Eric Wolters wasn’t raised with a construction background.
His father wasn’t a contractor or handyman — he was a commodity broker. As a kid growing up in Collinsville, Illinois, he thought he’d eventually run a funeral home like his uncles.
In school, he never even took a shop class. Instead, he earned a degree in mortuary science from Southern Illinois University Carbondale in 1999.
But life is full of surprises.
It didn’t take long before Eric was bored with the funeral home business and went back to school to finish his pre-meds at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. And his future wasn’t in the medical field either. While at SIUE, an opportunity with Brown Construction presented itself and he took it.
“The pay wasn’t great, but the education was off the charts.” Eric said. “We dabbled in everything, so I got a hell of an education. In the evenings, I wanted nothing to do with classroom-related homework. My new ‘classroom’ was the jobsite and I wanted to learn everything imaginable.
A career (and family) under construction
Eric worked with Barney Brown for four years. Toward the end he had built up so much side business that he had to start turning away side work.
“We were making more money on nights and weekends than we were during the day and we were learning the business aspect on our own, so we took the leap of faith,” Eric said. The “we” is his lifelong friend, Sean McCollegan.
On April 1st, 2004, they started a carpentry business McCollegan and Wolters (later changed to Southern Illinois Home Services).
“We were diversified, so it was fun,” Eric said. “I get bored pretty easy, so we did something different pretty much every day.”
Among those diversified activities was doing punch list repairs for a network of local realtors. That’s how he met his wife.
They’d gone to high school together and hadn’t seen each other since she moved to Chicago. But now she was coming back home. That’s when Eric got a text from an old number.
From Tasha: Hey, stranger. I’m buying this house. My dad knows nothing about it. I need somebody to look at it. Tell me what’s good, bad and indifferent.
“And then one thing led to another, and now we have two kids and two dogs and we’re on our fourth house and yeah, it’s been a whirlwind of ride,” Eric said.
Their son Jake is now eight years old and their daughter Brooke is five. Sports now consumes most of their free time. Eric coaches his son’s baseball team which runs nine months of the year. Both kids play soccer. “I absolutely love coaching the baseball team, but the soccer games are where I can sit back and be a fan.
The next challenge — chainsaw sales
Eric led Southern Illinois Home Services until 2015 and grew ready for a new challenge. It was a “bucket list” sales job.
He had a friend who held a sales position at Husqvarna Group, a real dream job for a guy like Eric.
“I had told him, ‘That is the job. I could never wish you to get fired, but when you’re done, let me know,” Eric said.
He got his wish when that friend was moving on to the company’s corporate office and asked Eric if he wanted to take over his territory. He didn’t think twice.
Eric sold outdoor power equipment to small dealerships around Illinois for five years. He loved the people and the job, but he missed construction, along with the close-knit culture he enjoyed working in smaller companies.
So, he started looking for job openings at reputable construction companies, and an offer from Korte presented itself.
“I was like, ‘This checks all the boxes right here.’ It all happened quickly.”
Connections to The Korte Company and Clinton County
Eric started as a project manager, and it didn’t take long to feel like part of The Korte Company family.
His maternal grandfather, Norbert Kalmer, is first cousins with Ralph Korte, and Eric heard plenty about The Korte Company growing up. After Eric grew up, he considered Ralph a role model in the construction business, especially while he was at Southern Illinois Home Services.
“My dad is from Aviston and mom is from Germantown and many of the people that work here are from Clinton County,” Eric said. “They’re just good people. They are fun to be around, they don’t take life too serious, they work hard and have some core values,” he said. “So, I always have a spot in my heart for Clinton County folks.”
Eric has been at The Korte Company since early 2020 and absolutely loves his work and his team members.
“I love it more every day,” he said. “People around here are phenomenal and have been from my first day on the job. It’s that small town mom and pop vibe that I grew up on, and it’s still here today.”
Starting out from the couch
Eric started on Jan. 6, 2020, and the most difficult part of onboarding was COVID and the associated lockdowns.
“I’m still really new, still trying to figure out ‘the Korte way,’” he said. “Now I’m trying to figure it out from my dining room.”
Despite the setbacks, Eric appreciated that Todd Korte found time to call and make sure he was started on the right foot.
“He doesn’t owe me a phone call, but he and Brent were just calling everyone to see if we needed anything. That’s the vibe of this company,” he said. “Eric also enjoys how much things change and develop at The Korte Company. No two days are ever the same, so he never gets bored.
“I love being a project manager,” he said. “I like working with people, but I do kind of miss getting in the trenches and doing the actual work.”
Building relationships with the subcontractors plays a vital role in getting the job done on time. However, there will always be challenges that put the schedule at risk. “The way I see it, there are three major factors for project delays and those are materials, manpower and motivation.”
If a project starts to fall behind his role becomes even more important. “Building relationships with the subcontractors goes a long way. The better the relationship, the better they usually perform.” Eric knows that when one of the bosses gets to work with the subcontractors, everyone starts to move faster. He thinks good project managers get to know their subcontractors and earn their respect. That way, everyone on the project is confident that you have their best interests at heart.
“Project managers should get out there, meet people on site, have lunch, have a beer with them, whatever,” he said. “It goes a long way.”
When project managers better know everyone on a project, they’ll know the best way to solve problems. And when problems get solved, Eric sleeps better at night.
“I tell people I don’t really care what the problem was. I don’t care where the problem started. I want to identify a problem so we don’t make the same mistake again,” he said.
Life’s twists and turns lead to the right place
Eric’s career path wasn’t the straightest.
He went from wanting to help people enter the next life (funeral home), to wanting to help save lives (pre-med), to helping people be more comfortable in this life (construction).
And now, he’s exactly where he wants to be, at The Korte Company.
Eric hopes to expand his role within the company and take on new responsibilities. Whatever they need him to do, he’s ready to get to work. Because when the sun comes up in the morning, he still just wants to go build something.
“Whatever role needs to be played, I’ll play it,” he said. “If you were to ask me in college, ‘Where are you going to be in 20 years from now?’ I probably would not have, given a hundred guesses, said here. But I’m sure thankful that I am.”
