# Nate Koetje on the Field-First Operating Philosophy Behind Feyen Zylstra

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Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/fmi-built-in-podcast-5972281/nate-koetje-on-the-field-first-operating-philosophy-behind-feyen-zylstra.md
Podcast: [FMI Built-In Podcast](https://stenobird.com/podcast/fmi-built-in-podcast-5972281)
Published: 2026-05-12T14:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://rss.com/podcasts/fmi-built-in/2813303
Audio file: https://content.rss.com/episodes/180040/2813303/fmi-built-in/2026_05_11_15_17_38_55251f71-f13c-46bf-a905-dcb2e8e55eed.mp3
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Duration seconds: 2596

## Resource

In this episode of FMI's Built In Podcast, FMI Consulting President Scott Winstead sits down with Nate Koetje, CEO of Feyen Zylstra. Feyen Zylstra is a 600-person commercial and industrial electrical contractor headquartered in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with offices in Nashville, Charlotte, and Charleston. Since stepping into the COO role in 2008 and becoming CEO in 2013, Nate has led one of the more disciplined growth stories in the trades. But he pushes back hard on the idea that there was ever a master plan. Scott and Nate get into the four phases every construction CEO lives through, why "the process is the goal" became Feyen Zylstra's operating philosophy, and what it actually takes to build a field-first culture at scale. What we cover: The four phases: entrepreneurial grit, "culture is king," financial discipline, and process is the goal Why field-first is an operating constraint, not a slogan How to think about geographic expansion without ever making an acquisition The case for not having a growth strategy What to look for when selecting leaders who can handle adversity Nate's advice to his younger self: dream big, act small

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## Transcript

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