About Wil McKnight

I’m a writer and third-generation publisher, primarily in the areas of supervisory training, vocational education, and work study. I’ve been at this for a long time — starting at the age of ten by counting out and filling orders for outline maps at McKnight Publishing Company. I’ve lived in Normal, IL, Pittsburgh (Carnegie Tech), New York City, Palo Alto (Stanford), Bloomington, IL — and now Los Angeles. I create the books, write, edit & design them, and see that they're printed & on the shelf. And, I do those other things that usually fall to the one whose name is on the door.

Cheryl Kelley is a CPA and a graduate of Eastern Illinois University. She keeps the books and turns out a stack of financial reports every now & then so we know how we’re doing. She generally keeps everything organized and together. Cheryl lives in Bloomington, IL.

My first connection to construction came in 1970, when McKnight Publishing Company won the right to publish an innovative junior high school course called The World of Construction. WOC was vocational education's innovative entry in the post-Sputnik educational curriculum and the only VocEd program that went national. Between 1970 and the mid-80s, more than a million junior high students took this one-year course instead of the traditional "shop" class. Many of today’s journeymen, foremen, field superintendents, project managers, and owners were introduced to the construction industry through The World of Construction.

In 1975, The Associated General Contractors of America asked McKnight Publishing Company to publish & launch its STP Supervisory Training Program. Over the next five years, AGC developed eleven 25-hour courses and we edited, designed, published & marketed them nationwide. Later, as Wil McKnight Associates, Cheryl and I — with Mary Kamplain — published the STP Program from 1989 until mid-2002. During that fourteen year period, STP sales tripled , we handled over a dozen revisions of the eleven STP courses, and — with Tom McCrackin — wrote, edited & published Heavy/Highway Construction Supervisor, a 25-hour course designed specifically for foremen in that segment of the industry.

In 1996, I wrote and published Stepping Up To Supervisor, a self-study book for new foremen and people who aspired to become a foreman. I’ve updated & expanded it twice & it's the Third Edition now. A special version for the United Brotherhood of Carpenters & Joiners followed in 1998 (with two later updated revisions), and then in 2002 we published Ascienda a supervisor, a Spanish edition of Stepping Up and a Leader’s Guide that enables people to use both books in a series of 2-6 hour workshops. In 2001, I wrote A Positive Attitude: Your #1 Asset, a self-study book for anyone — field or office — who works in any segment of construction. 

We’re small, but we have a clear focus and we’ve been at this for quite a while. We hope that the quality of our books reflects sharp insight into important ideas & skills that can help people in construction be more successful — and feel good about the work they do. Always, we try to stay nimble & respond with the best customer service possible. But in end, the books are what we send to you — and they have to stand on their own. 

 We hope you feel that our books contribute to your success. Thanks for your interest. And to our many repeat customers — thanks for your continued support!