Teammates Matter: Steve Osberger
To get to an excellent end product, you need a few ingredients: high quality materials, good design, and perhaps most importantly - a talented team.
At RIC we are always managing several projects at any given time, which we are able to do because of our talented team of Lead Carpenters.
Steve Osberger has been leading projects at RIC design build for a little over 1 year, and his leadership and skills play a huge role in getting to that excellent end product. Steve makes an ideal Lead Carpenter/Project Manager because of his experience owning his own construction company, Hammer & Hand, LLC, for nearly a decade. In that business he specialized in renovating, restoring and repairing older and historic homes. After meeting at a networking event, Steve and RIC Owner, Matt Warner, continued talking for several months. Intrigued by the idea of taking on larger projects with a company who shared his design/build values, Steve finally decided to join the RIC team, bringing his technical and people skills with him.
All of our team members have certain skill sets in addition to being solid carpenters. Steve’s superpower is his ability to connect with people and making them feel like they are old friends. Whether he’s patiently teaching some of our younger carpenters tricks of the trade, or consistently communicating with our clients about the progress of their project, Steve is always putting people first.
As a self-proclaimed “solution provider” Steve’s focus is always on the outcome for our clients. “In the end, we want our clients to be as happy as we are on what we’ve worked on. I want them, even years later, to appreciate the precision we put into our building process. We are always thinking of new and better ways of doing something so that they are more comfortable in their home.”
That desire to think of new and better ways to do something is what drives Steve every day. He believes there is always space to improve and learn. “I will always consider myself a student of what I’m doing. It’s a craft, and it’s something that I think I can get better and better at in my lifetime.”
This drive also influences Steve’s love of older homes. He thrives on the challenges they present as you attempt to recreate and improve upon what’s there. “These buildings are a part of our history and I like being a part of the process that allows another generation to appreciate them.”
Regarding the next generation, Steve is passionate about getting young people into the industry. He emphasizes that building is a great place to make a good living, especially for people who want to work with their hands, be creative and who like to be able to actually see their work at the end of the day.
As for working inside a team versus owning his own business, Steve says he enjoys the access to others’ skills and knowledge as well as the affirmation he can get from bouncing ideas off other people - including the younger carpenters. But at the end of the day, it truly is all about the client for Steve. “We’ve got a great portfolio of people we’ve worked with and who are repeat customers - which I think says a lot about RIC as a company. We just know how to make it a good experience.” We, and our clients, agree!