He Left Boeing and Bought a Steel Company

In this episode, Jonathan Cor interviews Jesse Cherian, President and CEO of ST Fabrication, a former Boeing materials scientist who left the corporate world to purchase a steel fabrication company and grow it from $1.4 million to $25 million. Jesse shares what he learned transitioning from engineering to ownership, including the realities of acquiring a blue-collar business, why public works and government projects often spiral in cost, and how his experience as both a subcontractor and general contractor shaped his perspective. They discuss the role tariffs play in domestic manufacturing, why the ugliest jobs are often the most profitable, and how project managers have increasingly become contract and risk managers rather than builders.This conversation also explores what it actually takes to start and acquire a construction business, the tradeoffs of growth, and what operational discipline looks like in steel fabrication today.