Veteran superintendent joins CANCO field leadership team

3 months, 3 weeks ago

Northwest Illinois native Jeff Potter traveled the country and the world during a construction career that spans 34 years. By joining Carl A. Nelson & Company (CANCO) as a project superintendent, he looks forward to leading projects while getting the opportunity to be closer to home.

The longevity of CANCO at 111 years was appealing to Potter has he considered a job with the Burlington, Iowa-based firm. The interview process introduced him to people he said appeared to get along and all be pulling in the same direction. Employee-ownership of the company was another appealing factor.

"I usually treat my job like it's my own," he said.

After so long away, Jeff decided to come back home after he and his wife of 29 years, Brenda, a retired high school counselor, experienced the loss of their son, Wyatt; and their parents in a few months' time.

Jeff grew up and resides still on the Illinois side of the Mississippi River, about 30 miles southeast of Dubuque, Iowa, in the town of Hanover. He began his career while in high school, when his construction trades class built a home in the upscale Galena Territories. That was followed by two years at Morrison (Illinois) Institute of Technology, where he earned an associate of science degree in Drafting Design with CAD. Right out of school, he went to work for a heavy equipment-manufacturing company, but soon after went to work and spent most of the 1990s overseas, building and installing equipment in glass factories for half the year. The other half, he worked with his brother-in-law building homes and garages.

Later construction jobs had him traveling the United States, remodeling big-box retail stores, and building office, entertainment and warehouse buildings.

Away from the job site, Jeff enjoys life on a 200-acre hobby farm, which about 65 tillable acres out of 200. In addition to grain farming, he enjoys working on the farm equipment and the buildings on the property.

"There's always something to do," he said.

The Potters, who have a daughter, Cassidy, who recently became engaged, also are looking forward to making use of an undeveloped lakeside lot in northern Illinois.