Wes Palmisano on Culture, Growth, and Staying Authentic at RNGD 

In construction, it is easy to focus on the tangible outputs: buildings delivered, schedules met, margins protected. For Wes Palmisano, founder and CEO of RNGD, those outcomes matter; they just are not the starting point. 

“Our product is people, not just buildings,” Wes shared during his conversation on The Comms Exchange podcast. 

That belief has shaped how RNGD has grown from a small startup into a regional construction company delivering more than a quarter billion dollars of work annually across the Gulf South. It has also shaped how the company thinks about branding, leadership, and long-term growth in an industry that often treats those topics as secondary. 

Competing With Experience Through Brand and Culture 

When RNGD launched in 2013, the company was young and relatively unknown, especially when compared to competitors that had been operating for decades. 

“Most of the companies we were going up against had been in business for 50 or even 100 years,” Wes explained. “We knew that building a brand was our opportunity.” 

That realization led to a decision that many construction startups would consider unconventional. The first major expense RNGD incurred was not equipment or tools. It was a marketing and branding firm. 

“At the time, that was a big investment for a new company,” Wes said. “But we knew it was important to get it right.” 

The decision paid off. Within three years, RNGD, previously known as Palmisano Construction, had grown to $100 million in revenue, a pace of growth that Wes describes as rare in the construction industry. Brand differentiation allowed the company to compete on trust and values, not just price. 

“Brand can make you not a commodity,” he said. “It helps you sell work that isn’t purely based on being the lowest bidder.” 

Culture as Infrastructure 

As RNGD grew, culture became a structural issue rather than an abstract one. Rapid hiring created a need for alignment across teams that could no longer rely on personal familiarity alone. 

“In our first three years, we went from zero to a hundred million dollars and hired a hundred people,” Wes said. “That made it clear we needed to be really intentional about who we are and what we stand for.” 

The result was RNGD’s first culture book, published in 2017. That single book eventually grew to five, each capturing a different phase of the company’s evolution. The most recent edition consolidates the earlier volumes into a single reference point for current and future team members, designed and co-published by 30|90 Marketing. 

“These books are a way for new team members to understand the organization,” Wes said. “They also give everyone permission to hold leadership accountable if we drift away from what we say matters.” 

Even at nearly 500 employees, Wes continues to personally meet with every new hire, now in cohort sessions rather than one-on-one meetings. “One of my primary jobs is being the champion of our culture,” he said. “We use storytelling to reinforce what got us here.” 

A Headquarters Built for How the Company Actually Works 

RNGD’s newest headquarters reflects that same alignment between words and reality. The company moved into the 150,000-square-foot facility (located in Jefferson Parish) in early 2025, leaving behind a downtown office that no longer matched how the business had evolved. 

“That building was designed for a commercial general contractor,” Wes said. “That’s not who we are anymore.” 

Today, RNGD operates across infrastructure, heavy civil, prefabrication, structural steel, and self-perform trades. The new campus sits on 14 acres and includes fabrication shops, equipment yards, and a 25,000-square-foot training center that supports both craft and leadership development through the Renegade Academy. 

“We needed a space that was authentic to where the business is headed,” Wes explained. “Not just an office, but a place where training, collaboration, and manufacturing could happen together.” 

Design decisions were intentional, down to how people experience the building when they arrive. “The feeling you get driving up and walking through the front door matters,” he said. “Those details reinforce who we are.” 

Measuring the ROI of Brand and Culture 

For construction leaders who struggle to justify investments in branding, Wes frames the return in practical terms. 

“Brand builds trust,” he said. “Trust increases speed. Speed supports growth. That’s where the ROI comes from in construction.” 

That trust extends beyond clients to employees, partners, and communities. RNGD’s nonprofit foundation and Renegade Academy are integrated into the company’s long-term strategy, not treated as side initiatives. 

“Our goal is to help kids move from middle school to stable employment in architecture, engineering, and construction,” Wes said about The Palmisano Foundation. “That supports the community and helps build the future workforce.” 

Learning, Humility, and Leadership 

Wes credits much of RNGD’s progress to a commitment to learning, both internally and externally. Early influences included authors like Simon Sinek, Patrick Lencioni, and Jim Collins. Later, Wes spent years visiting construction companies across the country to study how other leaders approached scale and systems. 

“You have to approach that with humility,” he said. “There’s always something to learn.” 

That mindset continues today through leadership programs, off-site learning experiences, and daily habits across field crews. 

“People are studying together on job sites,” Wes said. “Not because they have to, but because learning is part of who we are.” 

The Takeaway 

RNGD’s story challenges a common assumption in construction: that culture and branding sit outside the core business. Wes Palmisano’s experience suggests the opposite. When culture is treated as infrastructure and brand is treated as a trust-building tool, growth becomes more sustainable and more human. 

“Authenticity has to be lived,” Wes said. “It can’t just be a phrase on the wall.” 

Listen to The Comms Exchange episode featuring Wes Palmisano to hear the full conversation on building a construction company where people, values, and performance move forward together. 

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