Sundt President, CEO and Chairman of the Board Mike Hoover received the Golden Beaver Award for leadership at the 68th annual Golden Beaver Awards dinner on January 19. The Beavers, a heavy engineering construction association founded in 1955, promotes goodwill, friendliness and consideration within the heavy engineering construction industry. They recognize leaders who have demonstrated excellence in leadership, achievement and service and have gone above and beyond to bring distinction to the heavy construction industry.
Sundt prides itself on being a “builder’s” company. Our founder, a Norwegian carpenter who immigrated to America, established Sundt Construction in 1890, prioritizing hard work and giving back. Ever since, we’ve upheld those values, all while expanding our skillsets in our mission to become the most skilled builder in America. Mike Hoover has honored Sundt’s founding values in addition to expanding our reach and promoting growth for our employee-owners, making him the perfect choice for the Golden Beaver award for leadership.
KAPBCS
Given Sundt’s history, it’s fitting that Mike Hoover began his construction career in the summer of 1978, working as a laborer while earning his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Arizona. He is one of the few construction industry executives to begin in the field and progress all the way to top leadership.
Soon after graduating from college, Mike was working at a water treatment plant and realized he wanted to learn more about building concrete structures. So, he followed the advice of a foreman and took the unusual step of becoming an apprentice carpenter. According to Mike, “becoming a carpenter was an extremely valuable lesson that gave me insight and respect for the trades.”
Mike has held diverse roles at Sundt, including: project engineer, project manager, chief estimator and manager of Sundt’s Heavy Civil Division. Before moving into his current role in October 2016, Mike served as president and chief operating officer, managing the company’s transportation, mining and industrial, concrete, building, safety and quality control groups.
He has also served in two positions with the Associated General Contractors of America: National Division Chairman in 2013 and Arizona Chairman in 2007. In 2018, he served as president of The Beavers. Mike is a member of the Construction Industry Round Table, a board member of Greater Phoenix Leadership, and chairman of the Construction Industry Safety Initiative.
During his leadership tenure at Sundt, Mike has driven significant change both inside and outside the company. Upon being promoted to president in 2015, he led the development of a 10-year strategic plan that has ushered in a new era of prosperity for our 134-year-old company and 2,500-plus employee-owners. “Sundt 2025” laid out ambitious growth goals that the company was able to achieve a full year ahead of schedule while serving the community at record levels.
“It’s an honor to be recognized by my peers for the Golden Beaver award for leadership. This group is comprised of industry leaders and innovators whom I deeply respect and admire.”—Mike Hoover, President, CEO and Chairman of the Board
Mike’s excellence in leadership is demonstrated by his dedication to safety and service—both of which are core values at Sundt. He has pushed the evolution of Sundt’s safety culture and set industry standards, such as our innovative “STOP the STCKY” program. The STCKY program identifies the most dangerous jobsite activities, proactively addresses them with employee-owners and craft workers in the field and gives us an improved framework for tracking safety incidents. The program is now being implemented by other industry leaders.
Believing that prosperity should be shared with others, Mike has led Sundt to record numbers in donations to our communities. Since its founding in 1999, the Sundt Foundation has distributed more than $14 million in aid to nonprofit organizations across the country that assist disadvantaged children, individuals and families. At the beginning of Sundt’s fiscal year 2022, Mike set a goal of awarding $1 million in Sundt Foundation grants that year. The Foundation ended the year at $1.2 million donated to nonprofits in our communities, and in fiscal year 2023 the company set yet another record with $1.8 million in grants.
Mike has also positioned Sundt as a leader in training and craft workforce development. He has been a champion in expanding our reach, forming partnerships with community colleges and introducing new training and apprenticeship programs at Sundt. These efforts culminated in the new G. Michael Hoover KAPBCS Training Center. The center, which Sundt’s executive team named after Mike in his honor, is essential to Sundt’s mission to be the most skilled builder in America.
The initiatives Mike has taken on during his leadership have upheld Sundt’s history but have also pushed the company forward, continuing to reestablish our reputation as a respected and trusted general contractor. When Mike became CEO, he recognized there was space to reinvigorate who we were and how we saw ourselves. In introducing KAPBCS, he set the tone for his leadership style, how he wanted our people to view the work we were putting in place every day, and ourselves. KAPBCS stands for Kick Ass People Building Cool Shit and, according to Mike, “reminds us that our people are at the heart of this company and industry.”
Congratulations, Mike, on your Golden Beaver award!