Joel N.

Detail Manager

‘I joined the military right after high school, serving active duty for the United States Army in the first Gulf War. When I came back home, I wanted to find a job that would feel as fulfilling to me as serving my country did. I ended up taking a job with an electrical contractor, and quickly found that I loved the work. From the diversity of the projects to the new learning experiences I had at every turn, the job made me love coming to work each day. By the time I’d received my Certificate of Completion of Apprenticeship in May 2000, I knew I would be a lifelong electrician.

I spent 13 years with the same company, building experience and eventually earning my journeyman’s license. In 2012, I decided to take on a new challenge and started a job with Windemuller. I hadn’t been with the company long when my wife and my father passed away, both in the space of a week. It was a dark period in my life, but there was never a day where I didn’t feel the love and support of the people I worked with. I hadn’t even been with Windemuller for a year, but everyone banded together and made me feel like I’d been part of the family forever. I truly believe that I will work for this company for the rest of my career, and that’s because there is no greater workplace family than what there is here.

As Detail Manager, I get to see so many facets of what we do here at Windemuller. I work with foremen to lay out blueprints and do big-picture planning for projects, but I also get to spend a lot of time in the field helping with implementation. It’s the perfect job for me, because it challenges me both mentally and physically, and because it gives me the opportunity to build relationships with so many other Windemuller employees, from the office to the jobsite.

Windemuller has given me a lot over the years, and to say that I am grateful would be a huge understatement. In 2018, the company nominated me for the Associated Builders and Contractors Craft Professional of the Year Award. To have Windemuller honor me in that way was extraordinarily humbling. (I’m still in disbelief that I actually won!) It was just another blessing that proved to me that I am in the right place. I do my best to pay that respect forward, whether by mentoring new apprentices or helping employees study for their journeyman tests. I wouldn’t be here today if the people at this company hadn’t embraced me and made me feel valued and loved. I try my best every day to do the same for the next generation.”