Gus Marquart has always built buildings.  While earning his B.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of West Virginia, he worked as a laborer for his father.  “I worked twice as hard as anyone else,” he remembers now.  During his junior year, Gus began to work for Turner Construction on holiday weekends and during two summers, helping them build a hospital while he studied.

After graduating from WVU in 1980, Gus accepted a job with The Dravo Corporation, where he remained for four years.   During that time, he married his wife, Charlene, with whom he has two children.  He moved them all to Philadelphia when he entered the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.

In 1986, he received his MBA from Wharton.  During that time, Gus also worked as an owner’s rep for Toombs Development Company in Philadelphia, frequently traveling to Baltimore to monitor construction on the days there were no classes.

After finishing his MBA, he accepted a job as project manager for the Matrix Development Company in New Jersey.  After five years there, he took another position as project manager, this time for Eichleay Engineers, Inc. in Pittsburgh.  In 1997, he went to work with BRIDGES & Company, Inc., with the possibility of someday buying into the company as a full partner with Paul Bridges.

“Paul Bridges was my second mentor,” Gus has said, “after my father.”

In 2000 Gus became a principal at BRIDGES & Company, Inc. and is now a managing partner.  He still expresses pride in their growing company.  “We’ve received prestigious national awards in Excellence in Construction from the Associated Builders and Contractors [ABC],” he says, “and multiple ABC chapter awards during the past 30 years.”

On the side, Gus restores automobiles with his son.  He has traveled with him to Moab, Utah for off-road driving in the desert and over rock formations.  He occasionally plays golf.  He is always happy to get back to work.

“I like the creativity of building buildings,” he says, “partly because of their physical presence. You can look at them and think, ‘I played a small part in building that.’”

EDUCATION

1986  MBA, University of Pennsylvania – The Wharton School
1980  B.S. Civil Engineering, West Virginia University

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

Registered Professional Engineer in Pennsylvania and West Virginia
American Society of Civil Engineers
Pittsburgh Rotary Club
Association for Corporate Growth