Member Spotlight

Matt Buol-Ferg

VP, Estimation & Project Management at McGill Restoration

​What does a typical day at work look like for you?

• Right now, bouncing between managing the I-480 job that we are doing with Hawkins, reviewing bids, and distributing estimates to the team.

What do you like most about your job?

• Reviewing bids and deciding just how aggressive to be.

What aspect of your job do you find the most challenging?

• Managing people, it’s a lot harder than managing projects.

How did you get into the heavy highway construction industry?

• I took the long way around. In the early 2000s, I moved to Texas and worked in the automobile industry for a few years before moving to New York City and getting my Construction Management degree from NYU in my 30s. I have been with McGill Restoration for six years now.

What is your favorite moment of your career so far? Favorite project?

• While I was in New York City, I interned for MTA, the company that inspects the foundation systems in the subway tunnels. I was there when they were building the new World Trade Center and got to be involved with that process.

What are your hopes for our industry?

• That the material and labor issues don’t derail the industry.

If you could provide one piece of professional advice, what would it be?

• Don’t rush into anything. Make sure you choose the career path you truly want before settling in.

Who has been the most influential person in your career?

• Dino, a superintendent of mine in New York. He had a lot of experiences to share with me and really taught me how to survive and thrive in this industry.

What did you want to be when growing up?

• An astronaut.

What was the first job you ever had?

• Worked at a golf course.

Before working at your current company, what was the most unusual or interesting job you have ever had?

• Back in New York City, I bartended at a hotel right by Grand Central Station. All kinds of people came through there.

If you could go back and tell your 18-year-old self-one thing, what would it be?

• Slow down and appreciate the moments instead of rushing through life.

What is one skill/ability you wish you had?

• Public speaking.

What is your favorite thing to do on a day off?

• Play golf. Thankfully, my seven-year-old enjoys going out so I get to play on the weekends with him.

If you could be anyone (past or present) for just a day, who would you be?

• Neil Armstrong on the day he went to the moon.

What is your biggest pet peeve?

• Lazy people that put in very little effort.

Favorite restaurant?

• Cent’Anni back in Brooklyn.

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