How a multi-task planner and ‘people-person’ gets the job done at Skanska
Julie Hyer, a local senior project engineer in construction, has always dreamed of creating things, such as structures, that people can use and enjoy. “Seeing a building come to fruition–from an idea in someone’s mind, to drawings, and finally to the creation of an actual structure–has always interested me,” she explained.
Hyer of Bend works for construction firm Skanska, in its busy and growing Central Oregon office. She holds a bachelor of science degree from the University of Florida, Rinker School of Building Construction. Hyer has worked in the industry seven years and spent the last five locally with Skanska. She is accredited in LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) and certified in Oregon’s occupational health and safety requirements specific to construction industry safety.
“The leadership program opened my eyes to the challenges community leaders here deal with daily. It inspired me to become an involved and an active member of my Central Oregon community.” With nine local employees, including Hyer, and $12.2 million in revenue, Hyer’s work and Skanska’s other Central Oregon projects help the community in many direct and indirect ways.
In her role at Skanska, Hyer has managed several local hospital and health projects, including a $6 million construction of new catheter and electrophysiology labs and two new operating rooms, and the remodel of the post-anesthetic care unit and pre-operative spaces. She was also responsible for health care improvements and remodeling, including a $1.8 million, 9,200-square-foot, centralized admitting area, a $1.5 million family birth center and a dialysis department remodel.
Hyer is proud of having completed these projects while working minimizing disruption to patient care in busy hospital and medical clinic spaces.
“We worked to make these projects as seamless as possible,” said Hyer. “We gradually remodeled and integrated new structures and spaces into a hospital at the same time it was running its day-to-day operations with patients. Our goal was that the patients wouldn’t even know we were there.”
Hyer was also charged with managing the new Ridgeview High School’s, 610-seat theatre, featuring the latest in sound and lighting technology. Additionally, the new, 273,000-square-foot high school, featuring 32 classrooms, 17 labs, student collaboration areas and complete athletic facilities, now complete. The school accommodates 1,400 students and has achieved LEED Gold certification.
Says John Williamson, Skanska’s Central Oregon senior project manager about Hyer, “Among Julie’s many strengths, two above all really contribute to her and our success here. The first is her ability to multi-task and keep organized and on top of many projects simultaneously. Another of her strengths is her outstanding ability to relate well with many different types of people. She listens and communicates well with others, and people appreciate that.”
Hyer encourages any young woman interested in the construction field to pursue her dreams and not allow any preconceived idea of the industry to deter aspirations.
Adds Hyer, “I see women playing much more of an integral role in the field of construction in the future,” she says. “We are multi-taskers and planners by nature, and that’s a strength in this field.”
