Field Supervision
For a complete list of employees and their contact information, click here.
Dale Dohlman
Joined the company in May 1980.
Dale is a man of few words and lots of experience. He has worked in construction since he was 17. He finds safety and getting a project built right are his biggest on-the-job challenges. Dale is happy when the owners are happy.
He volunteers at his church, helping with Angel Food Ministries, preparing the weekly bulletin and serving as deacon.
Dale has a passion for spoiling his granddaughter. If he had an extra hour in the day, he’d spend it with his wife.
‘nuf said.
Nate Baker
Joined the company in December 1982.
Nate has worked in construction all of his life. Like fellow superintendent Dale Dohlman, he believes in the minimalist approach—short on words, long on action.
Nate directs and coordinates onsite craftworkers and subcontractors to ensure quality, efficient and timely construction that is compliant with plans and specifications. He determines staffing requirements and establishes methods and sequence of construction. Nate confers with clients, architects and engineers to understand expectations and ensure compliance and customer satisfaction.
The end.
Randy Schinstock
Joined the company in August 1985.
While some folks think Randy is a Merit Superintendent, others know the truth—he’s a Merit Juggler. Randy can adeptly keep many balls in the air—overseeing safety, organizing trades, creating a work schedule with the project manager, communicating with the owner and architect and ordering materials. When needed, he is also the peace officer.
Randy attended Indian Hills Community College, where he focused on building trades, learning basic electrical, plumbing, drafting, blueprint reading, masonry and carpentry. While he’s never appeared on America’s Got Talent, he did compete in a national college plumbing competition.
Randy gets excited about the latest and greatest in construction, like concrete countertops and woodworking. His biggest work challenges are subcontractors’ safety and seeing that a job is done right. He finds a lot of satisfaction in closing a job that is well done.
When he’s not on the job, Randy is often on the field—or court—attending kids’ basketball, baseball and softball games and tournaments. Randy also coaches softball (12-year-olds), helps with breakfast at St. Alphonsus and volunteers for the Old Threshers Reunion each fall.
If he could squeeze an extra hour out of the day, he’d spend it helping kids with sports.
Rick Brown
Joined the company in 1989.
Rick wears many hats, including construction coordinator, safety monitor, HR person, teacher, motivator, communicator, drywall framer, keeper of fire protection and inspector of electrical, plumbing and HVAC. And that’s the condensed list!
His biggest challenge is influencing tradesmen to work cohesively so they can start and complete their tasks on time.
With 25 years of commercial construction experience under his (tool) belt, Rick feels a great deal of satisfaction when he takes an idea and turns it into reality.
He believes in giving back to the community and shares this sense of duty with his family. Since 1998, Rick has volunteered for the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life. His wife and children participate on a team and his wife and daughter served on the event committee with Rick in 2003.
Rick has a passion for history and old cars. On the weekend you might find him in the garage working on his ’70 Rebel or helping his son with his ’71 Gremlin. Then again, he might be helping his wife with yard work or (most likely) searching for a place to take a nap without being found.
If Rick had an extra hour in the day, he’d spend it with his children before they grow up and become adults.
Jim Sellers
Joined the company in April 1988.
Jim is yet another Merit man of action who is all about getting ‘er done without talking about it a whole heck of a lot. As a Job Site Superintendent, Jim faces the age-old challenge of having to work with a variety of personalities with their own points of view. On every job he makes sure to “understand each and every one” so he can help them all excel.
He takes pride and personal satisfaction in knowing that Merit offers a product that meets or exceeds every customers’ needs and expectations. In that same spirit, Jim’s vocabulary does not include the words “halfway” or “almost.”
His singular passion in life is for family. Weekdays or weekends, his only real interests are in working and spending time with loved ones. Oh, and he really enjoys giving the Sunday morning sermon when he has the opportunity.
Apparently Jim does like to talk once in a while.
Kris Ehlinger
Joined the company in April 2001.
Kris completed Kirkwood Community College’s Construction Technology Program.
During his four years of high school he worked as a supervisor at Shopko. Kris credits this experience for helping him develop leadership skills. Six months were spent working in Loss Prevention for the company. “That is where I began understanding the importance of safety in the workplace,” he says.
It’s Kris’ job to ensure that staff and subcontractors are on site producing the quality craftsmanship that Merit and the client expect—while doing so in a safe and timely manner.
The biggest job challenge for Kris is scheduling. Some portions of a project need multiple contractors involved. Keeping everyone on task and on time is essential so the next contractor can step in and complete their portion of the work without delay.
The best part of his job is the smile on the owner’s face when they see the completed project.
Kris has a passion for lists. (Yes, seriously.) His rationale: “I like to have lists of what I need and/or want to do so that when I have extra time, I can refer to it and get something done. I can very easily be a lazy person, but I can only be lazy if I have accomplished something that day."
On the weekend you’ll likely find Kris spending time with friends and family. Or he might be tackling a “honey do” list.
Bill Hyde
Joined the company in May 2003.
Like so many of his fellow Job Site Superintendents, Bill is clearly the opposite of the old saying, “All hat and no cattle.” He believes in making his actions speak far louder than words.
Bill takes a special interest in the challenge of coordinating the various trades throughout every job he works on. The ultimate pay-off for him in meeting that challenge is knowing that the owner is pleased at the end of the day.
A man of the earth, Bill is familiar with both farm and field. Most weekends you can find him working on his farm. And when he’s not doing that, he’s off hunting with his coyote hounds. If he had an extra hour in the day, he’d spend it fishing.
Bill takes care of business in everything he does.
