Luke Sugar

Luke Sugar was not technically employee number one at i2 Construction, but he was close. It was 1999 and he was a student at Colorado State University. His stepfather, Allan Fries, co-founder and CEO of i2 at the time, brought him on during the summer months to work in the warehouse.

Immediately after graduation, he took a job as a retail manager at a major chain in Grand Junction. He worked there for 17 years before finally deciding to make some big changes in his life. He and his wife moved to Denver in 2016 and Luke came back to i2 in 2017 as a superintendent.

i2 was a different place twenty years ago. But Luke never lost touch with the friends he made at the company and certain things, like the fact that everyone treats one another like family, hadn’t changed at all. “In retail culture, everything is about the bottom line and compliance; it’s not about doing the right thing. Here it’s all about relationships and taking care of the clients. We are all empowered to do what it takes to make our clients happy,” he says.

After being away for so long, Luke is frankly still processing being out of the retail world and marvels at the stark difference between it and i2. Nowhere was this glaring juxtaposition more apparent to Luke than when he got to take Christmas week off for the first time in nearly 20 years.

“i2 will always encourage people to follow their dreams. You might think the grass is greener, but it isn’t always. When you look at where you were when you’ve finally said to yourself, ‘I can’t do that again,” and then you come back, you have a stronger commitment.”