Rinderknecht president retiring after 42 years

CEDAR RAPIDS - Forty-two years after he joined Rinderknecht Associates, Tom Amosson will miss the relationships that have developed with customers when he retires on Dec. 31.

Amosson, 66, is president of the Cedar Rapids general contractor and chief executive officer of Merit Construction, a non-union sister company. Over the years, Amosson held a number of positions with Rinderknecht before he was named president 12 years ago.

'I grew up in Kanawha, a town of about 600 residents in north central Iowa,” Amosson said. 'I didn't want to be a farmer, so I studied civil engineering at Iowa State. In 1969, Rinderknecht was interviewing on campus and I worked as a summer intern my junior and senior years.”

After Amosson graduated, he left Iowa for a couple of years to work for international contractor Bechtel Corp. in San Francisco. Later, he moved to Texas, where he built carwashes and service stations for Exxon.

'One day I called Darrell Schumacher (former president of Rinderknecht) and told him I was ready to come back to Iowa. He said ‘Come on back,' and here I am 42 years later.”

Amosson initially worked as an estimator, eventually becoming senior estimator, chief estimator, vice president of estimating and senior executive vice president. Along the way, he worked on many projects in the community, including buildings at Mount Mercy University, Rockwell Collins, churches, the Hall-Perrine Cancer Center and the Cedar Rapids Police Department.

Amosson said contracting is a business built on relationships.

'As I look back on my career, one of my fondest memories is getting to know the people, working with them and developing friendships,” he said. 'That part of the business will never change.

'What has changed is the use of computers and technology. There's also been a major change in the area of safety where lifts have replaced scaffolding.”

Amosson said collaboration has replaced a system where architects designed a building and contractors submitted bids to construct it.

'Now, we work with the architect and the building owner to come up with the best product for the right amount of money,” he said.

Amosson, who will be succeeded by Scott Friauf as president, will stay on as a consultant with Rinderknecht for about three years. He looks forward to traveling with his wife, Jeanne, and spending more time with their four children and two grandchildren.

'We will stay here in Cedar Rapids,” Amosson said. 'This is our home and we don't have any plans to leave.”