Employee Spotlight: Josh Bookstaver, Senior Project Manager 

Few people know CEG from the inside out the way Josh Bookstaver does. In nearly 17 years with the company, he’s gone from writing proposals in a room of five people to managing a portfolio of federal energy performance contracts across Washington, D.C. — and he’s worn just about every hat in between. 

As part of our Employee Spotlight series, we sat down with Josh to hear about his path, what keeps the work feeling fresh after nearly two decades, and what he’s learned along the way. Here’s what he had to say. 

What do you do in your role? 

My day-to-day as a Senior Project Manager involves running the delivery of energy efficiency upgrades across a portfolio of federal facilities in DC. That means coordinating with our own CEG teams, subcontractors, designers, facility staff, and tenants. A lot of my job is making decisions with incomplete information and keeping a lot of moving parts aligned… getting people who don’t technically work for me to still move in the same direction. 

What is the main problem that your work solves for clients? 

The simplest way to describe it is this: building owners know their mechanical or electrical systems are old and wasting energy, but they don’t have the budget or capital to replace anything. Budgets usually only stretch far enough to address things once they become an emergency, so problems get deferred rather than fixed ahead of time. We come in, figure out what to upgrade – whether that’s heavy mechanical equipment, lighting, or even toilets – and we guarantee how much money they’ll save. In the end, those savings pay for the project. They get a bunch of new equipment, and it’s funded through the guaranteed savings. 

You joined CEG when it was a much smaller operation. What were those early years like, and what do you think helped the company win its first big projects? 

Starting out small actually worked in our favor. We were all one team, operating pretty flat. We were all after the same thing. And CEG has always prioritized hiring the smartest, most driven people. 

I think being small and being really hungry to win is what did it. We have more departments now and people are more specialized. We still wear a lot of hats, but maybe not quite so many hats across so many different departments. Back then you were doing proposals, construction, and recruiting all in the same night. Now we each have more of a lane, while still maintaining that accessibility to decision-makers that we started out with. 

Your nearly 17-year-career at CEG spans several different roles. Can you walk us through your path? 

I came in on the creative and marketing side. That meant a lot of proposals, some website development, trade shows… but really, mostly proposals. Eventually all that hard work started paying off and we started winning more and more projects. 

Being a small team, we all wore a lot of hats, from admin to IT to creative marketing; we were all doing everything. When proposals started slowing down and we were implementing projects, I volunteered to get involved on the field side of things. . 

From there, I started providing in-field support and moved into a construction associate role, which meant document control – not unlike proposals, actually – and then site supervision, learning from the field team. Over time, that turned into managing more projects, and now I’m running a portfolio of federal facilities in DC. 

Does your creative background ever inform your current work? 

You wouldn’t think they would. Art school and watching people dig ditches are pretty different. But the creative background shows up every time I’m trying to tackle something technically dense and make a customer stakeholder — or a subcontractor, or my own team — actually understand it. Creative and design work, writing proposals, was all about making very technical, complex ideas presentable and getting everyone on the same page. Construction management is a lot like that. We work with engineers and subcontractors who are highly technical, but don’t always know how to explain what they’re doing to a client without losing them. And our clients and stakeholders aren’t always that technical either. I think that kind of communication ability came directly from the creative side. 

What has kept the work feeling fresh over nearly two decades? 

The company has changed, but the opportunities haven’t. Every day is still different. It’s still a new problem or challenge every day… it never feels stale at CEG. What first drew me to construction was the opportunity to learn and move into different areas if you wanted. I still think that’s true. There are plenty of opportunities at CEG to learn something new, move up in your current role, or move into a different department entirely. CEG is flexible in letting you grow in the way that’s best for you. 

You manage multiple large, complex federal projects simultaneously. What does it actually take to hold all of that together? 

The honest answer is: you can’t hold it all together in your head. People who try often drop things. For me, it’s about knowing exactly who owns the decisions, knowing where the real risks lie on each site, and not trying to solve every problem for everybody. Not micromanaging your team. There’s just too much information; you would never sleep. It comes down to trusting your team and depending on them. 

What’s the most challenging situation you’ve navigated in your career at CEG, and what did it teach you? 

 The hardest situations in construction are the field discoveries, the moments where what was designed on paper runs into what’s actually behind the wall. In renovation work, especially in older federal buildings, you can’t see everything until demolition starts. You take down a wall or open up a ceiling and find conditions that nobody could have known were there at design. I’ve had projects where something simply couldn’t be built as drawn once we got into it, and in those moments it’s easy for everyone to retreat to their corner, engineering, the subcontractor, the client all looking at each other. 

What I learned is that those moments aren’t about figuring out whose fault it is, most of the time it’s nobody’s fault, it’s just the nature of the work. They’re about taking responsibility anyway, finding a path forward, and getting everyone back on the same page. The goal is that everyone feels like they got a good deal and would want to come back for another project. It’s construction, there are always hard times. Getting that trust early and keeping it is everything. It ties directly back to one of CEG’s core values: take responsibility, own it, whether it’s your problem to solve or not. 

What project or accomplishment are you most proud of? 

So far, it’s the GSA project, because I’ve been part of it from the beginning. I started in proposals and then moved to construction, but on the GSA project, I was part of all of it: proposals, bid management, pre-construction, and now construction in the field. It hasn’t finished yet, but watching it move into construction after being involved at every stage is exciting, and getting to do it alongside a great team makes it even better. Being involved in every aspect of a project that way is fairly unique, and it’s only possible because of how many different departments I’ve gotten to work across at CEG. 

Beyond any single project, though, what’s become more meaningful to me as I’ve been here longer is watching the people I’ve worked with grow into leadership positions… seeing colleagues take on huge responsibilities early in their careers and really own them. As a more senior employee, that honestly means more to me now than just watching the work get done. 

What is the most meaningful part of your work? 

On the project side, there’s something genuinely satisfying about driving by a building years later, or walking into a mechanical room, and seeing that it’s still running exactly the way you implemented it. We have 20-year M&Vs on these projects, and knowing that the work is still performing is cool to witness firsthand. 

On the client side, the most meaningful part is really when they’re happy with everything at the end. I like developing a real relationship with the on-site facility manager or client. You become friends with them. Building that relationship makes the work easier — you go in with positivity, and when problems come up, you know you can work through them together. Some of them I’ve become genuinely good friends with on a job — we’d share stories, talk about vacations and family. And then the project ends and you might never see them again. You hope for a phase two. A lot of them still call.

CEG talks a lot about its people being its differentiator. What does that actually mean in practice? 

Almost everybody I work with at CEG takes responsibility. Whether something goes wrong on a Friday afternoon or at the end of the day, people work through it — late nights, weekends, whatever it takes. I’ve never heard anyone say “that’s not my job” or “I’ve already done my 40.” Everyone wants to see CEG continue to grow and do well. I think we hire the right people for that. And personally, “take responsibility” is the one core value I come back to the most. I’ve leaned on it from day one. 

What’s a fun fact about you? 

I’ve been here long enough and I’m not a secretive person, so I don’t think there are many surprises left in me. But for those who don’t know: I would always rather be on the lake — boating, fishing, swimming. When it’s too cold for that, I’d rather be on a mountain snowboarding with my family. I’m an outdoors person at heart, and given the choice, you’ll find me on a boat getting ready to jump in. 

Is there anything else you’d like to share about your time at CEG? 

I’ve enjoyed it from the start. There were definitely challenging times — when you’re working endlessly long hours trying to win things, that can be hard. But hard work pays off. I feel like it has at CEG. It’s been pretty exciting here in the last year or so, and it feels like we’re on a strong trajectory. It’s fun to be a part of that. 

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Interested in exploring a career where you can make a real impact while working alongside smart, driven people? 

At CEG Solutions, we’re always looking for curious problem-solvers who want to grow, take ownership, and help shape the future of energy and infrastructure. Explore open roles and learn more about life at CEG on our Careers page.