Dan Heifner Always Gets a Jump-start on His Day

Each workday morning, Dan Heifner rolls out of bed at about 3:30 a.m. and is on the road by 4 a.m.

His daily commute from Farmington, Missouri, takes anywhere from an hour and 15 minutes to 90 minutes — depending on which project he’s working on that morning.

“I don’t listen to the radio or anything during the drive,” he says. “That's my quiet time.”

As a general superintendent at Castle, Heifner oversees the day-to-day work being completed by general foremen and their teams working in the field. “I make sure that jobs runs smoothly and cost effectively and that everyone has what they need,” Heifner says.

He’s currently working on a trio of St. Louis projects: the Next NGA West campus in north city, the nearby Veterans Community Project (VCP) tiny homes community, and the Market at Olive retail development in University City.

Growing up in the southeast Missouri town of Potosi, Heifner initially worked in home construction before deciding to join the laborers’ union in 1998. He got hired on by a local contractor, but ended up spending a lot of time out of town and away from his family.

Fortunately, he coached baseball with a Castle employee who told him the company was looking for superintendents and encouraged him to apply for a job.

“When I met with Castle, I really liked the atmosphere and values, so I signed on,” he says.

Always On the Move

After joining Castle in 2014, he quickly discovered how much he enjoyed the job. “I like just about everything about it: working with the guys, being outside and the challenges of working on big projects like NGA. It's just a great place to work.”

He also enjoys the challenge of working on multiple jobs at the same time. “I get bored pretty easily, so I'm glad when I have two or three jobs going at one time,” he says.

Hands-on experience has taught Heifner what it takes to run successful construction projects. “Everybody working on a job has different skill sets and different things going on in their lives, you can't treat them exactly the same,” he says. “What I really like about my job is watching the younger guys take control and run projects.”

Heifner’s youngest son, Noah, is following in his dad’s career footsteps. He’s an apprentice laborer at Castle who’s currently working on the Next NGA West project.

While the two occasionally ride to work together, Noah gets no special treatment from his dad on the job. “I tell the foremen that he's not my kid, and that they should do whatever they need to do with him,” he says.

Heifner and his wife also have two other adult sons, as well as four grandchildren. Hanging out with his family and grilling out on the weekends are his favorite activities.  

But he’s not a fan of sleeping in. “Even on the weekends, I’m usually up at 4:30 or 5 o'clock, and it drives my wife crazy,” he laughs.