The UP Companies (UPCO) proudly announces the promotion of Steve Grass to the position of Vice President. Grass was the General Manager of UPCO’s Square UP Builders division for the past two-and-a-half years and has worked for Square UP for nearly a decade.
In his new role as Vice President, Grass will focus on fully integrating UPCO’s services (Power UP Electrical Contractors, Square UP Builders and Hustle UP Laborers) and promoting the UPCO brand. He will also work on setting “best of class” benchmarks in all areas of UPCO’s business, including safety, productivity, quality control, billing, accounts payable and project reporting.
“There is significantly more potential to create efficiencies and cost savings through shared practices and processes, both in the office and the field, that will bring great value and an enhanced experience to our customers,” said UPCO Vice President and Partner Brian Arnold. “In his previous role as General Manager, Steve demonstrated his ability to pay attention to these details while also seeing the greater overall project picture, beyond the mindset of an individual subcontractor.”
Grass will continue to maintain important operational responsibilities for Square UP, in addition to the higher-level focus acquired in his new role.
Grass was hired by Square UP in 2011 as a General Foreman and was promoted to General Superintendent in 2014 where he was responsible for hiring and managing project carpenters. In 2018, he was promoted to Project Manager and subsequently to General Manager of the Carpentry Division.
Grass has a total of 25 years of construction industry experience in the St. Louis area, ranging from building large custom homes to multi-million-dollar senior living facilities. Prior to Square UP, he worked 14 years as a Carpenter Foreman for Behlman Builders in Chesterfield, Missouri.
“Steve is a highly-skilled and respected leader who has been a tremendous asset to our organization for many years,” said Arnold. “His proven management skills and dedication to our company have not gone unnoticed. We welcome Steve to continue to serve on the UPCO leadership team in this new important role; he has certainly elevated his spot to be there.”