Wieser Brothers General Contractor Endowed Scholarship

For the Wieser brothers, it only seems right that they give back to the institution that helped them get started. That’s why when the Foundation put out the plea for scholarship donations, the brothers came through and established an endowed scholarship to help future students in the Wood Tech program.
For Jeff (‘83) and Brian (’86), both graduates of Western’s Wood Tech program and La Crescent, Minn. natives, the decision to establish a scholarship was easy. As owners of Wieser Brothers General Contractor, Inc., they see the value that grads of the Wood Tech program bring to their business. “Graduates of that program just seem to have a better start,” says Jeff. Approximately 80-90 percent of their carpenters are grads. They hire on average two to three of our graduates each year, and most of them go on to become superintendents at Wieser Brothers. And three of their project managers are from the Western Wood Tech program.
But aside from the benefit they see as a business, there’s a personal reason too. “We’re just such firm believers in what the college does,” says Jeff. Brian continues, “We want to give back to the college what they gave us.” They both believe Western gave them the base they needed to help achieve their goals. After graduating from the Wood Tech program, both started as apprentice carpenters, graduated to journeyman carpenters and then became job superintendents before starting Wieser Brothers in 1994.
“When I was there, I remember people who couldn’t afford a lot of things,” says Jeff. “We believe in giving everyone a chance for an education so they can reach their own dreams.” And thanks to their scholarship, students in the Wood Tech program will now have that chance.