About
Forty-three years of building, one family's name on the door
Eleven Western is a family-owned commercial construction platform founded in 1983 by Rick Backus and his father, Wayne — grown from a small Southern California contractor into four sector teams, three divisions, and a sister millwork company serving the Western U.S.
The Story
Built on repeat business
Rick Backus started in construction at fifteen, as a carpenter. In 1983 he and his father Wayne founded Eleven Western Builders in Southern California — a small commercial contractor with a simple operating thesis: show up on time, do the work right, document everything.
Forty-three years later the thesis hasn't changed; the scale has. Growth came one earned relationship at a time — grocery chains that kept calling back, retailers who added EWB to program benches, dealers who brought the next campus. The platform followed the clients: self-perform trades to control schedules, facility services to maintain what we built, a mill shop to own the finish work, offices where the work went.
Today Brett Backus — who started as a laborer at fourteen and worked through nearly every role in the company — serves as COO, the second generation of family leadership. Still independent. Still family-owned. Still building for the better.
Founded in Southern California
Rick and Wayne Backus open the doors — quality finish work, small commercial projects.
Rick named President & CEO
The second-generation era begins early.
Grocery begins; millwork comes in-house
Grocery construction starts in 1994 and becomes a signature sector. The millwork division launches as the company's first self-performed component, and client programs pull EWB into Arizona, Nevada, and the Pacific Northwest.
Big-box work and the second generation
The Retail Services division launches — the second self-performed component. Big-box grocery and retail work begins, and Brett and Sean Backus join the family business as laborers.
Northern California and a third self-performed component
The Northern California office opens in Rocklin. Facility Services launches to maintain what the company builds, and direct licensing reaches 11 states.
Leadership for the next era
Rick Backus becomes Chairman & CEO; Greg McDonald is named President.
New markets, new operating model
The Boise-metro office opens in Meridian, followed by Dallas. Brett Backus becomes COO in 2021, and the company restructures into Project Executive-led, sector-specific teams — the operating model behind everything on this site.
Leadership
The people accountable for the promise
Rick Backus
Chairman & CEO
Rick founded Eleven Western Builders in 1983 with his father, Wayne, after starting in construction as a 15-year-old carpenter. President and CEO from 1988, he assumed the Chairman & CEO role in 2019 and still sets the tone: build for the better, one relationship at a time.
Greg McDonald
President
A Construction Management graduate of Chico State, Greg joined EWB as a Project Manager in 1990 and rose through Chief Estimator, VP of Construction, and Senior VP before being named President in 2019. He oversees customer relations, estimating, and operations.
Brett Backus
Chief Operating Officer
A licensed California General Contractor who started in the field at 14, Brett has held nearly every seat at EWB since joining as a laborer in the 2000s: carpenter, project engineer, estimator, project manager, and Director of Business Development, before becoming COO in 2021.
Richard Huey
Chief Financial Officer
With more than 40 years in financial management, including eight at KPMG, Richard has been EWB’s CFO since 2005, directing finance, tax, insurance, and contracts across the platform.
Kristi Snell
Chief Risk Officer
Twenty years at EWB: Submittal Coordinator to Project Engineer to Project Manager, then marketing and HR leadership, before taking on risk management and regulatory compliance as Chief Risk Officer. Her path is the career ladder, lived.
Vern Alderton
VP, Field Operations
A union carpenter since 1979, Vern joined EWB in 2001 as a Project Superintendent and has led field operations, quality, and safety as VP of Field Operations since 2013.
Gene Chesterton
Senior VP, Construction Services
Gene oversees self-perform operations and Facility Services alongside retail construction leadership — a 30-year construction career that began with finish carpentry in 1993.
Doug Child
VP, Construction
A BYU Construction Management graduate and LEED AP, Doug joined EWB in 2005 and leads major ground-up programs across the platform.
Jennifer Gosselin
VP, Construction — Texas
Jennifer brings more than 20 years of Texas commercial construction leadership — most recently rising to Vice President at a leading Texas general contractor — and now leads EWB’s Dallas-based Texas division.
Sean Backus
Director of Facility Services
Sean joined the family business as a laborer in the 2000s alongside his brother Brett and today directs Facility Services — the division that keeps client buildings running long after grand opening.
Work with a builder that answers to a family, not a fund
Independent since 1983 — which means the person who promises your date is the person whose name is on it.