Concrete Leadership & Jobsite Excellence

Part of the For Construction Pros PACER Awards, the Jobsite Excellence award recognizes outstanding workers on the jobsite whose leadership and work ethic set a strong example companywide.

Concrete Contractor is proud to announce Dan Baker, superintendent at Industrial Constructors / Managers (ICM) Inc., as a recipient of a Jobsite Excellence Award of the 2025 For Construction Pros PACER Awards.

Q. Tell me about the concrete side of Industrial Constructors/Managers Inc. What is the company’s history? Specialties?

Dan Baker, center left.Industrial Constructors / Managers Inc.ICM has been around for over 40 years. They got started at the steel mill primarily in Pueblo, Colorado. I worked for them for a short time as an apprentice, then as a journeyman in 2013. I’ve been with them since.

The first project I worked on with them was at the Martin Drake Power Plant. They were doing a couple of scrubber units, and it was a ton of concrete. I was fortunate to work with some great guys. A lot of those guys aren't around anymore — they retired, and some passed away. I miss a lot of those guys. 

That's one thing I miss, the leadership team that I worked with and to some extent still do, they're great guys. They've got decades of experience and are easy to work with. We help each other out. 

Q. What was the transition from journeyman to your role as superintendent like?

It wasn't an instant change; there are stepping stones along the way. Your experience and your skill set develop, and you go where you can make the most difference. You don’t really think about it in terms of one giant leap.

I still get out and work with the guys as much as I can. I don't ever want to be disconnected from what goes on — actually putting the work together. 

Q. On the concrete side of ICM at least, how has the team dealt with the retirement and those people leaving with all their experience? How have you worked through that?

We have been trying to hire for both leadership positions and talented carpenters and finishers for several months, and we have not had much luck. (Editor's Note: Concrete Contractor connected with Baker in November 2025.)

With the guys retiring, with that void, we run a leaner crew. We definitely have all the work that we can handle most of the time. We focus on the fact that we would rather have quality guys than quantity. We maintain that standard.

Dan BakerIndustrial Constructors / Managers Inc.

Q. Your nomination mentioned that you've completed more than 30 jobs this past year (2025) already. In your opinion, what makes a project move as smoothly as possible?
What's your tactic for working out the challenges as they occur?

I have a couple of great general foremen to help me out. That makes a huge difference. You can't be everywhere at once, so being able to go to other projects or plan for the next one, having a guy there with a good set of eyes on everything and can give you good feedback, that's a major benefit.

As far as problem-solving, I try to not become disconnected from the field. I always like to know how the guys are doing. How they're developing. How the projects are developing. If you keep up with that, it becomes easier to make changes when you need to and pivot. I always track progress, and anytime we're falling behind or run into issues, or our plans aren't working, it's important to pivot and make adjustments without much hesitation. The guys in the field really help with that.

I think a lot of the work we get is stuff that people don't want to do or can't find anybody else to do. It's been a staple of our business structure.

A concrete placement by ICM in Denver, Colorado.Industrial Constructors/Managers Inc.

Editor’s Note:  ICM's motto is “We love a challenge.” A motto that they say they’ve had forever. We’re told that the team takes the motto to heart by embracing challenges and using them as a way to learn and grow. When the submitter asked colleagues about Dan, the fact that he doesn't turn away from challenges came up repeatedly.

Q. We understand that you are very dedicated to training and mentorship. What qualities are you looking for in people that make them stand out from the crowd?

A sense of their work ethic and what kind of ownership and pride they take in their work. I think that tells you a lot about a person and whether or not they're worth investing more time and training into. Ideally, our crew members all work well with each other. If they have a good attitude and if they're able to receive constructive criticism, I think you can go a step further with them.

Everybody develops differently. Not everybody's cut out to be a foreman, a general foreman, or superintendent. But after a period of time, the guys will eventually stand out who are cut out for that, and you focus more of your time with them and whatever they need to work on.

Industrial Constructors / Managers Inc.

Q. What kind of new technologies are you excited about? What are you interested in learning more about?

Things that have become really useful to us are the advancements in battery-powered tooling, cordless vibrators, cordless power trowels, and automatic rebar tires — those things are worth their weight in gold. They save so much labor and time, especially when laying out a slab and getting your rebar on layout. You can stay ahead of the guys and they make up for a lack of speed and skill. Anybody can use one of those. That has been a huge, huge benefit. And then, just not having to drag cords around for everything. You take it for granted now, but that's been great. I'd like to integrate more precision-guided equipment for dirt grading, screeding, and layout.

It's a big investment. But like we were saying with the labor market, how tough it is, things like that that can assist in productivity and reduce manpower needs would pay off.

Q. What has been the best piece of advice you've ever received? How had it affected your work?

A couple of them tie together. The one piece I would say is that it's not one thing that you do differently that makes you more or less successful than anybody else; it's a million little things. 

With that, the same guy who gave me that piece of advice always said, "On your drive home, in your quiet time after work, at the end of the day when you're wrapping stuff up, and you have a moment to yourself to just reflect on your day: what went right, what went wrong, what could you do differently." 

I think that practice helps you get better at all the little things that come up throughout the course of a day or project. Try to learn from any of your shortcomings.

Q. What advice would you give to other concrete contractors?

To the ones just starting, I would say, don't bite off more than you can chew. Again, with the challenges in the labor market, I believe that it's better to start slower and deliver a quality product to build your reputation. 

For the guys with decades of experience, everybody does things differently. So, without knowing them, if you have found what you're good at, stick with it. 

Q. If given three wishes with the stipulation that they must be used for work, what would your wishes be? 

Infinite budget for tooling and equipment. That's an easy one.

More talent availability would be number two.

For the third, one of the newer challenges is that projects never seem to start on schedule anymore. It would be amazing if even half of them would start on time or at least be able to maintain project schedule, so you can work with your own manpower and not have to make adjustments or plug guys in somewhere for a short period of time because you know you're going to need them, but something else was pushed out. That's been a pain in the rear. 

Industrial Constructors / Managers Inc.

Q. I think everybody would wish that. Can you elaborate more on talent availability? Do you mean skilled workers applying or new workers having skills already?

Yes and no. It's a combination of things. When talking about this with other guys from other trades and other industries, one big difference with younger guys coming up now is that a good amount of them never really worked with their dads or uncles, etc. You used to have to. If your folks were doing a project at the house, there was no way you were getting out of helping. 

Guys are starting out with just a lot fewer fundamentals — guys who are completely unfamiliar with the work environment. 

When I started, a carpenter was expected to learn or to be proficient in several aspects of the trade. You could go from a concrete job to an interior systems job, build scaffolding to do some survey and layout, or finish carpentry doors and hardware, things like that. It's not that way anymore. Guys get into one thing and tend to stay there. 

If you're looking for someone and there's a handful or a dozen available carpenters…if you're looking for a skilled journeyman, only one or two of those guys are going to be skilled with what you need them for. 

Even then, a lot of guys never operated equipment. At ICM, we do some composite work between trades, but we operate equipment, tie rebar, set forms, and finish. Everybody does all those things. It's tough to find a guy that has all those skills. Basically, you're going to have to train them on something or adjust the crew for different phases of work.

Editor’s Note: ICM does a lot of work to get into local high schools to expose the kids to careers in construction. They say that some of the most successful avenues were with rural kids, especially in Pueblo, Colorado (home to one of the company's offices). They say the rural kids tend to know how to use tools, are hardworking, and understand the value of hard work because they had to do it by living on a farm or ranch. 

Baker speaks to ICM's work with high schools and experience with rural kids:

They've at least built a fence or two, learning how to work and how to solve simple problems — those things that we took for granted for so long.

Q. Did you come from one of these experiences with a power tool from your childhood?

Yes. Anything that my dad wanted to do, a remodel or had to fix something, he would do everything himself. He never hired anybody. He would pay me, even when I was little, just to hand him stuff or hold a flashlight or whatever. Same thing with vehicles, he always worked on all our own vehicles and helped me work on mine. I learned a lot. I didn't realize it at the time, but looking back, I think that definitely helps you.

The official announcement of all recipients of the 2025 For Construction Pros PACER Awards can be found here.