Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: That's exactly transparent. And I think that's what I've learned, too, over the time is gcs. I just want you to be transparent. Like, if. If you messed up, you messed up. Just, you know, acknowledge it, take it. You know, that's how we're moving forward, right?
[00:00:11] Speaker B: That's exactly right. We're one big team. And I feel like, you know, especially early when I started, you kind of had a lot of, like, segregation, almost like, you know, project managers, you know, they were all by themselves, and then estimators, and then you had the field superintendents, and everybody would point fingers at each other, and it's not like that anymore. Everybody's worked together to be that same mindset.
[00:00:32] Speaker C: Right.
[00:00:32] Speaker B: That team mentality to get in and get it done.
[00:00:46] Speaker A: Well, Matt, thank you for coming on board today. You know, we wanted to bring you on and talk a little bit more about your history and construction Moss, and, you know, a little bit more about yourself.
[00:00:56] Speaker B: Absolutely. Thanks for having me.
[00:00:57] Speaker A: Absolutely. How did you get started in construction, man?
[00:01:01] Speaker B: So I've had a lot of family members in construction, so I always, always felt that pull, like, to get into construction always fascinated me.
[00:01:09] Speaker C: Right.
[00:01:09] Speaker B: I worked a few summers with my dad on the field, and, you know, when I graduated college, it was. It was, you know, time to find a job. I was already married. I got married at 20. Oh, wow. And so I needed to find something real. I had a health background and really felt the pull into construction.
So I started just applying for work and, you know, used my resources. My grandfather was a custom home builder. My uncle worked at Potter Concrete. Still works at Potter Concrete.
[00:01:36] Speaker A: That's a big concrete company.
[00:01:37] Speaker C: It is, yeah.
[00:01:38] Speaker B: And I've got, you know, a couple uncles that are. I got an uncle that's an electrical engineer and an uncle that's an electrician. My dad's a vice president for electrical company here in Dallas.
So I just. I felt that pull. But I always wanted to go and kind of do my own thing. Not really go work for my dad, but, you know, create my own career at my own opportunities.
[00:01:57] Speaker A: Absolutely.
[00:01:58] Speaker B: So I started applying and had a couple job offers on the table to go work in the GC route and just wasn't really interested in the GC route. And. Because I'd always seen my dad, you know, with the gcs, and he's a sub.
[00:02:10] Speaker A: As a trade partner.
[00:02:11] Speaker B: As a trade partner, exactly. And so I. I chose that route.
[00:02:14] Speaker C: Right.
[00:02:15] Speaker B: And. And started in wet utilities.
Started over there as like, a junior estimator. Kind of. Kind of worked My way around. And after around five and a half, six years, you know, I worked. I did estimating and operations over there.
[00:02:28] Speaker A: Yeah, so. So you started off. Was that here in Texas or. Because I know you're from. From Chicago, right?
[00:02:33] Speaker B: That is correct. Originally from Chicago. Moved here in the. The late 90s.
My dad actually was, you know, general superintendent in Chicago. Came out here for a startup company, electrical startup company.
It wasn't. It was late 90s and.
[00:02:51] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:02:51] Speaker A: I mean, how old were you when you moved down here?
[00:02:55] Speaker B: Eight or nine.
[00:02:56] Speaker A: Eight or nine?
[00:02:56] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:02:57] Speaker B: Eight or nine.
[00:02:58] Speaker A: And so then you started doing utility work? Working for a utility contractor.
But you started off there as a.
[00:03:05] Speaker B: PM No, I started off as a junior estimator. I started off in estimating. So I had.
I had a guy there, his name was Scott. He really, you know, good mentor of mine, still to this day, still call him. You know, he really poured into me, showed me how to estimate.
Had a buddy Nick, that worked there that would bring me out into the field, show me how, you know, how all the guys put everything together, how they really set their production goals and things like that.
[00:03:29] Speaker A: You know what I've noticed is a pretty big trend on construction in general is like, I feel like 90 of the time, it's always like someone who knew someone, right. Like a family member or like a cousin or uncle, you know. Like, we've had a lot of these guys that, you know, that work here that they knew someone.
[00:03:46] Speaker C: Right.
[00:03:46] Speaker A: Like, Gary Garrett's dad was like, this is bread and butter, you know?
[00:03:49] Speaker C: Right.
[00:03:50] Speaker A: It's like, you know, you know, Reuben, you start out in the field, and there's Parker, who started out in the field. And it's always like someone who, you know, that always start off in the field.
[00:04:01] Speaker C: Right.
[00:04:01] Speaker A: You know. You miss Chicago at all?
[00:04:04] Speaker C: Not much.
[00:04:05] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:04:06] Speaker A: I got one question, though. I got one question.
[00:04:07] Speaker C: Yeah, what you got?
[00:04:08] Speaker A: What's up with the bean, though? Like, I. I've never. I've heard of it.
[00:04:10] Speaker B: The big silver bean.
[00:04:11] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:04:11] Speaker A: What's. What's the story behind it?
[00:04:13] Speaker B: Couldn't tell you.
[00:04:13] Speaker A: Couldn't tell you.
[00:04:14] Speaker B: Couldn't tell you. I just know a lot of people like to go and get their picture.
[00:04:18] Speaker A: Taken in front of for some reason. I've never known why. I've had family members go over there and it's just all I hear is the bean and pizza.
[00:04:25] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:04:25] Speaker A: So I'm like, pizza's good. Pizza's good.
[00:04:27] Speaker B: Pizza's good.
[00:04:28] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:04:28] Speaker B: Definitely miss the pizza.
[00:04:29] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:04:30] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:04:30] Speaker A: You still have family out there?
[00:04:31] Speaker B: I do all My dad's side of the family still lives out there. All my mom's side of the family relocated down here.
[00:04:36] Speaker A: So is your wife from over there as well?
[00:04:37] Speaker B: No, my wife's actually from Dallas.
[00:04:39] Speaker A: Oh, okay.
[00:04:40] Speaker B: Yeah, we met here.
[00:04:41] Speaker A: Nice, Nice, nice, nice.
[00:04:43] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:04:43] Speaker A: So when did you start here at Moss?
[00:04:45] Speaker B: I started at Moss in late summer of 2021, like, pretty much towards the end of COVID but still right in the thick of it, man.
[00:04:54] Speaker A: Do not miss it.
[00:04:55] Speaker B: Do not miss it. The material shortages were insane. Labor shortages, all the rules. I mean, it was. That was a tough time to be a project manager, to be in the field.
[00:05:06] Speaker A: Yeah, they're. They're, you know, hitting you up for.
[00:05:09] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. I mean, it was, you know, it was greatly impacting production.
[00:05:12] Speaker C: Right.
[00:05:13] Speaker B: Because materials were missing all the time, and you'd have to call three or four or five supply houses just to try and find one fitting. And no, sometimes nobody would have it.
[00:05:21] Speaker C: Right.
[00:05:21] Speaker B: Is.
It was tough. It was tough keeping guys busy. They're jumping around on project sites, just, you know, starting on the water, run out of material. Got to go to the storm, run out of material, yelling at vendors because, you know, it was booming too, Right. There was a lot of work going on, so everybody was needing materials.
[00:05:37] Speaker A: Well, it was the same scenario for every other utility contract. Yeah, that's exactly just us. No, it was. Everyone else was fighting to get, you know, material to. To get finish their projects.
[00:05:47] Speaker B: Yeah, that's exactly right.
[00:05:48] Speaker A: What was one of your first projects here like? Very, very first ones.
[00:05:51] Speaker B: My very, very first project was Alcott Station in Mesquite with Panado.
[00:05:57] Speaker C: Yeah, that one.
[00:05:58] Speaker B: That was my very first one.
Trying to remember who the superintendent was. I think it was Gerardo.
[00:06:04] Speaker A: Gerardo.
[00:06:04] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:06:06] Speaker A: Nice.
[00:06:07] Speaker B: Back in 2121 79, were you nervous.
[00:06:10] Speaker A: Working for a, like, newer. Like, new to you contractor? I guess.
[00:06:14] Speaker B: I mean, a little bit, you know, Definitely. Definitely felt like I was taking a risk, you know, leaving where I was comfortable at, you know, being in operations over there, being pretty high up, and kind of starting over as a project manager. But, you know, that company that I came from, they weren't really interested in growing. They were comfortable where they were at, you know, and that's. That's not who I am. I wanted to keep growing, Right. I wanted growth, opportunity. And I had seen everything on LinkedIn about how, you know, moss was growing. You know, you hear things in the industry, you know, you just find out.
[00:06:50] Speaker C: Right.
[00:06:50] Speaker B: And there was an opportunity to. Where I could leave there and come over to Moss and I took a leap of faith and jumped.
[00:06:57] Speaker A: Leap of faith? Yeah. I mean that's sometimes. That's what it is, right? It's that leap of faith. And you know, sometimes they'll try to discourage you and tell you, you know, it's not always greener on the other side. Well, sometimes it is. Look where you at now under, under a green light.
[00:07:10] Speaker B: Yeah, it absolutely was. Yeah, absolutely was that.
[00:07:13] Speaker C: That.
[00:07:13] Speaker A: I've had a similar situation like that where, you know, it's. They tell you it's not always green. I mean, you never know. You're never going to know unless you. You make the leap. So, you know, that's kind of, kind of been my motto too, a little bit.
[00:07:25] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:07:27] Speaker A: So that, that was your first project.
What about a big project that, you know, kind of like you really felt like, you know, you know, no matter how big or small, it's just, you know, it was a big project to you, man.
[00:07:39] Speaker B: So like a big, like an impactful project. Project Photon. It was a chick fil, A distribution, manufacturing and distribution facility.
That one was. It was very complicated. Again, we had some material shortages at the beginning.
There was. There's some really cool stuff about that project that I'd never really done before. Like we had some triple barrel box culvert and some quadruple barrel box culvert that kind of ran into one like U shaped seven barrel head wall. That was really cool going out there, seeing those guys pour that. And it was. It crossed underneath a Union Pacific railroad.
[00:08:13] Speaker C: That.
[00:08:14] Speaker B: That was my first time dealing with the railroad. And that was. That, that was, that was stressful. But it was.
[00:08:19] Speaker A: How was it working with them? Did they. Were they like really.
[00:08:22] Speaker B: Man, they were actually really good. You know, their safety is very high. They have a lot of requirements. Different, you know, had to go and buy the guys all new boots, different vests, different color hard hats, a lot of that stuff. But the inspector that we had, he was very helpful with us and did a great job, you know, recommended a great flagging company come out there anytime train was rolling around.
[00:08:41] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:08:41] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:08:43] Speaker A: Any like, like, like major hiccups that you're like, you know, kind of like, I don't know. This is going to, man.
[00:08:51] Speaker B: Yeah, the, I mean the general contractor, you know, they were, they're a good general contractor. But we did. We had some communication hiccups early on right between our field team, the office, their team.
There was. There were some issues that we had with subcontractors and safety that, you know, had resulted in a few on Site debates.
[00:09:13] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, I think that's. That's gonna happen naturally at every project that we run into now. It's just a matter on who. Who's dealing with it and, you know, how they decide to resolve the issues. Right. Because it's about. We all have the same goal.
You know, the general contractor wants us to finish the project just as much as we do.
[00:09:35] Speaker C: Right, right. Yeah.
[00:09:36] Speaker B: They want to get in, get out, and make their money.
[00:09:38] Speaker A: Exactly, exactly. We want to make money, a good.
[00:09:40] Speaker B: Finished product for their client. Same as we do.
[00:09:42] Speaker A: Exactly, exactly. They want to impact, you know, the people in the field just as much as we want to impact the people in the field.
[00:09:49] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:09:50] Speaker B: And we had those. We had those issues early on. We had those meetings, and I mean, it really turned around. Those meetings were very helpful. They turned around. They actually. Their superintendent kind of retired, and then they brought a new superintendent in who was a much more of a team player than the first one, and it. It really helped turn that project around.
[00:10:07] Speaker A: I think that's a big time when they have a good team player.
[00:10:10] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:10:11] Speaker A: Because they'll. They'll actually, like, if you need to, you know, they'll kind of help you, you know, grab you by the hand and be like, this is. This is what I'm talking about. You know, like, I'm not trying to be rude or, you know, or anything. It's just. This is just what I want to do. Expectations. Right. Be transparent. That's exactly. Be transparent. And I think that's what I've learned, too, over the time is GCS just want you to be transparent. Like, if. If you messed up, you messed up. Just, you know, acknowledge it, take it. You know, let's. How are we moving forward?
[00:10:39] Speaker C: Right, right.
[00:10:40] Speaker B: Yeah. Just own it and come up with a plan and move forward.
[00:10:43] Speaker A: So how long were you a project manager for? Right now? Because you're a project executive.
[00:10:48] Speaker B: That is correct. I'm a project executive. So when I started at Moss, it was about 11, 12 months, and I got promoted to a senior project manager.
Had a. Had a. Had a team underneath me. I still managed projects at that time, and so I still would take on some of the bigger, more complicated projects or like a new customer that we were really trying to make an impression with. And I would take those on, and I still had four project managers that I was responsible for and making sure that their projects were properly executed and make sure that the field felt supported.
[00:11:20] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:11:21] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:11:22] Speaker A: So how long was that before you.
[00:11:24] Speaker B: Got promoted to senior to exec? Yeah, probably another Year and a half.
[00:11:31] Speaker A: Another year.
[00:11:31] Speaker B: About a year and a half.
[00:11:32] Speaker A: And that comes with all the growth.
[00:11:35] Speaker B: And that comes with a lot of the growth. I mean, just the opportunities that we've had. We tried the two division thing and then, you know, now one big project management team.
[00:11:45] Speaker A: I kind of. I can see why a division can work, but I think that's like.
I don't know, I think everybody needs to be under the same.
[00:11:55] Speaker B: And I agree with that.
[00:11:56] Speaker A: I'm not. I'm not on the PM side of things or anything. I just kind of see it from the outside and, you know, work with you guys when. When I need to or y' all need me.
[00:12:03] Speaker C: Right.
[00:12:03] Speaker A: Vice versa.
[00:12:04] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:12:04] Speaker A: But it's just like I. I see Moss more of like, as a whole, like, we're just one big team.
[00:12:11] Speaker B: That's exactly right. We're one big team. And I feel like, you know, especially early when I started, you kind of had a lot of, like, segregation, almost like, you know, project managers, you know, they were all by themselves, and then estimators, and then you had the field superintendents, and everybody would point fingers at each other. And it's not like that anymore.
[00:12:29] Speaker C: Right.
[00:12:29] Speaker B: That was way early on.
Changed a lot of leadership. Everybody's worked together to be that same mindset.
[00:12:36] Speaker C: Right.
[00:12:36] Speaker B: That team mentality to get in and get it done.
[00:12:39] Speaker A: Yeah. So you've. You've talked about a little bit of the impactful projects, right? So have there been any, like, you know, impact or like, you know, superintendents or performance that you've worked with that you're like, you know, hey, this. This guy's, you know, like, I like working with this guy, you know, man.
[00:12:58] Speaker B: Honestly, I like working with all the superintendents we have. You know, there's. There's not really a superintendent that, that I'm like, oh, man, not this guy again.
[00:13:05] Speaker C: Right.
[00:13:05] Speaker B: You know, everybody. We have a good, strong team. Everybody's communication has improved. You know, Know, a lot of the guys, especially the PMs and the superintendents, were all young.
[00:13:15] Speaker C: Right.
[00:13:15] Speaker B: It's a very young company. And so everyone's growing and learning as we go.
[00:13:19] Speaker C: Right.
[00:13:20] Speaker B: And so.
[00:13:22] Speaker A: And then there's Shane.
There's Shade.
Shane. Shane and his concrete guys.
[00:13:29] Speaker B: Shane and his concrete.
[00:13:30] Speaker A: No, he has a.
He. He said it before. His love for those guys, you know, I think that's kind of. It kind of like it brings them home, I guess, or. I don't know. I don't know how to explain it. But he likes his concrete guys.
[00:13:42] Speaker C: I don't know.
[00:13:43] Speaker A: Yeah, I Think it would be not likes him too.
[00:13:45] Speaker C: Oh, yeah.
[00:13:45] Speaker B: So, yeah, Urban is jam.
[00:13:47] Speaker A: Yeah, I know. I feel the same way about the superintendents. I know that we have some, some different faces.
[00:13:51] Speaker C: Right.
[00:13:52] Speaker A: But what I found out with, you know, working with superintendent, I mean, everyone at Moss is like, if you're there to help them, they're going to want to help you.
[00:14:01] Speaker B: You know, that's exactly.
[00:14:03] Speaker A: Don't get into the whole, like. Like you said, start pointing fingers.
[00:14:05] Speaker B: No, don't point fingers. Don't throw people under the bus. I mean, work together as a team. You know, people are going to make mistakes. You know, just get together and figure it out. Own it.
[00:14:13] Speaker C: Right.
[00:14:13] Speaker B: Big on accountability. So own your mistake and then ask for help and get it done. Yeah, get executed.
[00:14:19] Speaker A: Exactly, exactly. So estimator pm, senior pm, project executive.
You know, where do you see your role, you know, impacting, you know, operations or the fields and, you know, how these projects get executed.
[00:14:36] Speaker B: Yeah. So, you know, right now the biggest thing for me is really we're. We've got a lot of young guys and so I was fortunate. I said earlier I had a lot of good mentors early in my career and, and I strive to be a good mentor for these guys. And so pouring into. To our younger generation of, of talent here that we have.
[00:14:55] Speaker C: Right.
[00:14:56] Speaker B: Pouring into them, showing them good communication skills, leadership skills, you know, how to run a project efficiently, just really pushing them to, to be better.
[00:15:06] Speaker C: Right.
[00:15:07] Speaker A: Yeah, I think, I think mentorship, like you said early on, right. You had good mentors. Now you want to strive to be that.
[00:15:12] Speaker B: I want to be that guy. That's exactly right. I want to be.
[00:15:14] Speaker A: I think that's their guy. Big. Because like, if, you know, let's say if I were to be an APM or whatever and you weren't a good mentor, like, you know, I have to, you know, kind of beat around the bush about, you know, helping me. You know, on the other hand, if you're a good mentor, you know, want to help me, you know, like, I'm not going to be afraid to ask questions either, you know, so just, you know, I need help with this, I need help with that. So.
[00:15:35] Speaker B: Yeah, and it's, yeah. Needing help asking questions, asking good questions and then just, you know, sitting down and let's just go through everything. Like, I know sometimes people get a little frustrated because I'm going to go through their book or I'm like, hey, show me your takeoff. But it's to actually help you improve.
[00:15:48] Speaker C: Right.
[00:15:49] Speaker B: Because I'm gonna, I'm Gonna catch things that you probably missed.
[00:15:52] Speaker C: Right, right.
[00:15:52] Speaker B: And so I want to make sure that, one, we're protecting the company, but two, I'm showing you so that you don't miss it the second time.
[00:15:57] Speaker A: Yeah, right, exactly. That's kind of what I like also about Moss is how young everyone is.
[00:16:03] Speaker C: I know.
[00:16:04] Speaker A: It's. It's. It's really, you know, it's pretty impressive if you think about it, because even if you look at out in the field, there's a lot of young guys, too. Like, even the superintendents, a lot of them are young.
[00:16:15] Speaker B: A lot of the superintendents, a lot of our foremans are young.
[00:16:17] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:16:19] Speaker A: You know, they're young. And the way I see it is that those guys are going to want to keep growing.
[00:16:25] Speaker C: Right.
[00:16:25] Speaker A: Constant growth, you know, one of our core values.
[00:16:27] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely.
[00:16:28] Speaker A: And bringing in those young guys, it already is hard enough, right, to bring in new guys to want to come work in construction. I mean, it just is what it is. You know, not that many people, you know, want to come into construction.
[00:16:39] Speaker B: I think that's.
[00:16:39] Speaker A: Or don't think of it. Right.
[00:16:41] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:16:42] Speaker A: You know, it's kind of like. Like Dave.
[00:16:43] Speaker C: Right.
[00:16:43] Speaker A: You know, it's like, you know, I tell him, I was like, hey, do you ever tell people, you know, you work in construction? You know, it's a little different.
[00:16:48] Speaker C: Right.
[00:16:49] Speaker A: So I don't know, I think it's pretty cool to be able to say, you know, you work in construction, there's more to it than just, you know, a shovel in the ground.
[00:16:58] Speaker B: No, that's exactly right.
[00:17:00] Speaker A: You know, we've talked about it in previous podcasts that, you know, ditch diggers, they always, you know, tended in some times, use it in negative connotations, like you're going to be addicted, you know? You know, I want to do that. I want to.
[00:17:14] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:17:15] Speaker B: You know, want to make an impact on your community and the finished product at the end, you know?
[00:17:19] Speaker A: Yeah. Turn on the water.
[00:17:20] Speaker B: Yeah, that's exactly right. People don't understand, you know, where that water comes from. A lot of people don't, you know. Yeah, but water is necessary. Sanitary is necessary. Storm drain is necessary.
[00:17:31] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah.
[00:17:32] Speaker A: You know, a little. Little bit off topic, but have you seen that? There's a Netflix.
I think it's like a documentary or series of that cruise ship that overflowed.
I don't know if you've seen that.
[00:17:44] Speaker B: I haven't seen it yet. No, no, I was.
[00:17:45] Speaker A: You have to. Yeah, it's called. It's called, like, poop decked or Something like that.
[00:17:49] Speaker C: Oh, my gosh.
[00:17:52] Speaker A: They lost power and, like, the, like, the boat was, like, overflowing with, like, sewer.
[00:17:58] Speaker C: So, yeah, it's.
[00:17:59] Speaker A: It's kind of funny. They had no water. They had nothing.
[00:18:02] Speaker B: No, as you said, it's Netflix.
[00:18:03] Speaker A: It's on Netflix.
[00:18:04] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:18:04] Speaker A: I don't have to look a little off topic. A little off topic.
[00:18:06] Speaker B: That's okay.
[00:18:07] Speaker A: You know, I think. I think your impact here at Moss has been, you know, everybody knows who Matt center is.
[00:18:12] Speaker C: Right.
[00:18:13] Speaker A: And I think, you know, building relationships with clients. How does that look with you, man?
[00:18:20] Speaker B: Great question. So, I mean, that's. That's something here, you know, that's really important to Moss, right, Is relationships. You know, we want to be relationship driven. We want to be customer service oriented. And so, you know, by doing that, you know, taking guys to lunch, asking them for feedback, you know, just meeting with customers and vendors and developers, just. Just talking with them, you know, it always doesn't have to be about work. Just getting to know them a little personally and, you know, take some guys out to golf and just, you know, mess around a little bit.
[00:18:47] Speaker A: I think that's what makes it. Makes us a little different. Right? Is that what I've noticed is that taking out the client is more than just, you know, wanting to keep, you know, doing work within.
[00:18:56] Speaker C: Right.
[00:18:57] Speaker A: The money aspect of. Right, right.
[00:18:58] Speaker C: It's.
[00:18:58] Speaker A: It's what Garrett preaches is the relationships. Right. We want relationships. Good relationships.
[00:19:02] Speaker B: We want good relationships.
[00:19:04] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:19:04] Speaker A: And so, you know, go taking them out to eat or, you know, she's been going golfing, that kind of takes that next step.
[00:19:12] Speaker C: Right.
[00:19:13] Speaker A: And building that relationship with them. So, I mean, it's a good.
[00:19:17] Speaker B: Yeah, it does. And I mean, that's. That's. It's a really important, you know, part of the role. You know, we have business development, but.
Or business development department, but, you know, business development is really an all hands on deck kind of thing. You know, business development's done in the field too.
[00:19:31] Speaker C: Right. When the.
[00:19:32] Speaker B: When the foreman and the crews are busting their butts and, you know, making great progress on a project and being super safe and great communication. You know, superintendents for the general contractors, they love that, man. That's word of mouth stuff right there.
[00:19:46] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. It always feels good whenever, you know, they have, you know, the crew of the week or the champion of the week. And at the end of the day, it's the guys that are putting utilities in the ground that it feels good. It really does. Because it. That means that, you know, from the top Down. It's working. Something's working.
[00:20:03] Speaker C: Right? Right.
[00:20:04] Speaker A: Whatever it is, it's working.
So that's, that's kind of my thoughts on that. You know, I like, I like the field guys getting praised.
[00:20:10] Speaker B: I do too. Yeah, they're the ones. I mean, that's, that's one of the big things that we're focusing on right now within project management.
[00:20:16] Speaker C: Right.
[00:20:16] Speaker B: Is, is how do we get better about getting everything that we can for the field before the project starts so that they are set up for success.
[00:20:25] Speaker C: Yeah, right.
[00:20:26] Speaker B: Because if they're set up for success, if they're not missing material or missing on RFIs, you know, change orders are out there pending, things like that, you know, they can just, they can do what they do good. And that's lay pipe, Right?
[00:20:39] Speaker A: Very well said.
Do. They're doing what they're good at doing and that's install utilities, right?
[00:20:47] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:20:47] Speaker B: If we're, if we're pushing hard and we're grinding on our end, because we know they're grinding on their end, you know, and if we can have everything prepared, set them up for success.
[00:20:57] Speaker A: If you could give, you know, early on guy, you know, in college or even out in the field a message to like, pursue their career in construction, what would you tell them?
[00:21:10] Speaker B: Be ready to grind.
[00:21:11] Speaker A: Be ready to grind.
[00:21:12] Speaker B: Be ready to grind. Be ready to grind.
[00:21:13] Speaker A: Yeah, I can see, I can see.
[00:21:15] Speaker B: It'S a lot of work. So I mean, we have this saying in the PM department. Like, we work hard, but we play hard.
[00:21:20] Speaker C: Yeah. Right.
[00:21:20] Speaker B: You know, this, the, the culture here is not like any other company that I've ever been at.
[00:21:25] Speaker C: Right.
[00:21:25] Speaker B: And so we do work hard, we do have high expectations, we do hold people accountable, but we also have fun.
[00:21:30] Speaker C: Yeah, right.
[00:21:31] Speaker A: I like that. I think you're gonna have to get that in grief somewhere.
[00:21:33] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:21:34] Speaker A: Be ready to grind.
[00:21:35] Speaker B: Be ready to grind.
[00:21:36] Speaker A: Be ready to.
Sam.
