Construction Equipment Owner

Great to see everyone at NPE in Charlotte, from old friends to those first-timers I met in the halls. A great group of contractors (and exhibitors) despite the economy, which certainly had an impact on attendance. But that didn’t dampen enthusiasm for the program or activity on the exhibit floor.

What became fairly obvious early on was that contractor owners and supervisors — the decision makers — showed up in force but they didn’t bring as many people from their crews as they often do. But these folks were serious. Many took the full slate or near the full slate of sessions — they came for information and the buzz in the hallways was they got it.

And when contractors moved to the exhibit floor they provided the exhibitors with what they wanted and needed: quality contacts. While I don’t know (and wouldn’t release if I did) how each exhibitor did over the show, I can tell you that as a rule the exhibitors did pretty well. I know that by the end of Day 1 there were at least 21 equipment sales, and one exhibitor told me the first day “made the show for them.” And materials and service providers faired just as well by the end of the third day.

More updates to come, but thanks to all who attended, to the speakers who presented, and to the exhibitors who took the time to talk with me on the floor.

Fights, disagreements, arguments or whatever you want to call them happen on a job site. This is just a common fact. But the real test of your leadership and overall work environment is what comes out of these conflicts. If it’s just hurt feelings and a lower work morale, well then you’ve got a problem. But if this conflict results in creative thinking, problem solving and an overall betterment of a project, then you’ve got something special on your hands.

Trust me though, this is no easy task ensuring that good will come from conflict that will inevitably arise. To discuss how to start turning the ship around is Lynne Eisaguirre. Lynne has appeared as a workplace expert on CNN Headline News, Bloomberg TV, ABC News and many other media sources and is joining the Construction Business Podcast to share how you can create an environment that consists of conflict and play.

Guest:

Lynne Eisaguirre
Link: www.workplacesthatwork.com
Contact:lynne@workplacesthatwork.com

 Creating a Culture that Fosters Both Conflict and Play [6:57m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (384)

Many of you have probably heard of all the “shovel ready” projects that were awaiting funds. Now that the Economic Stimulus plan has been signed into law and these Federal funds are beginning to reach the states, these projects should be ready to begin. In order to track these projects that State and local officials proposed to be funded with the Federal stimulus funds a website was created. Here you can find a state-by-state breakdown of the proposed projects.

What may be of most interest on this website is the ability to vote on if a project is critical or not. But it certainly is a great resource that lists all of the projects and provides knowledge about the proposed “shovel-ready” projects in your city, to find, discuss and rate those projects.

The benefits of conducting one-on-one meetings with your key employees was detailed in Les McKeown’s article “When Is Your Next Key Employee Going To Leave?”

So how do you have effective one-on-one meetings and take advantage of this valuable employee retention technique? We brought Les back to the Construction Business Podcast to explain. In this episode Les talks about how to have one-on-one meetings, what to talk about and what the take-away value should be.

Guest:

Les McKeown, President & CEO - Predictable Success
Click here to contact Predictable Success

 High-Quality Employee Retention [11:31m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (340)

Just about ready to call it a day here in the office of Pavement Maintenance & Reconstruction before I head off to National Pavement Expo in Charlotte, NC. We’ve got a heckuva program with quite a few new speakers — and more than half of the topics are new ones. So if you’re debating whether or not you should attend, my vote is to hop in the car or get on a flight and come on down. And if you do make to Charlotte make sure to stop by and let me know how your business looks for 2009. I will be spending most of my time (when I’m not on the exhibit floor) in Room 206 at the Charlotte Convention Center. If you can’t make it this year just drop a note here and let me know what you expect from the upcoming season. Hope to see you at NPE!

It’s not too often we think of construction equipment as being graceful; maybe it takes an artist to think that way for us. That’s not to say operators can’t handle big (and small) machines with finesse — they sure can. And folks not familiar with construction who have a chance to witness the goings-on at a jobsite are often amazed by what operators can make their equipment do. Credit the operators, of course, and credit the equipment manufacturers as well because their machines are so responsive. Thanks to Robert Liles, Robert Liles Parking Lot Service, we can all watch an extreme example of Big Machines Dancing. (By the way, Robert’s site has what is probably the industry’s best and most-visited discussion forum in the industry.)

In an effort to drum up support for his stimulus package President Barack Obama made a point of visiting a home-state plant for Caterpillar Inc., which has announced plans to lay off 22,000 people worldwide. It was a photo op for the President — and a video op for Cygnus Business Media which obtained credentials and sent a ForConstructionPros.com website team to Peoria, IL, to film the event. Click here to hear his unedited speech.

Yesterday, ForConstructionPros.com, an online sister publication to Concrete Contractor, attended President Barack Obama’s speech at the Caterpillar facility in East Peoria, Ill. President Obama addressed the employees at Cat about the construction economy and the importance of the economic stimulus bill. You can view the President’s comments at the ForConstructionPros.com Video Network and also Caterpillar Chairman and CEO Jim Owens’ comments to the media.

It’s been a crazy couple of days for those in the construction industry. Yesterday, President Obama stopped by a Caterpillar manufacturing complex to discuss the importance of the economic stimulus bill with a group of Cat employees.

Jim Owens, Caterpillar Chairman and CEO, followed that address up and commented on the economic stimulus package focusing a bit more on the affect it will have on the construction industry. He also touched on the need for a global economic stimulus effort as well as the announcement that Cat will be laying off around 22,000 employees world wide.

Then just a few moments ago, word came down that the House passed the stimulus bill.

Following the news of the House’s passage (despite no GOP backing) AEM and ARTBA provided great information with highlights of the stimulus package as it pertains to the construction industry.

In a previous entry I mentioned the value of attending National Pavement Expo, suggesting that contractors who don’t attend are missing an opportunity to develop their business. This week, while conducting interviews for an article for March/April Pavement, I ran across another specific example of how NPE has helped a contractor.

I was talking with Nick Howell, president of T&N Asphalt Services in Utah, about steps contractors can take in this tough economy to help find more work. Nick, who is also current president of the National Pavement Contractors Association, gave me a number of good ideas (you have to wait until the March issue hits to read them) but he also stressed that contractors should attend National Pavement Expo.

“I can give you a perfect example in just one class,” Nick told me. “Understanding Pavement Defects. I’ve probably taken that course 15 times over the last 15 years and that one class has probably gotten us more work in the long run because I could go out and talk to customers and explain what the problem is and why it’s happening and how to fix it. That one class has helped us win jobs, helped us do a better job, and has helped us appear very professional.”

Only a couple more days to pre-register for National Pavement Expo, Feb. 18-21 in Charlotte, NC. Hope to see you there.