Jess grew up on a small farm in Wisconsin, he started his first business at the age of 10 mowing lawns, a business that lasted through high school. Throughout college he maintained full time employment and gained a plethora of hands-on experience working road construction, then becoming a project superintendent for a large Midwest builder. He also owned and operated a small landscape design/build company. Not long into his professional career he saw an opportunity to develop his own engineering and consulting firm, Outland Design. As he grew his client base so came strategic hires and a satellite office to fill demands. Jess was able to grow Outland Design’s gross revenue by 25% annually each year for 10 years. Jess also saw the opportunity to help producers with other waste management issues. He developed and successfully launched LS Ray Farm Service, a business that specialized in designing and selling waste processing and dewatering equipment.Outland Design was always intended to be a product to sell, and after 10 years of consistent growth Jess brokered the acquisition of Outland Design to Ruekert & Mielke where he continues to grow and market its services. Since the 2021 acquisition Jess has doubled the gross annual revenue of Outland Design. At Ruekert & Mielke Jess is also involved in business development and marketing efforts, writing business plans, and building services in new markets.Working with clients, teams of professionals and project development have long been passions of his. His ability to see and anticipate every aspect of a project is what has made his professional endeavors so successful. Jess is an innovator with endless determination to bring ideas, people, and products to market. He offers selfless and ethical leadership, he’s a talent builder, and an opportunity capitalist. He does “whatever it takes” to get the job done.