Monotony’s never been Jim’s strong suit. He’s always liked to mix it up, and he started early. His high school carpentry class built a whole house, all but the footing and HVAC work. Other than that, he and his classmates did the rest, framing, siding, roofing, drywall, plumbing and electrical. “Class lasted all afternoon – that was the life! Then, in my senior year we built my parents’ house. My first paying job was with the contractor that put the foundation in for my parents.”

Much more hands-on apprenticeship of this type was followed by college and a short stint as a welder. “I couldn’t take doing the same thing every day, so Kansas State and Construction Science seemed to be a good fit.” Of course, he was 21 years old with no money and struggling to maintain two vehicles – in other words, paradise. Much of college was devoted to discovery. “Right. Discovering how much I didn’t know. Sure thought I knew it all.” Good thing hindsight’s 20/20. Looking back, it was exactly the education he needed. Jim loves that “the job” at Hutton is never the same twice – always new people, new problems, new solutions. “A lot like the Kansas weather – give it a few days and it’ll change.” He wouldn’t have it any other way – still majoring in Restless.

Jim takes on quite a bit outside the office, too, serving on the city planning commission, park board and his church building commission. He’s also currently working on a new baseball complex and city park. You know what they say. “If you build it ...” But family and faith come first. He and his wife, Sydney, “Syd,” and the four kids, Bridget, Becky, Philip and Anna, spend a lot of time at school and church events, when they’re not taking group vacations with Jim’s brother and sisters, not to mention holidays, birthdays, and – there’s kind of a Hutton theme here – tailgating at K-State games. Calmer days find the Costellos in the garden.