More Than a Competition: How an Office Tradition Became a Signature Industry Experience

When Ryan Yauger launched Bohler’s Richmond office in 2020, he wanted to build more than a successful business. He wanted to build a team.

Looking for a way to connect his growing team beyond project work, Ryan introduced a simple Thanksgiving celebration complete with a potluck lunch and a handful of friendly games.

“It started as Minute to Win It-style competitions,” he recalls. But as a longtime fan of the television series Survivor, Ryan began designing increasingly elaborate challenge-style games inspired by the show. Soon, the event became an opportunity for teammates across Bohler’s MidAtlantic division to collaborate, laugh, and build relationships outside the office.

“As a young office, we wanted people from across Bohler to come meet our team,” Ryan says. “It created an opportunity for Richmond employees to connect with leaders from across the division and helped establish our identity.”

Taking the Challenge Beyond Bohler

After a few successful years, Ryan began asking a simple question: if Bohler employees looked forward to the Challenge every year, why wouldn’t clients and industry partners enjoy it too?

Opening the competition to clients, consultants, contractors, and community partners created a new way to build relationships outside of project work while showcasing Bohler’s culture in a fun, memorable setting.

But Ryan saw an opportunity to make the event even more meaningful.

“If we were going to bring the industry together, why not use that platform to create positive change in our community?” he says.

That vision transformed the Bohler Challenge into a charitable event benefiting the Chesterfield Education Foundation.

For Ryan, selecting the organization was deeply personal. Born and raised in Chesterfield County, he now lives there with his wife and three young sons, all of whom will attend Chesterfield County Public Schools. As a member of the Chesterfield Education Foundation’s executive board and chair of its development committee, he has seen firsthand how the organization works to create more equitable educational opportunities for students across the county.

Giving the Bohler Challenge a charitable mission elevated it beyond friendly competition. Every obstacle, every puzzle, and every team crossing the finish line helped support opportunities for students throughout Chesterfield County, proving the event could strengthen relationships while making a lasting impact in the community.

Designing the Experience

Nearly every game started as an idea scribbled into Ryan’s phone while watching Survivor. When inspiration strikes, he imagines how the challenge could work in real life, then heads to his garage to build it himself.

“My driveway ends up covered in sawdust,” he laughs. “I’m surprised my HOA hasn’t called me yet.”

Each year, Ryan challenged himself to create one or two signature experiences that participants would never forget. Giant mazes. Slingshots. Fire-building challenges. Precision obstacles.

The creativity has paid off, sparking conversations far beyond Richmond. Ryan recalls attending industry conferences where professionals from other states recognized the Bohler Challenge from LinkedIn and wanted to learn how it came together.

“It became an icebreaker,” he says. “People wanted to hear the story behind it.”

A Reflection of Bohler’s Culture

While Ryan creates the games, the Bohler Challenge has always been a team effort. The Richmond office comes together to set up the courses, run each challenge, keep score, emcee the event, and break everything down when the day is done.

“It’s a great example of what we’re capable of when everyone has a role and works toward the same goal,” Ryan says.

That collaboration has become a reflection of the Richmond office itself. And over time, the tradition has grown to include employees’ families, with spouses even forming their own competition teams and Ryan’s children lending a hand throughout the day.

For Ryan, that’s one of the event’s greatest successes.

“If we’re proud of where we work and what we do, why wouldn’t we want to share that with the people who matter most to us?”

The Next Chapter

Ryan plans to bring the Challenge to Bohler offices across the MidAtlantic Division as an internal team-building experience, using the same creativity and friendly competition to strengthen relationships among employees. At the same time, his commitment to the Chesterfield Education Foundation will continue through board leadership, fundraising, and future mentoring opportunities for local students.

In many ways, it’s a natural evolution. What began as an internal Thanksgiving tradition grew into a community-wide fundraiser. Now, the lessons it created — about teamwork, creativity, and building connections — will return to where they started: helping Bohler’s people come together.