James Leppo was recently hired by Sundt as a Preconstruction Project Manager/Project Executive. Based in Texas, he has more than 30 years of industry experience in the Lone Star State, including 23 with two large nationally known general contractors.
James started his career as a laborer and reinforcing steel installer before obtaining a bachelor’s degree in engineering from the University of Texas. He has a strong background in estimating, work procurement and operations. His previous positions include Project Engineer, Senior Estimator, Chief Field Engineer, Division Scheduler, Superintendent, Senior Project Manager, Project Director/Executive and Operations Manager.
He has worked on a broad range of projects including laboratory and research, higher education, K-12, aviation, healthcare, commercial office, correctional, manufacturing, transportation, service and maintenance, water and wastewater and federal. He is a Certified Professional Constructor by the American Institute of Constructors.
What interested you about working at Sundt?
Sundt’s ESOP was a big attraction. I have worked for two other ESOP companies and, in both cases, the personal rewards of the ESOP are much more rewarding than seeing the spoils of all your hard work and effort go directly to the owner of a privately held company (saw that, too). More than anything, I’m excited about the opportunity to help grow the North Texas office. The North Texas and Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) markets have provided a fairly stable construction economy for the past 20 to 30 years and are experiencing another growth period with several major corporations relocating here. Sundt is in the right place at the right time to leverage the company’s long history of successful projects and excellent reputation to prosper in this busy market.
What will you be doing for the company?
Initially, I’ll be assisting in procuring work and then I will transition to more of the operations side of the projects and assume a project executive role.
You have more than 30 years of experience in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. How important will that be in your everyday activities with Sundt?
Most of my career has been in the DFW area. I have been involved in more than 20 projects in the area that I can point at and say “I helped build that.” I’ve worked on another 20 or so projects in other parts of Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas. My experience and knowledge of the local market and subcontractor community should be very helpful when it comes to procuring work. Leveraging working relationships with many of the local subcontractors, suppliers and owners will be important to being successful.
What do you enjoy most about living in the area?
The DFW Metroplex is a great place to live. I actually live in Bedford, which is between Dallas and Fort Worth and is considered part of the “Mid-Cities” area. The economy is stable and has seen steady growth when other parts of the country haven’t. Dallas and Fort Worth are two cities with entirely different cultures. Dallas is fast, Fort Worth is laid back. Dallas is flashy, Fort Worth is laid back. Dallas is all about money (or lack thereof), Fort Worth is laid back.
Between the two, there is a lot to do. Museums, theaters, shopping, theme parks, Dallas Cowboys, Texas Rangers, Dallas Stars, Dallas Mavericks, FC Dallas soccer, each has a beautiful botanical garden and each has a wonderful zoo. Or you can lay back and have a beer at Billy Bob’s in the Fort Worth Stockyards and watch longhorn cattle parade down the street. DFW International Airport is a nice plus for international flights, but Love Field and Southwest Airlines is great, too, to “just get away.”
What’s something about North Texas that people who don’t live there might not know?
Bedford, Texas has one of the best Fourth of July fireworks shows in the country.
Where do you go for vacation?
My wife and I love traveling. It’s our passion. We have been to many beautiful places. We typically fly into a major airport and drive a big loop (1,000-1,500 miles) during the week. We try to visit several places a year.
Two of the most beautiful drives in the world are the “Sea to Sky Highway” from Vancouver to Whistler, British Columbia and then up to Jasper National Park and south along the “Icefields Parkway” to Banff National Park in Alberta Canada. (Beautiful coast, lots of snow covered peaks, glaciers, mountain lakes, moose and bears).
On a trip to Alaska, we found out they really have only two seasons: “Winter” and “Road Construction Repair Season.” We drove 2,003 miles around Alaska during “RCRS” starting in Anchorage to Fairbanks (via Denali National Park) to Tok, Valdez, Cordova, Whittier to the spit of Homer back into Anchorage.
Possibly our favorite vacation was our trip to Iceland. We rented a 24-foot RV with standard transmission and drove Iceland’s Ring Road and many unpaved gravel roads around the western peninsula fiords. Iceland is really a great place to visit. It’s like a big Yellowstone National Park without the elk and buffalo (replace those with Icelandic horses and sheep, puffins, whales and sea lions). Lots of really big, beautiful waterfalls and natural volcanic features (hot boiling pools, geysers, azure blue hot baths). It’s a nature lover’s paradise.
Cat person or dog person?
We are dog people. We’ve always had a dog until a few years ago. Cody was the best dog ever. We took him everywhere. He was the best fishing buddy and traveling dog you could ever imagine. I almost had him trained to drive the boat up on the trailer for me. We were so fortunate to have him around for 18.5 years. Someday when my wife and I retire we’ll get another dog. Can’t beat dogs!