Master Builders of Iowa

The MB EYE on the Future Class of 08-09 began a new trend for the industry by telling a Success Story of their own careers or of someone they know. Here we share the submitted stories on a "first come, first serve basis" with the industry personnel and the public. We encourage you to submit your story with a photo of the person you are portraying by emailing Fernando Aveiga at faveiga@mbionline.com. Leaders are inspired by leaders and by collecting and sharing all these amazing stories of the people who build Iowa, we feel that our commitment to serve our communities is all worth it.

By Brian Haessig (Story Construction)

Valarie Meyer is a young woman in an industry that has been traditionally dominated by the male gender, but has definitely opened up with opportunities to females in all aspects from management, to field labor, to equipment operator and whatever else you can imagine.  Valarie is currently an Assistant Project Manager with Story Construction Co., responsible for the daily coordination of Owner, Design Team, and Contractor activities.

Valarie is a life long resident of Iowa, and has basically been in the central part of the state from her childhood, right through present day.  She attended Des Moines Lincoln High School with about 2,000 students, where she enjoyed such things as volunteering at a local hospital, student council, PEOPLE PE student aide and math counts competitions.  She has always enjoyed challenges and success in the fields of mathematics and science, which are typically very relative to the construction industry, but cites another source for sparking her original interest in construction.  Growing up, she used to love watching her grandfather build things.  Valarie noted that she has memories of her grandfather, who was a farmer with an 8th grade formal education, building or fixing anything and everything.  She truly loved watching and helping with the various construction type activities her grandfather was able to complete.

After graduating from high school, Valarie continued down the education path by enrolling in Iowa State University under the Chemical Engineering major studies (following her interests in math and science).   Between her freshman and sophomore sessions at Iowa State, Valarie had a summer opportunity to work as an I.D.O.T. inspector on the Highway 5 bypass project near Carlisle, IA.  “The real world experience I gained that summer taught me that I enjoy making things on paper take shape and become something real,”  so when she returned to Iowa State for her sophomore session, she opted to change her major from Chemical Engineering to Construction Engineering (ConE) with an emphasis on buildings.  In addition to curriculum, she stayed active in the community by participating in Alpha Xi Delta sorority, Habitat for Humanity, and local YMCA groups.

Valarie commented that she was very refreshed and excited when entering into the ConE program because of how helpful and participative her new classmates were.  She referenced many nights spent with fellow classmates in the Town Engineering facility both giving and receiving help on homework and other projects.  This teamwork atmosphere has carried right on through to the construction industry that she enjoys today.  Valarie noted that the ISU College of Engineering and ConE department were instrumental in providing opportunities for such things as continuing education, career fairs, and job opportunities that allowed her to gain real world experience.

In addition to her opportunity with the I.D.O.T., Valarie also cited various other employment opportunities that she was able to experience during her college career that helped expand her “real life experiences”, which is what she has found to be most beneficial in moving through her career path.  These experiences included preliminary land surveying, construction staking, project design, and inspection at state parks all over Iowa while working for the I.D.N.R.  She was also able to experience life from the design side of construction through a summer internship opportunity with a design firm in Des Moines, and finally during her Senior session at Iowa State, Valarie had the opportunity to work in the estimating department for her current employer, Story Construction Co.  

After graduating from Iowa State, Valarie accepted a Project Engineer position with Story Construction Co. in Ames, IA and has currently been promoted to an Assistant Project Manager.  Whatever her role, Estimating and doing quantity take-off or soliciting bids, Project Engineer and working with field layout or submittals or site coordination, or Project Management and communicating with Owner Representatives or Design Team Members or Subcontractors and Suppliers, one thing has been common and that is the uniqueness with every project and the opportunity to get to know many different people.

This opportunity to gain endless experience and meet people both in and out of the industry, is one of the main reasons Valarie began her pursuit of a career in the construction industry, and it continues to be one of the things that she enjoys about her career today.  Although some projects and aspects of the projects can be similar, each venture will usually involve a new set of owners and designers that creates a little different spin on things.  “It is extremely rewarding to step back as the building is being erected and recall the hard work and interaction that takes place during the design and estimating phases, right through to everyone on the project team figuring out how all of the pieces are going to be fazed and assembled”.