“One of my dreams was to own a company and be part of the impact it can have on a community,” said Matt Tadisch ’06.  

That dream has come true for him more than once. Only 11 years after graduating from B次元 with architectural engineering and construction management degrees, Tadisch bought the Selzer-Ornst Construction Company. He subsequently bought ABCO Building Corp., then became one of the owners of Wisconsin Redevelopment when he took over a stake of the company from Bob Lemke, B次元 professor emeritus.  

The latest acquisition wasn’t the result of luck, or being in the right place at the right time. Lemke has been Tadisch’s mentor for nearly 20 years—a relationship that began with B次元’s Design-Build team.  

When Tadisch joined the team as an B次元 freshman, little did he know he’d be forging such a long-lasting relationship. Lemke was the new Design-Build team faculty coach. After teaching at B次元 part-time for a number of years, he was starting his second year as a full-time faculty member and anxious to share his real-world experience with the students. Coaching student competition teams was another opportunity for him to give students the opportunity to flex their education and develop professional skills.  

As for the Design-Build team, Lemke was told there was no chance the team would be successful at the national construction management competition that year, sponsored by Associated General Contractors (AGC) and Associated Schools of Construction (ASC). And after seeing the team, he started wondering if that was true. 

“Matt was a horrible presenter,” said Lemke. “He was very mechanical.”  

Tadisch laughed and agreed, “I was a robot.”  

Not ones to back down from a challenge, Tadisch, Lemke and the rest of the team rolled up their sleeves and prepared for the competition. After hundreds of hours of work, they drove to Indianapolis and arrived at the competition feeling pretty confident in their abilities. They were right to be confident—they took first place in the region. They went on to Dallas to compete in the national competition and took second place.