KAST Construction Names Sean Ouellette CEO as Mike Neal Steps Back

Sean Ouellette will succeed Mike Neal as CEO of KAST Construction in December, completing a handoff that leaves eight senior executives with full ownership of the Florida contractor.

Ouellette is currently KAST’s president and COO. Neal says the succession plan began in early 2023. When he joined the West Palm Beach company in 2010, annual revenue was about $50 million. In 2025, it reached $702.5 million.

Six of the partners are the top two leaders in each main office:

The other two are Ouellette and Jim Rhinehart, who leads market diversification.

Neal says the setup reinforces discipline in picking projects. A client building in Miami works with an office led by two shareholders, and the job has to fit: the right margins, the right contract and the right risk profile.

Ouellette has 26 years in the industry and joined KAST in 2016 to launch its Tampa office. As COO, he spent two and a half years modernizing accounting, HR, IT, operations and preconstruction.

He says KAST had invested heavily in project teams, but rapid growth left its back office in need of support.

KAST is still heavily concentrated in residential, Neal says, but Rhinehart has spent roughly three years developing nonresidential work. Per the company:

Neal’s goal is 25% to 30%, moving KAST into markets that may be countercyclical to its private work.

Neal, who says he’s “already retired twice,” plans to stay available to help Ouellette. Apparently stepping back and stepping away are two different jobs.