Fresh out of the field as a concrete foreman, Tom “Tommy” Horsting entered the new Aurora, Colorado office of Adolfson & Peterson Construction in the early 1980s with a strong work ethic modeled on jobs, a knack for solving problems and a deep respect for people. He not only joined the company, but helped propel it into new markets and success.
Over the next four decades, as the company’s Mountain State region grew to more than 300 employees, Horsting played a role in nearly every major milestone. Today, the region accounts for nearly half of the company’s domestic revenue, which is expected to top $1.57 billion by 2025, placing AP at No. 96 on ENR’s Top 400 Contractors list. Revenue in the Mountain States is projected to increase to $603.5 million in 2026 from $271.4 million in 2015.
When Horsting retired as regional president and executive vice president in 2024, hundreds of former employees, customers, business partners and even competitors gathered to honor his impact on the company, the projects he led, the construction industry and the communities in which he worked. These projects included work for school districts, health care providers, civic institutions and other organizations.
As a young man, Horsting says he entered the industry with the goal of earning a good salary, but found the satisfaction of building projects that improved communities motivated him throughout his 42-year career at AP.
“You see the finished project. If it’s a hospital, you can see it being used, if it’s a recreation center, you see kids playing, if it’s a school, you see kids going to a school where they’re learning,” says Horsting. “It’s really fun to see the things you get to build and how the community uses and enjoys them.”
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Lucille Erwin Middle School in Loveland, Colorado, was delivered in 12 months under Horsting’s leadership. The project put Adolfson & Peterson on the map for K-12 education construction.
Photo courtesy of Adolfson & Peterson
Making an impact
Brandon Hill, AP’s vice president of operations, says Horsting made a strong impression on him on his first day as an intern 30 years ago, when he found Horsting in the middle of a concrete pour working alongside the crew.
“At the time, I didn’t think much of it, but I quickly learned that Tommy was always willing to roll up his sleeves and get right in the middle of the job, help his people, help solve problems, whatever it took to make everyone successful,” Hill says.
Horsting brought a can-do philosophy to every project he led, fostering contractor-owner partnerships that have lasted decades, Hill says. At the Kaiser Franklin Medical Office Building in Denver, the company reports that Horsting’s collaborative approach laid the foundation for a 30-year relationship that has included 11 projects with the health care provider. At the Ross Hall project at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, Colorado, Horsting combined innovation with transparent communication, helping to establish the company’s presence in higher education construction.
Horsting cites Lucille Erwin Middle School as a career milestone because it put AP on the map for K-12 construction. While school projects typically require 12 months for design and another 12 months for construction, the district wanted the 160,000-square-foot school to be designed and built in a single year.
“I was young and dumb. So I said, ‘Sure, we can do it, right?’ ” says Horsting.
“This was a real team effort by everyone,” he adds. “We all worked around the clock to make that happen. And that was really a stepping stone for the company. That’s when we really started to be known as the largest school builder in the state of Colorado.”
During his tenure, Horsting personally directed more than $1.9 billion in completed work in the K-12, higher education, healthcare, civic and commercial markets. His relationship-based leadership helped the company expand into new sectors, including the mission-critical domestic market shortly before his retirement, when he secured a $145 million multi-state expansion project for a confidential repeat customer.
When asked what he’s most proud of, Horsting points to the people he mentored and developed, many of whom helped smooth the company’s leadership transition when he retired.
“I hired and developed a team of people who took over this company when I left, and we didn’t miss a beat,” says Horsting. “The boys and girls I hired as engineers, laborers, carpenters [are all now] in leadership roles, doing the same thing I did.”
“It was never about him succeeding; it was always about his people succeeding.”
—Brandon Hill, Vice President of Operations, Adolfson & Peterson
Hill praises Horsting’s ability to recognize talent even before individuals see it themselves.
“Tommy’s not the type to sit down and do formal records,” says Hill. “His style is always developing people through communication, expanding their skills with new opportunities and monitoring them to make sure they succeed. It was never about him succeeding; it was always about his people succeeding.”
Even during economic crises, Horsting encouraged the company’s leadership to find work instead of resorting to layoffs. “We are responsible for 300 families, not 300 employees,” says Horsting.
This people mentality became central to the company’s culture. Maintaining a family atmosphere became more difficult as the company expanded, but Horsting remained intentional about bringing people together through company picnics, baseball outings, holiday parties and leadership visits to workplaces.
Horsting’s commitment to relationships extended beyond the workplace. He served on the boards of the Metro Denver Economic Development Corp. and Associated General Contractors of Colorado. Every December, he arrived at the AP office with his truck loaded with toys, food and gifts for families in need, supporting the holiday gift drives he founded decades earlier.
Today, AP continues to thrive, built on a foundation of stability, collaboration and opportunity. The company’s average employee tenure of 10 years is more than double the industry average of four years.
Hill describes Horsting as a grassroots success story.
“He’s someone who started in this industry in the trades and worked his way up and became the president of an entire region,” Hill says. “His advocacy has always been about making the next person the next leader and helping carve that career path for that individual and their family — the opportunity for anyone at any level to grow into whatever they want.”
In retirement, Horsting continues to serve as a strategic client advisor for AP.
