Veit's new president instills lean principles at specialty contracting firm

Tim Reimann is applying his extensive experience in lean operations and manufacturing and business leadership to elevate performance and accelerate growth as the new president of Veit & Co. Inc., a specialty contracting company in Rogers.

Reimann also is working to expand Veit's service offerings, strengthen the 92-year-old company's brand, fulfill its commitment to safety and invest in its workforce of 700 employees and in continued innovation at the family-owned firm.

Veit is a comprehensive, integrated site development company that prepares sites for construction before a general contractor begins work on a project. Veit's services include demolition, excavation and earthwork, installation of underground utilities, industrial cleaning and construction waste disposal and recycling, Reimann said. Veit works with large general contractors in the Upper Midwest including Mortenson Co., Kraus-Anderson Construction, Ryan Cos. and McGough Construction.

Reimann was executive vice president of operations at McGough for five years before he joined Veit in September. He earned an electrical engineering degree at the U.S. Naval Academy, served as an engineering officer on a Navy submarine and earned a master's degree in technology management at the University of Maryland.

After his military career, Reimann gained experience in lean manufacturing and operations working with former Toyota leaders at an operations management consulting firm that advised auto manufacturers in Detroit.

He next led operations for a Twin Cities technology startup before he joining Andersen Corp. He worked in operations and supply chain leadership roles focused on leading change and supporting continuous improvement for 13 years at the window and door manufacturer. He then led operational transformation at McGough.

"Tim Reimann has impressive experience leading organizations through change and is equipped with the skills to successfully guide Veit through today's ever-changing landscape," Vaughn A. Veit, the third-generation owner of Veit, said in a release. "Tim's unique qualifications and people-centered style align with our company's vision and values and will help us excel far into the future."

A: We're a super innovative company when it comes to our means and methods. We take a lot of pride in the detailed way that we plan and execute our work. That's a differentiator in an industry sector that has operations ranging from our size at 700 down to one-, two- and five-person operations. There's a large range of sophistication and commitment to means and methods. Another thing we're proud of is partnerships with equipment suppliers like Caterpillar, where Caterpillar trusts us to beta test some of their new equipment, to evaluate their new technology in advance of others.

Q: Why did you make the move to Veit?

A: I had been looking for what I would describe as a career capstone leadership experience. [At Veit] there was relevancy in the industry, construction. The culture is one that I would characterize as entrepreneurial; strong teamwork and collaborative; very strong work ethic; company pride and loyalty and a spirit of innovation and problem solving that is important to me. It's a special place to work.

Q: Why did you pursue that capstone role in construction?

A: Part of the draw to construction from Andersen to McGough and now McGough to Veit, is wanting to take everything that I had learned about operational leadership and management and lean operations and lean manufacturing from earlier in my career and applying it to construction, trying to bring that same operational discipline and systems approach a new sector.