b'SUSAN BOWMAN SETS THE EXAMPLECFO Susan Bowman is Ralph Kortes oldest daughter, but earning her job still mattered. Only after graduating with an accounting degree, working at a Big 8 public accounting firm, passing the CPA exam, and putting in time at another construction company did she return to the family businessand she didnt expect any favors.I had a true interview just like anybody else. I had earned my stripes to prove that I deserved to be here, so no one could say I didnt deserve the job.And in her three decades at The Korte Company, no one ever did. She moved from an entry-level accounting position to CFO the old-fashioned way: hard work and dedication.Growing up, business was just as much a part of the family as her siblings.Every family meal had work in it. My dad loved work, loved what he did and he talked about it a lot. We would hear about job sites. We would go on job site visits. On Sunday afternoons, we would drive by job sites before getting wherever else we were going.As a kid, her parents passion for the business was just Mom and Dad being Mom and Dad. But while studying accounting at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, it dawned on her: What my familys company doesand how we do it through our Build Smart valuesis really special.In my cost accounting class, we learned percent complete revenue recognition, and I realized this is what we do on every Korte job each month.And that wasnt the only special thing that happened. During her junior year, her friends introduced her to a tall, skinny Chicago-born guy named Rob Bowmanand they later married. His hometown was a great place to launch their careers. He worked at Truax in Elmhurst, and she got a job at what is now Ernst & Young.But her familys business was calling her name.Dad would always say, You can make your own way in the world. You can work wherever you want. But I always knew he would be proud if all of us worked for the family business.She did. He was.36'