CANCO welcomes back former foreman in new leadership role
Raleigh Annis, Project Superintendent
7 months, 2 weeks ago
After almost three years away, Raleigh Annis comes home to Carl A. Nelson & Company as a project superintendent.
To Raleigh Annis, whose second stint with Carl A. Nelson & Company ended in 2021 in pursuit of interests outside of the construction industry, coming back for a third time, he said, feels like "coming home."
And now, he said, he plans on being home to stay.
"I'd like to have the opportunity to secure a future" in the employee-owned company, he said. Coming back to CANCO, where he said "everyone wants you to succeed," provides that opportunity.
His first assignment back with the firm will be leading the construction of improvements at Van Buren County Hospital in Keosauqua, Iowa, where CANCO is contracted as Construction Manager Agent.
Raleigh never fully left the construction field while he was away. He took a job with a southeast Iowa concrete and steel contractor to help support his desire to build a new post-pandemic career as a health and fitness coach. That means he's been in construction full-time since his 20s, plus working on job sites during summers as a teen alongside his dad, framing houses for his uncle's company.
"I think the first time I stepped on a job site I was 5," he said. "I don't know how much help I was."
These days, with almost 30 years of construction experience behind him, Raleigh is plenty helpful on projects. He joined CANCO the first time in 2015 for about a year as an experienced construction foreman, then returned in 2019 — that year winning the company's Field Leadership Award, named for long-time Superintendent Bob Harris — and was promoted twice in two years to project foreman before departing once more. Across his career with and away from CANCO, he has worked primarily on commercial and industrial projects, including millwright work, concrete and erection of both conventional structural and pre-engineered metal buildings.
Raleigh lives in Cantril, Iowa, with his wife of 19 years, Nicole, and their Aussie-doodle, Jak, Away from the job site, he said, he enjoys lifting weights and playing guitar, does woodworking and laser-engraving, and relishes time with his five grandchildren. The father of three adult children said he doesn't travel much, preferring instead to turn his home and property into their vacation spot.