When a Project Nearly Chased Him Up a Tree, He Stuck with Sundt

 |  Civil & Transportation, Sundt People
Cade photo
Sundt Preconstruction Manager Cade Rowley.

Cade Rowley has spent all 20 of his years in the construction industry with Sundt. Cade, the Preconstruction Manager for our Transportation Group, is a registered civil engineer, member of the Board of Directors for the Arizona Chapter of Associated General Contractors of America and AGC’s Board of Governors.

Cade holds a bachelor’s in Civil Engineering from Arizona State University.

What’s the biggest risk you’ve ever taken?

Early in my career, I was on a very difficult project. I had the opportunity to leave Sundt and pursue a less stressful and less time-consuming career with the US Forest Service. Fortunately, I had a strong Project Manager as a mentor who assured me not all projects were the same. I took the risk to stay with Sundt and it played out well for me and my family.

What does a Preconstruction Manager do?

Besides stress out on bid day, I manage all estimating and preconstruction work in our four Transportation Group offices (Tempe, Arizona; Irving, Texas; San Antonio and Salt Lake City). Manage the budgeting and buyout process for all transportation projects. Review and execute subcontract agreements and purchase-order agreements for all Transportation Group work. Collaborate with Preconstruction Managers from Industrial, Building and Concrete to enhance self-perform opportunities across all groups.

What’s unique about preconstruction for transportation work?

Every project we look at is unique due to site conditions and the environment we are working in. The cost of the work varies greatly due to the geology of the earthwork, site conditions such as working in traffic or in the open, existing underground utilities, weather, etc. We also do a lot of design-bid-build commonly referred to as hard-bid work. In many cases we only have three to four weeks to review hundreds of pages of plans and specifications and provide a price that we are financially committed to.

Dog person or cat person?

Definitely a dog person! My wife even had to leave her cat with her parents when we got married.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve received?

No success can compensate for failure in the home. What we do at work is very important and gives us the ability to support our families and the ones we care about, but we have limited time with our children before they grow up. I encourage everyone who works with me to make time for their families. A happy home life usually leads to a more productive work life.

Seen any good movies lately?

I really enjoyed the movie “Only the Brave” about the Granite Mountain Hotshot Crew.