Dovetail Spotlight: Roger Shurtleff — 20 Years With Dovetail
One of our most tenured employees, Service Project Manager Roger Shurtleff is celebrating 20 years at Dovetail. A jack of all trades across roles, project types, and divisions of the company, Roger has seen Dovetail through an ownership transition, a growing team, and the evolution of construction management technology. Celebrating the momentous milestone, Roger reflects on the last two decades with the company.
Roger, a born and raised Washingtonian, graduated from the University of Washington in 1996. Interested in the boat-building business, he began working with his Dad at a smaller general contractor after completing his schooling to learn skills and tool use. While he never got into boatbuilding, Roger sailed and lived abroad for two years while learning carpentry, ultimately landing his first job in the industry as a superintendent.
In 2004, Roger was buying paper at Office Max when he ran into a friend who suggested he apply to Dovetail; at the time, Principal and Owner Chad Rollins was working as a Project Manager, and Principal and Owner Scott Edwards would return to Dovetail as General Manager the following year. The office supply run-in turned into a lifelong career—Roger was brought on as a Superintendent where he excelled in the role for fifteen years before transitioning into a Project Manager in 2017, and then specializing as a Service Project Manager in 2022.
Throughout your time at Dovetail, you’ve worked alongside nearly every type of role within the company. Did you have any mentors?
I've had many, many of them. I learn from all of the people I've worked with. Not just building techniques, means and methods, how to be a construction manager, but how to be a good human.
Over the last twenty years, you’ve been a part of many Dovetail projects. Has there been one that stands out the most?
Three projects come to mind as the most challenging, memorable, and rewarding, not necessarily in that order. I think a lot of people will recognize them: Willmott's Ghost, the Filson Flagship Store, and Perch.
How have you seen the construction industry evolve over the past twenty years? How have you seen Dovetail evolve over the past twenty years?
Before Dovetail, when I became a super in 2000, I built houses with a paper plan set, a phone, and a fax machine. There were no computers, no software to manage design data, etc. It also seemed like more people were willing to go into the building industry who wanted to work in the trades or be carpenters.—it's much harder to make it as a craftsperson now, for many reasons. I applaud people who want to make their living as builders. They can be proud of their decision to continue in a traditional line of work. It has real value.
Back in the day, I used a whiteboard to organize my projects. Now, I have so many excellent digital tools to control and record project information. It makes Service forensics much easier.
Are there any key lessons you’ve learned during your time at Dovetail?
When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.
Even if you delegate a task, you're still responsible for it.
Teach others every chance you get, and be willing to learn something new yourself.