George Muir has been with the WW Clyde family for 43 years. As the longest-tenured employee at WW Clyde, George has had a front-row seat in the evolution of the construction industry.
“It’s a long time to be building stuff,” George said. “The work is the same, but the administration side of construction has changed. It used to be that you’d only see a superintendent and a timekeeper at a job site. Now you have one or two engineers, a project manager, and half a dozen foremen. The scale has increased quite a bit.
“We used to only work 10 months out of the year with the severity of our winters. Now, we plan ahead so we’re able to work year-round unless there’s bad weather.
“Technology has certainly changed for the better as well. We went from the old method of surveying to new methods with satellites and GPS. It speeds things up, but you still have to know how to get it to that point.”
George started his career in 1974 right out of high school working at the local construction company where his father was employed. Since then, the majority of his career has been spent with WW Clyde.
“I like the people that run WW Clyde,” George said. “I like the work, and I’ve always felt comfortable staying with one company rather than jumping around.”
He had always heard great things about WW Clyde growing up, which led him to apply.
“I knew the company from seeing them build freeway systems,” George said. “I also knew some guys that worked there. In fact, growing up, my Little League baseball coach was employed at WW Clyde.”
George has always been willing to serve where the company needed him. George began his career as an operator and worked his way up to Project Superintendent, where he has been working for the last several years.
“What I enjoy most is doing the day-to-day hands-on stuff,” George said. “Wanting to see a job from start to finish and being able to work through all the problems that arise is a passion of mine.
“It’s a challenge to make sure that you’re doing what you need to do to stay on budget and on time.”
It’s a challenge that soon won’t be there for George. He is set to retire in 2022.
George is looking forward to spending more time with his wife Linda, their two children and their spouses, five grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. He will have plenty to keep him busy aside from family, though, with a farm to run.
“Instead of having two jobs, now I’ll just have one,” George said. “I still have my farm to take care of. Now that I’ll be home, I can make up for lost time and help out more doing the daily stuff. I’m really looking forward to the change of pace, but I’ll miss the friends I’ve made at WW Clyde.”