Since its founding in 2019, MKE Iron Erectors, Inc. has quickly established itself as a trusted specialty contractor in Southeast Wisconsin. Led by President and CEO Barbara Sheedy, MKE Iron combines skilled union ironworkers, innovative technology and a LEAN approach to deliver solutions that help contractors and project teams save time, reduce risk and build better.
A certified women-owned business and signatory contractor with Ironworkers Local 8, MKE provides Division 3 and Division 5 services across commercial, municipal, civil and transportation projects. Its portfolio includes some of Milwaukee’s most recognizable and technically challenging projects, including The Couture, Milwaukee’s new Nature & Culture Museum of Wisconsin, and the safety award-winning Zoo Interchange Project.
At the heart of the company is Sheedy’s belief that construction is about more than putting up steel or reinforcing concrete. It’s about building partnerships, developing people and creating lasting value in our communities.
Chris Mambu Rasch: How did MKE Iron Erectors get started?
Barbara Sheedy: I have more than thirty years of experience in the construction industry, primarily working my way up through the finance side of the business. I’m a lifelong learner, so after all those years in construction, I went back to school and earned my MBA in 2017.
After that, I was looking for a new challenge. I wanted to take everything I had learned and create something of my own. That’s how MKE Iron Erectors began in 2019.
Starting a company is never easy, and starting one just before the pandemic certainly wasn’t part of the plan. We experienced tremendous growth, but we also had to learn how to navigate COVID while establishing ourselves as a new company. I’m incredibly appreciative of our marketer and business developer, Mark Redetzke, who helped establish our brand through those early years.
From the beginning, our goal has been to be more than a subcontractor. We want to be a partner to the project team. That philosophy is reflected in our mission: to build prosperity and better communities while saving time, money and stress for our partners.
Adopting this approach has helped us grow into a company capable of providing both Division 3 and Division 5 work, from concrete reinforcing and post-tensioning to structural steel, steel decking, stairs, railings and other preconstruction services.
Chris: What makes MKE Iron Erectors different from its competitors?
Barb: Our partnerships are what set us apart. We value the relationships we have with owners, general contractors and other specialty contractors. We’re not simply showing up to perform our scope of work. We’re looking at the project as a whole and asking, “How can we make this better?”
Our job is to build to the highest standard while identifying efficiencies that can help protect the schedule and budget. That’s why LEAN construction is such an important part of our culture. We focus on planning ahead, eliminating waste, improving communication and solving problems before they become bigger problems.
Our motto is, “Bid right. Built right.” That’s really the philosophy behind what we do. We offer pre-planning, budget estimating, schedule optimization, installation safety planning, technical erection planning, shop drawing quality assurance and weld plan development because we know that the decisions made before work begins can have a significant impact on the success of a project.
We’re also a future-focused company. MKE Iron reinvests in our people, our technology and our capabilities because we want to continually improve. In fact, our commitment to partnership has been recognized. We’ve earned three National IMPACT awards, which celebrate excellence, safety, innovation and collaboration in the ironworking industry. For example, we earned an award for our work on the Milwaukee City Hall Foundation Stabilization project, recognizing our project management abilities and MKE Iron’s willingness to offer a specialized team of ironworkers with the enhanced training needed to apply a solution that was the first of its kind in North America.
Chris: You’ve grown significantly since 2019. What role has your workforce played in that growth?
Barb: We’re a union contractor, and our relationships with Locals 8, 383 and 498 give us access to highly trained professionals who are prepared to take on complex work. Additionally, our “International Agreement” with the Iron Workers Union allows us to expand our services throughout the United States and Canada.
Education is a major part of our culture. We support continuing education, welding classes and opportunities for our employees to expand their skills. I’m passionate about helping our workforce continue to learn because information is power.
The union model also gives us the ability to bring in specialized experts from the international union when a project requires it. Their expertise on particularly complex or specialized jobs benefits the project and our own workers as they learn from those experiences and bring that knowledge to future projects.
That creates a cycle of continuous improvement. We develop our people; they develop new skills and those skills make MKE stronger and more competitive.
Chris: As construction schedules and budgets get tighter, how is MKE Iron positioning itself to compete?
Barb: We believe diversification and adaptability are critical. While rebar and Division 3 work remain an important part of our business, we’ve expanded our capabilities to include Division 5 work like structural steel, mixed metals, steel decking, stairs, railings and structural glazing.
Diversification allows us to serve a broader range of markets. Not all buildings need rebar, but think about how many need stairs, railings and metal framing. Addressing these needs dramatically opens up our market to projects of various sizes and can be applied to all sorts of building types. Everything from a small, local bank branch to a major industrial facility or high-rise tower is in our wheelhouse. Now that we offer structural glazing, our opportunities are even greater.
Our goal is to continue building a company that can adapt to where the market is going while maintaining the quality and expertise our partners expect.
Chris: With the growth of data centers, everyone is competing for skilled workers. How are you approaching the workforce challenge?
Barb: We can’t solve the workforce shortage by simply competing for the same people. We have to invest in the people we already have and help develop the next generation.
We’re also fortunate to have strong relationships with other specialty contractors. When manpower demands fluctuate, we’ve been able to work together and share resources for mutual benefit. Construction is competitive, but collaboration can make our industry stronger.
Technology also has an important role to play. We’re constantly watching the industry and looking for tools that can make our craftworkers’ jobs safer and more efficient. We’ve implemented tie guns and TyBOT, a robotic rebar-tying system, reducing some of the physical demands of repetitive tying for ironworkers while improving productivity and consistency for general contractors.
In 2026, MKE Iron became the first contractor in Wisconsin to deploy TyBOT. On an IH-39 bridge project in Columbia County, the technology completed 17,823 ties in two shifts across a 7,775-square-foot area.
MKE Iron believes that innovation and using new technology isn’t about replacing skilled tradespeople. It’s about giving skilled workers better tools to help them succeed long term in their careers.
Chris: Safety has become a major focus for MKE Iron. What does safety mean to you?
Barb: Safety has always been one of MKE Iron’s core values, along with Resilience and Respect. And when we talk about safety, we’re talking about both physical and mental safety. Ironworking is physically demanding and carries inherent risks.
This is why physical safety planning is ingrained into all levels of project management. From the start, projects require a Site-Specific Safety Plan (SSIP) to identify and address the unique variables inherent to the project. During the project, our foremen hold daily huddles to identify new hazards and the day’s working conditions. Also, each member of our crew is responsible for an Individual Work Plan that identifies actions they are responsible to take in order to protect themselves. Finally, reviewing safety performance is a part of the post-project review process.
Just as importantly, MKE Iron recognizes the mental health challenges facing workers in construction. As an ironworking contractor, we have a responsibility to do everything we can to support our people.
All of our foremen are certified in QPR suicide prevention training, and we provide two paid mental health days for our field leaders who need time to step away and recharge. I believe that creating a culture where people feel comfortable asking for and giving help is just as important as providing the right equipment and safety procedures.
Chris: Looking ahead, what is the future for MKE Iron Erectors?
Barb: We want to keep building strong partnerships, investing in our workforce and finding better ways to deliver projects. We’re going to continue embracing technology, LEAN practices and education while maintaining our commitment to Safety, Resilience and Respect. Most importantly, we want to continue contributing to the communities where we work.
Every bridge, building, school, water facility and infrastructure project is part of something bigger. MKE Iron Erectors is proud that our team builds the places that Wisconsin communities depend on.
That’s what “Building prosperity and better communities” means to us.
Learn more about MKE Iron Erectors: MKE Iron Erectors
