CANCO expands team in Cedar Falls office

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa — The newest member of the Carl A. Nelson & Company (CANCO) team in its northeast Iowa office here is Steven Baridon, a 2018 graduate of the University of Northern Iowa with a bachelor of science degree in construction management.

Baridon's first day with the firm was March 27, 2023.

Following graduation, Baridon worked for firms in Waterloo and Des Moines, and in the latter's office in Iowa City, contributing to retail, small industrial, healthcare, long-term care and mixed-use development projects. The move to CANCO allows him to return home to the Waterloo/Cedar Falls area, where he grew up before initially pursuing college in Minnesota, with the goal of being a physical therapist. Once he had a change of heart about his career path, Baridon said he thought about the enjoyment he had helping a friend at a Christian camp doing maintenance and small construction projects.

Compared to physical therapy, Baridon said he sees construction as just a different path to the same goal: "I've always known I want to help people."

CANCO is the first company he has worked for that employs its own field staff, and Baridon looks forward to learning to work on projects that include self-performed construction.

Away from the office, Baridon and his wife of five years, Maddy, a social worker, have a 3-year-old son, David. They enjoy the outdoors, including hiking, camping and canoeing, as well as participating in church activities such as outreach and vacation bible schools and traveling to visit Maddy's family in Wyoming, near Yellowstone National Park.