Dan Stoppenhagen

Background

About Dan Stoppenhagen

I have more than 35 years of international leadership in the engineering and construction industry, particularly in the transportation and infrastructure sectors, with deep relationships at the highest levels of departments of transportation and transit agencies across North America. I was part of a small leadership team that developed and executed a strategy which took a business unit from non-existent in the late 1990s to a $2 billion/business in 2020, including the launch of a self-perform, direct hire construction company with their own equipment that now is capable of executing construction-only projects up to $400 MM. As a professional engineer who worked his way up through the ranks to eventually manage an engineering department at a very large, international engineering-procurement-construction-maintenance (EPCM) company, I learned in detail the engineering process and the management of risk and profit in providing those services. This experience also gave me a deep appreciation of client-relationship management. I also spent a large portion of the operational phase of my career in self-perform construction and management of construction subcontractors, which benefited me my whole career. I understand industry contracts and the risk associated with them, and have been able to negotiate terms and win bids that have resulted in more than $250 million in profit in the last 10 years alone. I know how to make money, and how to protect a company's interests. I have led successful pursuits of alternative delivery projects ranging from $30 MM up to $2 billion. I have a reputation in the industry that results in the formation of successful teams and effective relationships with clients. Over the last 30 years, I built joint ventures with the capability to bid and execute the most complex projects in North America, including landmark infrastructure projects in 7 different states and provinces. More importantly, I understand people and how to attract, develop, motivate and retain the type of people capable of executing complex projects. I have developed strategies to build the workforce of the future, and have a deep understanding and appreciation of what is important to people of all age groups. In summary, the unique combination of skills, experience and reputation I have developed gives me the capability to lead engineering and construction companies of all sizes, and to serve in leadership capacities in virtually all areas of the company.