CANCO adds project manager in Burlington location

2 months, 1 week ago

Shana L. Brown comes to Carl A. Nelson & Company with more than 25 years of construction experience in builder, owner and inspector roles.

Carl A. Nelson & Company is happy to announce the addition of Project Manager Shana L. Brown to the firm's office-based project leadership team at its main office in Burlington, Iowa. Brown, who started with the company on Sept. 25, 2023, comes to CANCO with 25 years of professional experience in the construction industry, including as a commercial project manager and estimator. She will get her start at CANCO assisting with management of renovations at Burlington High School in Burlington, Iowa, where the company is working as Construction Manager Agency.

Brown traces her interest in construction to being her father's helper on home improvement projects, and then to three years of drafting classes in high school (including a third-year curriculum added by the teacher to the two-year program due to her interest). Brown started college with an open major, and earned a pair of associate's degrees in business management and fine arts while at Western Illinois University. The decision her junior year to major in industrial technology with emphasis on construction project management and drafting was cemented the summer before when she helped her parents build a new house. After an internship and graduation, she had an opportunity with the Illinois Department of Transportation, but decided heavy/highway projects didn't hold her interest, and chose a career instead in commercial construction because of the variety it offered. 

Over 25 years, Brown's path to CANCO included 10 years as an estimator for a post-frame building supplier, 12 years as a project manager and estimator for commercial builders in western and central Illinois, and three years as a municipal building inspector and code compliance officer. She most recently was an owner-side project coordinator for WIU. Memorable projects in her career include a large equestrian verterinary facility with associated stables and arenas, window replacements in a 10-story high-rise, and excavations and waterproofing around a portion of the tunnel system connecting government buildings in Springfield, Illinois, as part of a paving project.

Brown said she was ready for a change, and a return to commercial construction, when CANCO recruited her to apply with the company.

"I was looking for good teamwork, a good environment," she said, with an established company that had a good reputation. "I take a lot of pride, and I want to work for a company that values that."

Away from work, life revolves around kids, homework and sports. Brown has a son in high school, a daughter in community college; and a boyfriend with two children of his own. She has started doing some gardening, and is working on developing a green thumb. She also enjoys hiking, and helping out with construction projects around the house.