Departments — November/December 2006

An Industry Recruiter Comes Full Circle in Minnesota

Small-town values, AGC contacts key to firm's success

Charles "Chuck" Rauenhorst President/CEO Rauenhorst Recruiting Co. Minneapolis/Saint Paul and Dallas/Fort Worth Age: 57 Education Bachelor's Degree-Genetics, University of Hawaii (1971) Experience > 22+ years in the recruiting field > 14 years in recruiting construction, engineering, manufacturing First Industry Job Placing seed-corn salespeople with Management Recruiters Inc. Search Work Placing more than 300 people in construction, manufacturing, architecture and engineering positions, including: > President/General Manager, Wells Concrete > Executive Vice President, Builders' Association of the Twin Cities > Sales Manager, Rottlund Homes/David Bernard > CFO for a $250-million privately held contractor > Senior Affordable Housing Developers, CommonBond AGC of Minnesota member since 2002 Website: www.rauenhorst.com

Minnesota's Chuck Rauenhorst has made the most of his background, building on a strong work ethic and family ties to agriculture and construction. He is president and CEO of Rauenhorst Recruiting Co., a Minneapolis-based AGC member and industry recruiting firm that has placed more than 300 people in construction, manufacturing, architecture and engineering positions over the past few years.

Rauenhorst now splits his time between Minneapolis and the firm's second office, in Dallas, but he wasn't always a well-traveled urbanite. Growing up in the 1960s in rural Olivia, Minn., Rauenhorst says he dreamed of the "big city of Minneapolis," 100 miles to the east. But he seldom got to go there.

The fourth of 17 children in his farm family, Rauenhorst was exposed to hard work at an early age. Twelve-hour days in the spring and fall were common, and he and his siblings worked the wholesale farm routes and family-owned sweet-corn stands that dotted the counties near their home. "A rural upbringing defines your values and work ethic. This transfers to all aspects of your life," he says.

Chuck's uncle, Gerry Rauenhorst, had already grown beyond tiny Olivia by founding the construction company that today is Opus Corp., the $1.4-billion real-estate development firm. Other uncles also had success in creating a hybrid seed-corn company, Trojan Seed, and were among the first to establish genetic research facilities in Hawaii in the late 1960s.

Seeking adventure and a way out of Olivia, Chuck Rauenhorst followed Trojan Seed to Hawaii, where he worked and graduated with a degree in genetics from the University of Hawaii. Returning to Minnesota, he became a small-business consultant before combining his knowledge of genetics and seed corn with recruiting at Management Recruiters Inc., Columbus, Ohio, in 1983.

In 1989 Rauenhorst decided to pursue recruiting independently and founded his own firm, Rauenhorst Recruiting Co. "I really wanted to build something on my own," he says. "I wanted to build my own team." Rauenhorst initially recruited and built seed-corn sales teams, but his success in assembling a management group for a manufacturing company in 1993 led him to refocus his efforts and begin recruiting in the construction and manufacturing industries.

Since 1993, Rauenhorst has continued to focus on these areas. He says he likes working with construction companies because "they tend to be privately held, are entrepreneurial and the owners like to make things happen. I find that combination really exciting." Each search is customized, but unlike most search firms, Rauenhorst also emphasizes a collaborative model, compensating employees mostly on team, rather than individual, performance.

After 14 years and several hundred positions recruited, Rauenhorst Recruiting is emerging from a tremendous challenge. In late 2004, three employees left the firm, forcing Rauenhorst to rebuild it nearly from scratch. Seeing an opportunity to change its structure, he created company wide accountability and double-digit growth over the past 18 months.

Today, the company's eight-person staff has completed some of the most prominent searches in its history, including one that was a direct result of AGC involvement. This year a Minnesota precast/ready-mix provider and AGC member chose a short list of recruiters based on AGC Minnesota membership to find a replacement for its retiring president.

After winning the proposal, Rauenhorst conducted an exhaustive national search and the firm hired its next president based upon Rauenhorst's recommendations. Ironically, the search brought Rauenhorst back to his rural roots because the client is located in a small company town, with a population of just 2,494 people.

Understanding the rural environment and small-town life was critical to winning and completing the search, Rauenhorst says. In the end, the small-town values, passion and drive that led Rauenhorst out of Olivia brought him back to a company and a small community that needed his help.