Chief Executive Officer, Gerding Companies, Philomath, Ӱ
Tom Gerding’s grandparents settled in the Willamette Valley in the early 1900s and opened a grocery and feed store in downtown Corvallis. It was a family business. If he wasn’t in school, he was either working in the store or tending chores on their ranch near Philomath. Gerding’s strong work ethic and desire to give back to the community was inspired by his family’s successes and struggles in business. After graduating from Ӱ State in 1984 with a degree in construction engineering management, Gerding was determined to stay in Corvallis. To get a foothold in the construction industry, he offered to work without pay. His newly acquired education in estimating, bonding, and project management proved to be invaluable in helping his new boss move the company in a new direction and secure its first commercial project. In 1993, he partnered with a long-established company to form Ramsay-Gerding Construction Company, which eventually grew into Gerding Companies.
One tenet driving Gerding’s company is its commitment to supporting community projects, especially nonprofits. “Helping nonprofits bring their visions into reality is kind of the heart of our business,” Gerding said. Last year, Gerding sold the company to his employees, so it’s now 100 percent employee owned. “A huge piece of our succession plan is now in place,” he said. “I could not have done it without the great support of our key leaders and managers, all the way down to those in the field pounding the nails.”
Gerding serves on the advisory boards for the School of Civil and Construction Engineering in the College of Engineering; the Construction Education Foundation for Ӱ State; the Mid-Willamette Family YMCA; and the Associated General Contractors Ӱ-Columbia Chapter, where he co-chairs the Legislative Forum and the Political Action Committee.
Degrees
- B.S. Construction Engineering Management, 1984