Old age works for Ahern

By Paul Snyder

A company must be doing something right if it’s still going strong in its 126th year.

And while Tripp Ahern, president and CEO of Fond du Lac-based J.F. Ahern Co., recognizes the advantages gained in being part of a company with more than a century’s worth of experience, he said there’s still plenty to be said for the ebb and flow of the industry.

Fortunately, there’s a little less ebb than flow these days.

“Right now, we’ve got a healthy construction climate, a lot of activity, and a lot of our long-standing customers are continuing to expand their businesses,” he said. “There are a lot of positive things happening for the industry at the moment.”

J.F. Ahern took advantage of those positive factors, which meant good things in 2005 and should mean continued success for 2006.

In addition to getting involved in notable projects like Milwaukee’s Kilbourn Tower and the Beaver Dam Hospital in 2005, the company commenced work on the American Family Children’s Hospital and the University of Wisconsin Medical School’s Interdisciplinary Research Complex in Madison.

And projects like the IRC are great to be a part of, Ahern said, because when it comes to long-standing clients, few go further back than the state.

“It’s always an honor to be affiliated with state projects,” he said. “There is an ongoing commitment in Wisconsin to build this state’s infrastructure, and it’s going to benefit the state for years to come.”

But while J.F. Ahern is fortunate to have those kinds of ties, Ahern said, another factor to long-standing success is building a strong team.

“I have the good fortune to have great people working in this company who all share the customer-focused company philosophy that we need to be meeting the customer’s expectations, not our own,” he said.

As far as expectations for the future, Ahern said there’s good reason to remain optimistic. If timing truly is everything, all companies are primed to reap the area’s benefits.

“The crystal ball is always going to be fuzzy if you try to look past the next year or two, but I’m optimistic about the foreseeable future,” he said. “There’s a lot of good potential for the construction industry in the upper Midwest, and a lot of us are taking advantage of it.”

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