Chad Youngquist, founder of Summit Builder Alliance, has spent 30+ years in the homebuilding industry. 21 of those years were spent owning and operating his own company. But let’s back up a bit.

In 1996, while at community college, he job-shadowed an architect thinking that was his path. He had drawn floor plans since he was about six years old, so it seemed natural. At the end of his first job shadow day, the architect asked, “Well, have I talked you out of being an architect?” Chad was bored out of his mind and realized a desk job wasn’t in the cards. His college counselor said, “Central Washington University has a great Construction Management program. Maybe that’s more your speed.” Yes, that was definitely more his speed.

Upon hearing this, a friend and local developer/spec builder reached out to Chad, and hired him to handle permitting for all their projects. Office job, but on the right track.

Chad graduated from CWU in 1999 with a CM degree. He worked through college breaks and summers for the builder that gave him his first shot, then went full time into project management for that same company in June of ‘99. During his tenure there, he worked on multi-family, light industrial concrete tilt-ups and tenant improvements (boss’s pet project), residential land development, and single family spec homes.

In 2004, life changed radically. Chad’s wife Jamie underwent brain surgery to have a tumor removed from her ear canal. While Jamie not only survived, but flourished post-surgery, the fragility of life rocked Chad and Jamie hard. He quit his job, they moved across the state (WA), and alongside Chad’s father, Jon, they started their own company, Pillar Development, January of 2005.

Their first year in business, they closed on 20 spec homes. They were off to the races. Chad found a lot of success in the early years of business ownership. Then the market crashed in 2008, sending most builders, including them, into a tailspin. Creative solutions weren’t just a great idea, they were a necessity. Chad decided to branch out and start remodeling - something he had only done as a kid with his dad on his parents’ home. He also built his first couple custom homes in that season (something he swore he would never do).

Then in 2009, Chad accompanied his father on a mission trip to Mexico to build a house for an underprivileged family. That trip had a massive impact on Chad. Struggling with the economy and lack of home sales, it was a huge perspective shift seeing how others in the world lived with very little, yet content. Then the unthinkable happened. Chad will tell you what came next was not him. In fact he resisted it. But nevertheless, the good Lord had different plans. Late spring of 2009, Chad and his father committed to build a home in Mexico, for free, for every home they built for profit in Washington. They started a non-profit called Home for Home Program. To date, more than 100 homes have been built in Mexico and Haiti as a result - radically outpacing the one-to-one model they started with.

Chad hung on to his and his father’s vision for Pillar Development until 2012, learning a lot (the hard way) about what it takes to keep a company alive in the worst environment. Jon eventually retired to focus more energy on Mexico. Exhausted, in 2013, Chad decided to pause and go to work for a heavy civil contractor. There he put his land development skills to good use, and managed one of the most interesting jobs he’s ever been a part of. He managed about $26M in earthwork contracts for one data center alone. But… he wasn’t happy with the fact that in heavy civil, you bury almost everything you build. Feast or famine, he wanted to be back doing what he loved - building houses.

In 2015, Chad pivoted Pillar Development to strictly custom homes and remodels. Custom homes gave him a level of satisfaction that was much different than spec homes. He would always say, “I get to wake up every morning and build something I’ve never built before.” Client relationships were different. Architects and designers were heavily involved. There were RFIs and change orders, and delicately crafted contracts. It was a radically different animal - one that fascinated him. In 2017, a client came to him and said, “I don’t have an architect. Is that something you can do?” Chad flash-backed to being six years old. “Yes, I can do that.” So Pillar Development became a design-build contractor. For almost a decade, 80% of the custom homes they built were designed by Chad.

At the end of 2025, Chad and Jamie were faced with a tough decision. Their 18 year old autistic son was promised a job in North Idaho. This was an incredible opportunity, and an incredible blessing. But their son was not independent. Making this dream come true for them and their son would require a move. Instead of starting over in a new location, Chad decided to take a job for another builder in N Idaho. But two things quickly became clear - he couldn’t leave the community of family and friends he had gained over the previous 20 years, and going from a business owner to an employee is not as easy as it sounds. But he and Jamie still needed a presence each week in Idaho to tend to their son.

With the need to be mobile, but not being willing to leave the industry he loves, and a passion for helping others, Chad decided it was time to share his decades of homebuilding business experience with other builders. Instead of building homes, he turned his attention to helping build home building businesses that provide financial freedom and peace of mind for not only the owners, but everyone involved.

Summit Builder Alliance was born. Chad and Jamie now split time between central Washington where they call home and N Idaho tending to their son. Whether you’re in the PNW, or anywhere else in the country, Summit Builder Alliance has a heart to serve and see others flourish.