with and relationships in the construction industry, and continued membership in the Springfield Contractors Association. I’ve maintained relationships with city and county individuals as well as state, such as the Missouri Department of Transportation. In terms of the opportunity to head up this branch … it is a great opportunity to build on … so I feel like it’s a unique opportunity to grow the ESS presence in Springfield.

What goals do you have for Kennedy ESS?

To grow and develop the organization (to) become a very dynamic team. That sounds a little bit flowery and theoretical, but I think it’s very important if we look at the scope of projects that we bid, we assemble an effective and dynamic team that will estimate the project (and manage it) to return it to the owner on budget and within a very attractive completion time. The company has done major turnkey development in Columbia and Kansas City, and I hope to do that here – to take a new piece of land and turn it over to the developer complete with streets, roads, sewers and storm drainage.

How does your company position itself to find the right employees?

One of our challenges in the future, particularly as baby boomers start to retire, (will be) greater work-force needs. That’s not something that we can be passive about. Every company has to become involved in growing their own work force and contributing to work-force development. I’ve had the privilege to be on the advisory board of Missouri State University’s construction management advisory board. I think it’s important (to) participate in the education process. I’m equally excited with my affiliation, past and present, with OTC’s work-force development program. I plan on remaining in close contact there.

Tell us about your family.

Gloria and I have been married for almost 17 years. Gloria is in community and business development at Walton Construction. We have five children (and) we have six grandchildren, ranging from nine months to 19 years. The eldest, Nicole, is living with us and attending OTC.

Interview by Features Editor Maria Hoover. You can e-mail her with suggestions for future installments of this feature at mhoover@sbj.net.