Ross, a senior project manager at Schuchart, has built his career through hands-on experience, dedication, and a constant pursuit of knowledge, growing over decades in the construction industry.
Ross’s journey in construction started when he was 16 years old, encouraged by a friend’s father, a home builder, Ross was hired as a laborer and immediately immersed himself in a wide range of tasks — from raking yards, hauling off construction debris, to scraping drywall mud from the floors. We jumped at every opportunity when there was land clearing to be done (working the night shift to tend to the fires), because that meant he got to run the John Deere dozer. This friendship also brought on the opportunity to learn welding skills, we called him Pa Fetter, an old iron worker that came out of the logging industry and was a master of his skill. He brought us into his shop to re-skin the dozer blade, build up the track grousers, rebuild the track rollers, I remember running 7018 for so many hours you couldn’t hardly hold your head up.
He continued with his original builder, gradually moving into building foundations and framing houses. Eventually he started framing houses for other contractors, honing his skills and gaining experience.
Ross then went to work for a Seattle home builder as a Superintendent building houses throughout the Seattle area. From skinny houses in Rainer Valley to Condo’s on Alki and beautiful homes in West Seattle & Madison Park. At that point he broke out on his own to build custom homes but after two years doing that decided that was not what he wanted to pursue as a career.
Ross then went back to working with his high school friend where he started because he was working for a contractor that did industrial work. Our main customer was Kenworth. We performed most of the work at the old Kenworth plant in South Seattle. We did everything from new production lines, extension of conveyor system, sand blasting and recoating equipment and process piping. It was a great introduction to industrial concrete and steel. We did a lot of shutdown work and/or weekend work where you would start at the end of shift on Friday, work straight through to Sunday, sometimes opening the batch plant on Saturday so you could get mud and then have it all cleaned up and operational by Monday morning when they returned to work. Eventually this turned into opportunities at the new Kenworth plant in Renton and is what got us into Boeing.
Ross moved into the medical sector, working on laboratory projects, including a blood bank, where he was introduced to clean room environments. It was here that he deepened his understanding of specialized construction and building in controlled spaces.
Ross’s journey with Schuchart began in 2006 at Boeing Fredrickson, where he worked on several major projects across the region. His standout work came between 2019-2021, when he led the Kent Consolidation Project, Schuchart’s largest project at the time. In 2020, Ross was nominated for the AGC Project Manager of the Year award, a state-wide honor, following his success with the Kent Consolidation Project.
From his early days in the field to his current role as a Sr. Project Manager, Ross has witnessed a massive evolution in construction technology. He recalls being grateful for his typing class in high school, which helped him keep up with the rise of document control software that has revolutionized project management.
Throughout his career, Ross has always gravitated toward industrial work because “every job is different.” Whether it’s the complicated nature of certain projects or simpler demolition tasks, he thrives on the challenge. His years of hands-on experience have shaped him into the exceptional Project Manager he is today.
Today, Ross continues to lead at Schuchart with the same drive and commitment he started with over two decades ago. Whether on the job site or managing large-scale projects, Ross brings unmatched expertise, an adaptable mindset, and a passion for the craft.
Employee Spotlight: Ross Liston
