Brent Schafer is an ideal mix of classic CEO and savvy, practical thinker. Having worked his way up from Assistant Estimator in 1985 to President in 2001, he has an uncanny ability to see the big picture and cut through tough issues to keep projects moving forward fast. He is the ultimate standard-setter for the Company, a role he takes seriously.  At one company event, a group of field professionals was discussing the adage, “measure twice, cut once,” within earshot. Brent stepped into the circle and offered his thoughts on the subject: “This is Todd Construction.  We measure once, and we cut once.” Everybody nodded in agreement and went on to the next topic.

At the same time Brent is the kind of leader who prefers to trust, support, and work through people because he knows the ones closest to the work typically have the best handle on the situation. He leads a Company whose culture does not include the phrase, “I’ll have to check with the home office.” Although he is connected to every project and up-to-speed on every important person, event or decision, Brent operates more like a coach than a quarterback, because Todd Construction already has plenty of great quarterbacks.

If you look at the shelves above Brent’s desk, you will see books with dog-eared pages and titles like “Good to Great,” “It’s Your Ship” and “The Score Takes Care of Itself.” His favorite quote, posted on the wall of the Company headquarters office, came from none less than football coach Vince Lombardi, for whom the Super Bowl’s Lombardi Trophy is named. He said, “Gentlemen, we are going to relentlessly chase perfection, knowing full well we will not catch it.  But we are going to relentlessly chase it, because in the process we will catch excellence.”

Brent is a proud graduate of Oregon State University with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering. He took over ownership of Todd Construction in 2007.