Western Specialty Contractors’ Managers Among SIUE CLI Graduates

March 22, 2023
Region Manager Jim Rechtin, Jr.; St. Louis Concrete Branch Sales/Project Manager George Justice; Manager, Learning & Organizational Effectiveness Meredith Bousman; Peoria, IL Assistant Branch Manager Jared Osterman; and Region Manager Bob Gearhart
From left: Region Manager Jim Rechtin, Jr.; St. Louis Concrete Branch Sales/Project Manager George Justice; Manager, Learning & Organizational Effectiveness Meredith Bousman; Peoria Assistant Branch Manager Jared Osterman; and Region Manager Bob Gearhart.

Western Specialty Contractors announced that Jared Osterman, assistant branch manager, Peoria, Illinois, and George Justice, Concrete Branch Sales/Project Manager, St. Louis, Illinois, graduated from the 2023 Construction Leadership Institute (CLI) at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Four Western employees have graduated from the program over the past two years.

About CLI

CLI recognized 43 graduates of its program on March 10 as part of the CLI graduation celebration. CLI is an executive education program jointly developed by SIUE’s School of Business and its School of Engineering’s Department of Construction. The program brings together professionals from many sectors of the building industry.

Since CLI’s creation, more than 500 emerging leaders and executives have benefitted from the nine-week program that aims to strengthen leadership, strategic thinking, communications, and key management skills.

What people are saying

“The CLI program is designed to align with leadership development needs of the rapidly changing construction industry,” says Chris Gordon, associate dean of the SIUE School of Engineering and co-director of the program. “The CLI Advisory Board takes an active role in helping us continuously update this unique and innovative leadership development program to develop future building industry leaders.”

“Continuing education is a vital part of Western’s people-first culture,” says Western Manager of Learning & Organizational Effectiveness Meredith Bousman. “Our employees are our greatest assets and we want them to continue to grow and succeed in their careers at Western. We congratulate Jared and George and the other Western CLI graduates for expanding their leadership knowledge, skills, and strategies by completing this outstanding program.”