The Builder Upper Show Ep. 31 feat. Jeret Whitescarver from ESI

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Hey everyone, I'm Louperez, your host of The Builder Upper Show,
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a podcast where we talk about everything in construction and trades.
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Now let's get into it. I would like to welcome
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our guest, Jarrett White Scarver from Engineered Structures, Inc.
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ESI.
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Hey, Jarrett, how you doing today?
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I'm doing well, Lou, how you doing?
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I'm doing good. I'm a little tired. Jarrett decided to
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wake me up at four thirty am this morning to
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go for an almost four mile run. But I'm hanging
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in there. I might have some bags under my eyes,
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but well worth it. Definitely needed it. I was at
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that point in time to get a run in, especially
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after having a big dinner last night, so it was
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worth it.
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Jarrett.
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You know, we're in a beautiful building here in Meridian, Idaho.
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And a little background actually, I was born in Idaho
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and Weezer, Idaho. Not a lot of people know that,
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and it's about an hour fifteen from here. I was
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lucky enough to go and visit my mom when I
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flew in. She was pleasantly surprised. And you know, it's
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really great being back in my home state. And then
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I've never I never came here in a time where
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ESI was planted. But the building that we're in right
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now is absolutely beautiful and I would love to know
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what's the history of ESI.
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Yeah, we've been around for fifty two years, and you know,
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we started out by building small potato sheds.
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And then grew from there.
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And we have a CEO, Neil Nelson, who just has
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a great vision and he's casted that vision throughout the
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organization and from there it grew into the retail world.
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We got into real retail construction and then obviously started
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working here more in the valley and commercial and now
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we've expanded to industrial, water, federal work, government work overseas,
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still in the retail world, grocery and community living. So
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we've just really expanded our network of opportunities throughout the country.
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So we're licensed in forty two states and when we
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work pretty much all over the world right now with
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our government work as well. So and this building we
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moved in here in October second of twenty twenty four
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and it's just been a great building for us. It
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allowed us to expand and continue to grow our organization. Again,
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this was a city bank building before and Neil walked
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through it and saw what you see now when nobody
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else could. And it's really become a great space for
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us and it's a great opportunity for us to bring
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new employees and it's definitely a marketing tool for us
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to have employees come to see what they could get
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to come to work in every day. And we have
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a gym, you know, we have a great cafe and
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it's just a great facility. So we're really really fortunate
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that we haven't.
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So you're saying we could have just worked out in
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the gym instead of going off on a beaten path.
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Yeah, we're hoping to see some, you know, some of
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the beautiful trails of Boise.
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But it was a little foggy this morning. Yeah it was, Yeah,
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it was. It was a good, good, cool, brisk run.
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It was nice. It was nice. So as far as
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the leadership, so you mentioned Neil, maybe we could unpack
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him a little bit. Can you tell me what is
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it like working for Neil and the leadership team here
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at ESI.
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Yeah, yeah, you know, I think that one great thing
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about Neil is he's obsessed with perfection, and while we're
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working towards perfection, we'll find excellence. And that's really what
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we what we're about and really focused on everyone succeeding together.
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Dallas Fondoe, she's our Chief People Officer, and then we
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have Michael Kimmel, our Chief League Officer, jan Eric Peterson
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senior vice president, and then we have five executive vice
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presidents that are directly related with the SI Group. We
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also have some other holding companies that we have acquired
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and also vertically integrated through the organization over the last ten,
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fifteen to twenty five years, and so there's leadership within
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those groups as well. And you know, we're all here
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in this office fortunately, which has been great and that
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was one of Neil's visions is to get everybody back
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into one facility, one location where we can work together
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and walk down the hall and have a conversation and
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not have to get in a truck and drive somewhere
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or jump on a team's call, which has really helped
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improve the FaceTime and building culture, which another you know,
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another piece that has made us so successful is the
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culture here and the culture to succeed together and really
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work together and support each other.
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We have what we call the three d's.
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Dedicated, dependable, and dynamic, and this building has helped us
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to get you to foster that three D culture and
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help us to grow with our customers and grow with
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our employees, and growth in our communities that we're working.
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I noticed when I walked in the front door something
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that really stood out was there was a lot of
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smiling faces. Yeah, I could tell that the people that
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are working here were really happy. And I mean, you
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have like a full restaurant has set up downstairs. It
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looks like I mean, of course you mentioned Jim, and
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you have all these ways that people can just go
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grab some food and eat real quick and stay within
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the building and make it super easy and convenient for
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the workers, which is really nice and I feel like
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it would make a huge difference. So, you know, do
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you feel like that contributes to the culture. Is that
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something that you just look at daily as far as
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like how you're contributing to the current employees, is focusing
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on the positive culture?
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Yeah?
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Yeah, and you know, I'm fortunate to be a part
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of it. I think that again, coming back to the
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leadership and what this didn't come with a lot of
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hard work and effort, right, and a lot of hard
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work and effort before, before me and before everybody else
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that really works here right now, and I think that
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it's we're all blessed because of the hard work that
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people have put in and where we are today as
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an organization, and it came from strategic planning and a
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vision that Neil and the team has really focused on
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and growing each step so and now we get to
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reach some of those benefits and continue to have a
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great facility and be able to expand our business and
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focus on new areas that we wouldn't have, you know,
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five years ago or ten years ago or fifteen years ago.
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And this has definitely helped that. I mean, this studio
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that we're in is a great example of something that
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we didn't have ten years ago. And now we get
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to do podcasts and we get to present from here
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to our field, which is extremely helpful to be able
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to connect with them on a regular basis. So it's
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all part of the plan and all part of the growth,
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and all part of the opportunity for us to continue
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to make an impact on the communities that we're working in.
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You have amazing people working here, and not everybody gets
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shot outs when they're working behind the scenes to make
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things happen, Like even the production team that's putting on
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this podcast right now. David back there that's flipping the
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screens back and forth is doing an amazing job. You
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have top tier talent that's working here, and the only
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way that top tier talent comes in is by having
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that positive culture that you guys have built and even
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to get us to this point of being on the podcast,
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you have an amazing person like Lily that's project managing
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the day and schedules and making sure everybody's doing what
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they need to do. And I feel like, you know,
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do you see an entrepreneurial spirit within the employees that
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are here?
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Yeah?
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Absolutely, And that's something that we really foster, is the
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autonomy for you to grow and become what you want
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to become.
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Here.
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I would say, you know, I'll steal it from one
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of our peer group companies that we get to work with.
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They said that we're in the business of building people,
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and buildings are a result of those people being built. Oh,
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and so I think that that's so true, and that's
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what we are doing, is we're focusing on the legacies
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of individuals while building the legacy of SI. And we
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talk about what is SI's legacy often and how that's.
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So important to where we're headed.
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And this is the results of us continuing to focus
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on building our legacy and building our legacy in the community,
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building our legacy as an organization, and the entrepreneurial spirit
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of individuals that work here building their own legacy with
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their family and their friends.
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Wow, the background on ESI is so cool. Yeah, so, Jared,
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and you know, pivot to you. When did you get
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into construction?
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Yeah?
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So I have a picture of me when I was
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six months old sitting on a dozer and my dad's
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operating the dozer and I'm taking a nap. So some
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would say, you know, I've been in my whole life,
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and I really have. My grandfather and my great grandfather
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were all in construction, and my wife's family is all
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in construction. Her dad was in construction, her grandpa was
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in construction. So I've really been around it my entire life.
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I remember, you know, leaving basketball games and football games
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and baseball games and my dad saying, all right, you're
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coming with me. We're going to a job site, and
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me either sitting in a truck or on a piece
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of equipment with him while he was running equipment or working.
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So it's really been a part of who I am,
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and it's not what I necessarily wanted to do my
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whole life. I wanted to be a firefighter and went
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to school and got a degree in risk safety and
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health management and communication. And then while I was trying
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to test and get hired with the fire department, my
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dad said, you should come into construction and help me
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and work with me. So I did, and then the
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market crashed in two thousand and eight. I was fortunate
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enough to get into the oil and gas industry, and
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I was newly married to my lovely wife, Julie, and
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we started traveling and chasing the pipeline and did that
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for almost ten years wow, and traveled all over the country,
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which was a great experience and learned a ton. After that,
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we moved to Boise and I was traveling still, essentially
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flying out on Mondays and flying back on Fridays. And
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we had our second son, Jase, my oldest son, Jackson,
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who's thirteen. My youngest is ten, and my wife said,
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you know, it's time to plant some roots. And that's
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when I started looking around the valley here to find
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the best company. Met Neil and his brother Nels. Was
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fortunate to get the opportunity to come work here and.
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Have enjoyed it ever since.
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So man, there's so much to unpack there. I mean,
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you wanted to be a firefighter. Where did that come from?
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Yeah?
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You know, growing up, my dad's hunting partners were all firefighters.
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Oh and so I'd go to hunting camp with them
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and started talking to them and talking about their their
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careers and really how much time they got off.
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To go and spend time hunting. So I thought, you
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know that I might want to do that.
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It's a sweet setup.
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Yeah.
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And then and so I did it all through college, okay.
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And then I also did wildland firefighting. Oh wow, Okay,
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So I moved from wildland firefighting and got my AMT certification,
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was volunteering for a local fire department. So that's really
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what inspired it, and wanted to get into that industry.
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And you know, here I am. I don't regret it.
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I love what I do and get to make an
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influence an impact on people in a positive way with
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what we get to do and what we.
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Build and the lives that we get to invest in.
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So that's pretty cool. So like the the firefighter background,
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I'm sure the skills that you learned they don't go
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to waste. I'm sure if anything were to happen, everybody's
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going to call Jarrett now. So I wanted to talk
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to you more about like your family, and you said
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that you chased the oil and gas and you were
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going everywhere. You know, what does that even look like?
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Are you just like all over the place on a
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plane all the time? Are you driving all the time?
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What was that experience like for you?
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Yeah, it was a really rich time. My wife and
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I were newly married, and we both grew up in
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Washington State, not far from each other. We met when
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we were fifteen, and we were just friends until we
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got into our early twenties and started dating. So we
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had lived in that area pretty much our whole lives.
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And when I got the opportunity to go work on
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the oil and gas industry, we moved to California, and
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then we were in Wyoming for a little while, back
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to Washington, pretty much all over Ohio, West Virginia, and
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I was fortunate enough that she would just come with
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me and we would be on a job for anywhere
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from three to six months, sometimes if it was a
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short project, three weeks. Once we had our first son,
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we knew that we needed to start looking at settling
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down somewhere. We had a window of say, two to
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three years to do that, and then when we had
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our second son, or we were about ready to have
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our second son, that's when we decided to settle down.
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So and we moved to Boise. I knew about Boise
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because I had fought fires here in the summertime when
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I was in college, and the opportunity for mountain biking
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and outdoor recreation was phenomenal, which is why everybody in
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the United States wants to move here now. And we
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said this is where we want to raise our family.
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We're still, you know, miss our parents that are both
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back in Washington. So my wife's parents are in Kirkland
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and my parents are in Homish, So we get back
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to Washington regularly to see them.
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But this is home now. I don't see us ever
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leave in Boise.
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You mentioned Kirkland. I probably would never know what Kirkland
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was if there wasn't cost Cosco.
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Everybody knows Costco.
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Yeah, yeah, so that's really neat the Seattle roots. I'll
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be going to Seattle in a couple of weeks, and
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you know, somebody told me to go take a picture
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of Pike something.
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Pike Place, Market, Pike Okay, yeah, okay, so I get
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a picture with them throwing the fish.
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Yeah that's uh, that's that'll be exciting. So the background
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of Washington. You're not supposed to tell people that Idaho's nice.
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You're supposed to say this place is terrible. Yeah, don't
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come here, don't. Uh Yeah, it's it's cold. Yeah, snow
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every day. You can't get out of your driveway, especially
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it's twenty degrees out. It's not fun when you felt
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it this morning. This isn't brutal, Yeah, it's brutal. So
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just don't don't move here.
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And there's no snow to ski on, So why would
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you want to go? What a waste?
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Yeah, what a waste that they'll have snow on the
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ground but not in the mountains. Who that doesn't make
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any sense that it's kidding. So the you know, you
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have two boys in construction or and uh when now
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that you're in construction, you know, do you ever show
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them the buildings that you guys have built or anything
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like that?
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Yeah?
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Absolutely, I mean that's that's one of my greatest joys
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of working in construction is you get to see something
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that you were a part of. So we drive through
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town or even when we're out of the state and
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we see something that ESI built, whether it be a
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grocery store or retail store, commercial building or community living
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multi family apartment complex, we get to, you know, say
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that that got to be part of that. We drive
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by going to our house a apartment complex that's been
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under construction for about a year now, and they you know,
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it's got SI signs on it, so they take great
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pride in it. They have SI car Heart lunch boxes
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that they bring to school. So yeah, they're very proud
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of the SI brand and to be part of the
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SI family.
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So that's awesome.
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So then was your dad like that with you?
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Oh yeah, yeah, absolutely, anytime that I had the chance
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to put his hard hat on or he used to
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have a a coffee, a Stanley coffee jug like the
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old school ones, and I remember my mom would.
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Be before they were.
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Yeah, before they were popular, Yeah, before before they became popular.
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My mom used to fill it with hot chocolate, my debt,
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my brother and I would you know, go out in
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the backyard and we'd build something and drink some hot
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Coco out of Dead's Stanley coffee cup. So yeah, absolutely,
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it's it's I think construction is such a small industry. Yeah,
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and it's so family oriented. And I've shared this statistic
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before that you know, forty percent of leadership in construction
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came through the trades. And really, if it you know,
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if it wasn't for our field and our trade partners
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and the craft employees that are out.
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There, nothing would get built, right And.
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Neil says and others that work here often say, we
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still strip forms the same way that we did one
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hundred years ago, and there's a lot of technology that's
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changing in the industry and AI is definitely impacting that.
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As you know with lumber.
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The reality of it is people are going to be
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needed and the relationships are really what still build buildings.
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And if it wasn't for those relationships, we wouldn't have
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the building that we're in, the homes that we live in,
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the stores that we shop in.
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So it really it's still about the people.
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And it was one hundred years ago, it was when
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my dad was in construction, and it still is today
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about the relationships and about the people.
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It's really important. You know, you're really you're a pretty
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active guy. I've learned that today and go you know,
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being a go getter and getting things done. Of course
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you're leading your family and what's your inspiration every day?
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Yeah, I mean it really comes back to my family.
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You know my wife. First off, she's just she's just
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good answer by the way.
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Yeah, yeah, well she she's just incredible, she really is.
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And she's always been a supporter for me. She's always
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been there, uh and uh and I support her and
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and that's what that's what makes it great is you know,
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when I was needing to travel and that's what we
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had to do in order to put food on the
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table and pay the bills, she said, let's go. And
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when she said it's time to settle down and plan
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some roots and Boise, I said, let's go.
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So you know, it's it's a partnership.
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And then of course my boys Jason Jackson, I just
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I love being with them. I love seeing them grow
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and I love seeing them become the humans that you
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know they are, and uh and what what all the
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things that God has planned for them And I'm really
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excited for their future. And again it comes back to
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my legacy and what I get to share and leave
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behind and without e s I, I wouldn't be able to
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do that, and without lumber, you wouldn't be able to
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do that for your family. So you know, in a
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lot of ways, we talk about a life work balance,
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and for me, working and life is a balance.
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And it really is. I don't you know.
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I had a conversation yesterday with somebody and it's kind
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of a joke, but there's five Mondays, there's Saturday, and
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then there's getting ready for Monday. And I don't say
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that in a negative way. I say that and I
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get inspired by that, and I get excited.
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I like coming to work, and I.
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Was kind of discouraged that yesterday was Wednesday because I
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wanted two more days in the week that I could
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continue to work and catch up on things and continue
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to do things like this and work with people that
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I get to work with.
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I love coming to work.
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Ninety percent or more of the people that I hang
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out with outside of work, or they work at SI
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and they have families and they're raising children and we're
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going through life together. So it's not just about coming
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to work and getting your work done and going home.
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It's about doing life with each other and that's really
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that's really what it's about. So that's what inspires me
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is the people that I get to work with first
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and foremost, you know, my wife and my kids, and
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then of course my faith.
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So yeah, God has definitely blessed you and you have
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your blessings and it's amazing to see you know what
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you've done. I totally agree the support system from my wife.
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I wouldn't be where I'm at without her. And you know,
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you have to give them a shout out that they
400
00:20:29.000 --> 00:20:32.200
do so many things behind the scenes that nobody sees,
401
00:20:32.799 --> 00:20:36.119
and just give them recognition when you can. They definitely
402
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deserve it. So I'm with you, totally with you. So
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I got to throw mine in there too, you know.
404
00:20:43.799 --> 00:20:48.279
Transitioning over to es I and you know some of
405
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the projects that you guys have worked on, is there
406
00:20:50.680 --> 00:20:55.599
any standout projects that have been like iconic to ESI
407
00:20:56.000 --> 00:20:59.759
in the area or something like people know that was
408
00:21:00.240 --> 00:21:02.039
side that did that or anything like that.
409
00:21:02.160 --> 00:21:06.599
Yeah, yeah, absolutely, you know Eighthan Maine here in Boise,
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that's a big one. I was not part of that,
411
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but there were a lot of people here in the
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organization today that were a huge part of that. That's
413
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kind of an iconic building for Boise and has been
414
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the tallest building in the state for the longest time.
415
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Now it's Micron and what's going on out in the desert,
416
00:21:28.000 --> 00:21:31.359
and you've heard a lot of the i'm sure conversations
417
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about the chips and getting them back to the US,
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and so we're fortunate to be part of that, and
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we're building part of something that is making an impact
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and difference in our country. So that's pretty unique and special.
421
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Those are some that stand out here in the valley.
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There's lots that we could drive around and I could
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show you that we've done, but those are two that
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stand out right now.
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Man, And to pull off big projects like that, even
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go going back to the people that you have working
427
00:22:02.559 --> 00:22:04.799
here to get it done. You guys have some cool
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content on LinkedIn and the videos out there. I even
429
00:22:08.799 --> 00:22:10.720
just googled, like when I was trying to find out,
430
00:22:10.880 --> 00:22:12.759
all right, what's the address that ES, I got to
431
00:22:12.799 --> 00:22:16.400
go drive over there and when Google pulls up, you
432
00:22:16.519 --> 00:22:19.519
get like a cool picture of the building that we're
433
00:22:19.519 --> 00:22:23.480
in right now. So I'm telling everybody, go Google right now, ESI,
434
00:22:23.680 --> 00:22:27.720
and then when you see it, the next piece that
435
00:22:27.839 --> 00:22:32.519
comes up is an actual like video. It's beautifully produced.
436
00:22:32.559 --> 00:22:35.119
I'm guessing that's you David in the background that made
437
00:22:35.160 --> 00:22:40.960
the video. It was so cool to see like everything
438
00:22:41.279 --> 00:22:46.039
that you guys are doing here and the production, the
439
00:22:46.200 --> 00:22:49.359
LinkedIn social media that you guys push out there, you know,
440
00:22:49.519 --> 00:22:52.599
shout out to your marketing team. I think I bumped
441
00:22:52.599 --> 00:22:55.519
into them on the way into this room, but they
442
00:22:55.680 --> 00:22:59.279
crush it and they make esi look like, you know,
443
00:23:00.160 --> 00:23:03.039
if you live in Idaho, you should be working. Yeah, yes,
444
00:23:03.240 --> 00:23:06.240
I like, go apply here because this place is awesome.
445
00:23:06.960 --> 00:23:09.240
Uh So, I just wanted to throw that out there.
446
00:23:09.240 --> 00:23:12.400
And what does it look like for you guys in
447
00:23:12.960 --> 00:23:15.759
recruiting new people? And you know, do you guys have
448
00:23:15.880 --> 00:23:19.480
careers a careers page of my overshooting it telling people
449
00:23:19.480 --> 00:23:21.559
to come work for you. And do you know do
450
00:23:21.599 --> 00:23:23.559
you guys have job openings and stuff like that.
451
00:23:23.839 --> 00:23:26.880
Yeah, we definitely have job openings, okay, and we would
452
00:23:26.920 --> 00:23:30.680
love for applications and resumes to come in. You can
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00:23:30.720 --> 00:23:34.440
go to our website and apply, and there's there's a
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00:23:34.480 --> 00:23:36.400
link in there that you can go to so ww
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00:23:36.519 --> 00:23:39.200
dot e si construction dot com and there's a link
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00:23:39.240 --> 00:23:42.680
in that you can apply. So A little bit about
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our groups and our divisions, and I'll back up to
458
00:23:45.960 --> 00:23:47.160
what we call temys I.
459
00:23:47.359 --> 00:23:48.599
So we are.
460
00:23:48.480 --> 00:23:53.000
Currently you know, working in this in this flywheel concept
461
00:23:53.119 --> 00:23:55.680
of what does that mean from Jim Collins book Good
462
00:23:55.720 --> 00:23:59.359
to Great and we've adapted that into e SI and
463
00:23:59.400 --> 00:24:03.119
we have t we have first choice customer service, and
464
00:24:03.160 --> 00:24:06.000
then we have what we really, you know, continue to
465
00:24:06.039 --> 00:24:09.799
focus on is developing and growing our revenue and profit
466
00:24:09.920 --> 00:24:13.440
so that we can be successful, and then operational infrastructure.
467
00:24:13.880 --> 00:24:17.559
Without any of those four things, the business doesn't function.
468
00:24:17.920 --> 00:24:20.359
And we have TSI at the at the top as
469
00:24:20.400 --> 00:24:24.440
it should be. Our employees and who works here really
470
00:24:24.519 --> 00:24:27.759
drives our culture and drives to what we call first
471
00:24:27.799 --> 00:24:31.799
choice customer service to our customer. You mentioned marketing. First
472
00:24:31.880 --> 00:24:35.680
choice service expands more than just to our customer. It's
473
00:24:35.680 --> 00:24:39.319
also our support units and groups that are internally that
474
00:24:39.359 --> 00:24:42.319
aren't necessarily interfacing with our customer, like marketing does not
475
00:24:42.359 --> 00:24:46.000
always necessarily interface with their customer. However, when you go
476
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to our website, you see what they do and their
477
00:24:48.359 --> 00:24:50.440
good work. When you google us, you can see some
478
00:24:50.480 --> 00:24:53.359
of the videos on YouTube and their good work that
479
00:24:53.400 --> 00:24:56.480
they that they put into making us provide first choice
480
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service to our customer.
481
00:24:57.960 --> 00:24:59.400
So yeah, absolutely.
482
00:24:59.559 --> 00:25:02.079
You know, other piece of that on TEAMSI front is
483
00:25:02.559 --> 00:25:07.839
we have career opportunities. We have some great stories that
484
00:25:07.880 --> 00:25:09.599
I wish I could go through all of them of
485
00:25:09.720 --> 00:25:13.519
individuals that started here twenty fifteen or even ten years
486
00:25:13.559 --> 00:25:16.000
ago as a as a labor worked their way up
487
00:25:16.000 --> 00:25:19.200
to a carpenter, a general foreman, a superintendent, and construction
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00:25:19.319 --> 00:25:24.880
manager division director. So when we talk about career advancement
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00:25:24.960 --> 00:25:28.559
and opportunities, we have that and we have those opportunities
490
00:25:28.559 --> 00:25:32.160
here at ESI. We have our ESI Academy that is
491
00:25:32.240 --> 00:25:37.200
launching essentially training and development for individuals that are here
492
00:25:37.559 --> 00:25:40.960
to continue your development as an individual personally and professionally
493
00:25:41.759 --> 00:25:46.720
through books, training, classes, courses, advancement. And we have a
494
00:25:46.720 --> 00:25:51.039
whole team that's supporting that, which again Team ESI helps
495
00:25:51.119 --> 00:25:54.519
us provide first choice customer service to our customers out
496
00:25:54.880 --> 00:25:57.079
that we get to work with and build for every day.
497
00:25:57.640 --> 00:26:01.359
So that's a little bit into you know, our future
498
00:26:01.519 --> 00:26:05.359
and development of our resources and continuing to grow through
499
00:26:05.640 --> 00:26:09.599
applying and where you could go whether it's a labor
500
00:26:09.839 --> 00:26:11.440
or a carpenter, all the way up into.
501
00:26:12.279 --> 00:26:13.160
A leadership role.
502
00:26:13.960 --> 00:26:19.839
We have electrical and refrigeration. We have our interiors, we
503
00:26:19.920 --> 00:26:21.839
have concrete earthwork.
504
00:26:22.079 --> 00:26:24.160
Those are all part of our craft.
505
00:26:24.559 --> 00:26:26.680
And then we have superintendents that are out in the
506
00:26:26.680 --> 00:26:31.359
field that are building our team and building our projects
507
00:26:31.400 --> 00:26:33.680
for our customers in the field. We have our project
508
00:26:33.759 --> 00:26:36.000
management team as well that are out there working every
509
00:26:36.079 --> 00:26:37.599
day to support the field.
510
00:26:37.839 --> 00:26:40.000
We have a great program that I'm really excited about.
511
00:26:40.039 --> 00:26:43.039
We launched a couple of years ago called our Field
512
00:26:43.119 --> 00:26:46.319
Engineers Program, and it really stemmed from another program called
513
00:26:46.359 --> 00:26:49.359
six Figures No Suits, where we looked at how can
514
00:26:49.400 --> 00:26:53.960
we get really teens and students that are graduating from
515
00:26:54.039 --> 00:26:56.039
high school that may not want to go on to
516
00:26:56.160 --> 00:26:59.480
college and get them into construction and help them in
517
00:26:59.480 --> 00:27:02.960
Idaho have what's called the Launch Program that our governor
518
00:27:03.000 --> 00:27:08.640
had launched a couple of years ago, and that's a
519
00:27:09.160 --> 00:27:13.319
essentially a grant or some tuition paid for to help
520
00:27:13.359 --> 00:27:17.759
you go onto a trades school or get into the trades.
521
00:27:18.279 --> 00:27:21.839
So we've adapted a piece that into our own culture,
522
00:27:21.880 --> 00:27:24.880
which is the six Figures No Suits, and it's advancing
523
00:27:24.920 --> 00:27:29.759
pretty quickly and getting people through the high school programs
524
00:27:29.839 --> 00:27:33.720
and into directly into the trades and getting them to
525
00:27:34.000 --> 00:27:37.839
continue to work and grow into carpenters or into a
526
00:27:37.920 --> 00:27:41.559
journeyman electricians or getting into refrigeration, and we can do
527
00:27:41.599 --> 00:27:42.599
that internally as well.
528
00:27:42.640 --> 00:27:44.400
So we're expanding what we would call.
529
00:27:44.359 --> 00:27:48.200
Vertical integration of those trades and that's been really helpful
530
00:27:48.200 --> 00:27:51.599
and great and opens up new career opportunities and pass
531
00:27:51.640 --> 00:27:53.319
for the next generation of construction.
532
00:27:53.720 --> 00:27:57.640
So we you know, we check the analytics of this
533
00:27:57.720 --> 00:28:02.599
podcast sometimes to see who's who's watching this podcast, and
534
00:28:03.480 --> 00:28:08.960
we have we see a good majority, like there's a
535
00:28:09.000 --> 00:28:12.480
younger crowd that's watching this, and there's a lot of
536
00:28:12.519 --> 00:28:19.559
interest of students that are evaluating what is my future?
537
00:28:19.599 --> 00:28:23.880
Because I mean every parent and every family member of
538
00:28:24.240 --> 00:28:27.480
a teenager and when they come around the dinner table,
539
00:28:28.160 --> 00:28:30.039
so what do you want to do when you grow up?
540
00:28:30.759 --> 00:28:33.119
What do you want to do when you graduate? Those
541
00:28:33.720 --> 00:28:36.559
are I mean, I remember when I was in high school.
542
00:28:36.559 --> 00:28:38.759
I mean, that's a thought that's just stuck in your head.
543
00:28:38.799 --> 00:28:41.400
What am I doing? Because you're going to school right now,
544
00:28:41.440 --> 00:28:44.440
you're working towards something. What is that going to be?
545
00:28:46.000 --> 00:28:52.960
Should a potential candidate that maybe hasn't even played around
546
00:28:53.039 --> 00:28:58.599
with building anything, and maybe they just think, like you know,
547
00:28:58.759 --> 00:29:01.960
I'm not really I've I haven't had you know, anybody
548
00:29:01.960 --> 00:29:04.920
that's really showed me how to swing a hammer or
549
00:29:05.039 --> 00:29:09.079
you know, do anything like that. But they but they
550
00:29:09.119 --> 00:29:14.160
have the capability and potential of being a builder. Would
551
00:29:14.240 --> 00:29:19.640
you encourage students that might have not have thought about
552
00:29:19.759 --> 00:29:23.640
construction and just say like, hey, listen, we'll show you
553
00:29:24.400 --> 00:29:28.039
a path in this academy. It is on the job training.
554
00:29:28.440 --> 00:29:32.039
You don't have to have experience of when you were younger,
555
00:29:32.119 --> 00:29:34.240
that you've done it before. This is something that you
556
00:29:34.319 --> 00:29:37.799
can learn on the job and we help you through it.
557
00:29:37.839 --> 00:29:40.200
You know, what does I guess what I'm really asking
558
00:29:40.240 --> 00:29:44.000
you is what does the academy do for these students
559
00:29:44.000 --> 00:29:45.359
that are interested in construction?
560
00:29:46.640 --> 00:29:49.279
Yeah? I think you know. The answer is yes. If
561
00:29:49.279 --> 00:29:51.359
you have an interest in it, you should apply.
562
00:29:51.759 --> 00:29:53.480
And if you wanted to, you know, if you wanted
563
00:29:53.519 --> 00:29:56.759
to learn a little bit about yourself, you should try construction.
564
00:29:57.440 --> 00:30:01.640
And in the process of doing that, you'll you'll make
565
00:30:01.720 --> 00:30:05.880
some great money, You'll get to work with some amazing people. Really,
566
00:30:05.960 --> 00:30:08.920
you know, the backbone and the salt of our country.
567
00:30:10.480 --> 00:30:13.480
We don't have anything that we live or work in
568
00:30:14.039 --> 00:30:16.759
without construction. Whether that's a grocery store or the house
569
00:30:16.799 --> 00:30:18.839
you live in or the building that you work out of.
570
00:30:19.240 --> 00:30:22.279
It had to be built by someone. So it's pretty
571
00:30:22.319 --> 00:30:25.000
neat to think about it from that perspective, and really
572
00:30:25.039 --> 00:30:30.920
the Academy is helping to launch and expedite that process
573
00:30:31.279 --> 00:30:34.240
for individuals that work here and that it's not just
574
00:30:34.279 --> 00:30:37.000
necessarily for trades either, you know. I think that's the
575
00:30:37.039 --> 00:30:39.759
other piece of construction that's so unique is you don't
576
00:30:39.799 --> 00:30:42.759
have to just be a builder. You know, we have accounting,
577
00:30:42.920 --> 00:30:46.680
we have you know, you mentioned marketing, we have human resource,
578
00:30:47.799 --> 00:30:51.079
we have business development. So there's a lot of parts
579
00:30:51.079 --> 00:30:54.559
and pieces that play into construction. You don't necessarily have
580
00:30:54.640 --> 00:30:57.839
to be out in the field or know much about
581
00:30:58.119 --> 00:31:00.160
how to build a building to get into construction. There's
582
00:31:00.200 --> 00:31:02.480
lots of opportunities and that's really what the Academy is
583
00:31:02.480 --> 00:31:02.920
focused on.
584
00:31:03.000 --> 00:31:04.680
It's getting the right people in the.
585
00:31:04.680 --> 00:31:07.359
Right spot so that they're successful, which will help us
586
00:31:07.400 --> 00:31:10.880
be successful as an organization. So the other their piece
587
00:31:10.920 --> 00:31:12.920
I touch a little bit about our Field Engineer program.
588
00:31:13.079 --> 00:31:15.079
That's another one that I think is great and so
589
00:31:15.279 --> 00:31:22.920
unique is we're taking predominantly younger athletes or military people
590
00:31:22.920 --> 00:31:25.359
that have that have gotten out of serving our country
591
00:31:25.880 --> 00:31:27.880
and they're they're trying to figure out what to do,
592
00:31:27.960 --> 00:31:30.759
and they're have an interest in construction, they have maybe
593
00:31:30.799 --> 00:31:33.519
have a degree, maybe they do not, and we can
594
00:31:33.599 --> 00:31:35.319
get them into that program and they can go out
595
00:31:35.359 --> 00:31:38.359
in the field and start working in the job trailers
596
00:31:38.559 --> 00:31:41.200
and also in the office here as well, and then
597
00:31:41.240 --> 00:31:43.359
they can see do I want to go the office route.
598
00:31:43.359 --> 00:31:44.960
Do I want to be a project engineer or a
599
00:31:44.960 --> 00:31:47.640
project manager, or do I want to be a superintendent?
600
00:31:47.680 --> 00:31:50.319
And do I want to be a construction manager someday
601
00:31:50.799 --> 00:31:53.000
where I get to actually be boots on the ground,
602
00:31:53.079 --> 00:31:56.400
reading plans, working with trade partners and building the facilities
603
00:31:56.400 --> 00:31:59.000
and buildings that we're doing. So that there's a lot
604
00:31:59.039 --> 00:32:02.720
of opportunity in construction. And that's a great thing about Yes,
605
00:32:02.799 --> 00:32:06.200
I think that we've talked before about wanting to be
606
00:32:06.519 --> 00:32:09.759
on the leading edge, not the bleeding edge of innovation.
607
00:32:11.160 --> 00:32:13.480
And there's a lot of innovation in construction right now,
608
00:32:13.880 --> 00:32:16.200
and some of that is just in learning and learning
609
00:32:16.200 --> 00:32:20.119
how to build buildings and build people, and we're on
610
00:32:20.200 --> 00:32:21.160
the we're on the leading.
611
00:32:21.000 --> 00:32:21.319
Edge of that.
612
00:32:22.079 --> 00:32:28.400
So to get these newer I guess, you know, students
613
00:32:28.519 --> 00:32:35.799
or younger individuals interested in trying it. Is it safe
614
00:32:35.839 --> 00:32:38.400
to say that they would have some sort of mentor
615
00:32:39.680 --> 00:32:42.039
for the positions that they're going for. Is there people
616
00:32:42.119 --> 00:32:46.480
here that get involved to help them see it and
617
00:32:46.640 --> 00:32:51.079
give them that overall view of expectations and everything like that,
618
00:32:51.200 --> 00:32:53.839
so it can help them in their decision making, because
619
00:32:53.839 --> 00:32:56.240
I mean, it's a big decision to go, you know,
620
00:32:56.359 --> 00:32:59.759
do something, go pick I mean, you can choose yes,
621
00:32:59.839 --> 00:33:03.079
I and this this is it, Like you can retire here.
622
00:33:03.160 --> 00:33:05.799
And it's an amazing company. And I'm glad that you
623
00:33:05.880 --> 00:33:08.920
pointed out that it's not just out in the field,
624
00:33:09.240 --> 00:33:13.160
but it's also back office. There's I mean, this isn't
625
00:33:13.279 --> 00:33:15.640
just a back office. This office is huge. So it
626
00:33:15.680 --> 00:33:19.000
looks like there's a lot to do here. You know,
627
00:33:19.720 --> 00:33:22.720
do you guys have mentorship programs or is that built in?
628
00:33:23.519 --> 00:33:26.039
Yeah, we we have a mentorship program, okay, for the
629
00:33:26.160 --> 00:33:29.039
for the field and for the office. We'd partner you
630
00:33:29.160 --> 00:33:31.880
up with someone that maybe is a couple of years
631
00:33:31.880 --> 00:33:34.759
ahead of you or several years ahead of you and
632
00:33:34.759 --> 00:33:38.720
and help lead you through becoming whatever that position is.
633
00:33:39.799 --> 00:33:42.559
In the field, we have a specific program through a
634
00:33:42.599 --> 00:33:46.640
field operations program and both on the trade side, and
635
00:33:46.680 --> 00:33:51.960
then also on the general the GC side, so you'd
636
00:33:51.960 --> 00:33:54.519
be partnered up with an individual that's maybe a few
637
00:33:54.559 --> 00:33:58.119
years more advanced. They'd walk you through kind of the
638
00:33:58.160 --> 00:34:01.359
tricks to the trade and teach you how to do things,
639
00:34:01.519 --> 00:34:06.799
read plans, daily reports, how to file RFIs, so that
640
00:34:06.839 --> 00:34:10.320
those are all pieces of the mentorship program. So you
641
00:34:10.320 --> 00:34:12.599
wouldn't be left on an island, or you wouldn't be
642
00:34:12.880 --> 00:34:13.639
out there trying.
643
00:34:13.440 --> 00:34:14.280
To figure out how to do it.
644
00:34:14.280 --> 00:34:16.519
You'd have a resource, so if you had questions, they
645
00:34:16.639 --> 00:34:19.239
do walks with you and point things out and let
646
00:34:19.280 --> 00:34:23.320
you know specific names of whatever it is, material or something,
647
00:34:23.480 --> 00:34:25.880
give you some tricks to the trade, and teach you
648
00:34:25.920 --> 00:34:28.519
how to build and grow here at ESI.
649
00:34:29.199 --> 00:34:32.440
Can I ask you a really vague question, absolutely, yeah,
650
00:34:32.559 --> 00:34:37.519
So what do you feel like the future of construction
651
00:34:37.639 --> 00:34:38.079
looks like?
652
00:34:38.800 --> 00:34:43.480
Yeah, that's a good question, you know, I think coming
653
00:34:43.559 --> 00:34:47.360
back to how we strip forms, Yeah, we'll always need
654
00:34:47.639 --> 00:34:51.519
resources and people doing the work. And it doesn't get
655
00:34:51.559 --> 00:34:55.360
done without leadership. It doesn't get done without some grit.
656
00:34:55.679 --> 00:34:59.480
It doesn't get done without some strategy, some planning and
657
00:34:59.599 --> 00:35:02.920
community cation, and it doesn't get done without relationships. So
658
00:35:03.280 --> 00:35:07.679
those will always be part of construction. How we build
659
00:35:07.760 --> 00:35:12.400
might change and how we do. You know, drywall is
660
00:35:12.400 --> 00:35:16.199
a great example, and there's robotics out there today that
661
00:35:16.320 --> 00:35:21.599
could probably dry wall this whole building, maybe faster than
662
00:35:21.760 --> 00:35:25.280
we could as humans, definitely faster than Jared Leu could.
663
00:35:25.800 --> 00:35:28.599
But there's going to be some changes that I think
664
00:35:28.599 --> 00:35:31.559
that we're going to adapt to. I don't necessarily think
665
00:35:31.599 --> 00:35:35.239
that it's going to change how we have conversations and
666
00:35:35.320 --> 00:35:38.639
how we build relationships and how we communicate with our customers.
667
00:35:39.239 --> 00:35:41.920
That's still the most important part of what we do.
668
00:35:42.880 --> 00:35:45.760
How we build the building might change, you know, physically
669
00:35:45.760 --> 00:35:47.880
how we do it, there might be some changes there,
670
00:35:48.280 --> 00:35:51.000
but again coming back to how we strip forms, we
671
00:35:51.039 --> 00:35:52.320
still do it the same way that we did one
672
00:35:52.360 --> 00:35:54.519
hundred years ago. Doesn't necessarily mean that there's not going
673
00:35:54.599 --> 00:35:56.760
to be something that changes in the next ten to
674
00:35:56.800 --> 00:36:01.880
fifteen or twenty years. But coming back relationships, I just
675
00:36:01.880 --> 00:36:04.440
think that that's what's going to continue to be most
676
00:36:04.480 --> 00:36:05.719
important to what we do.
677
00:36:07.199 --> 00:36:11.079
You know, you're you're talking about some big topics right
678
00:36:11.119 --> 00:36:17.320
now that are popular, some hot topics, and AI is
679
00:36:18.119 --> 00:36:23.039
definitely people are slinging that word out there. AI everything
680
00:36:23.440 --> 00:36:28.559
and you know, what is ESI's thoughts on technology. I mean,
681
00:36:28.559 --> 00:36:30.840
if you want to throw AI in there, that's fine,
682
00:36:30.840 --> 00:36:33.199
but just technology in general.
683
00:36:33.519 --> 00:36:34.920
Yeah.
684
00:36:35.000 --> 00:36:37.920
Well, we have what we call our Innovation Lab, and
685
00:36:38.039 --> 00:36:42.639
we have an AI Innovation Strategy group that get together
686
00:36:43.119 --> 00:36:46.679
and can pressure test some of those new and upcoming
687
00:36:46.880 --> 00:36:48.239
technologies that are coming out.
688
00:36:49.159 --> 00:36:51.199
It's definitely a benefit to us to.
689
00:36:51.320 --> 00:36:55.159
Have that lab down there and to be investing in
690
00:36:55.480 --> 00:36:58.559
what could be, you know, part of the future of construction.
691
00:36:59.119 --> 00:37:01.719
I think the biggest one right now is VDC and
692
00:37:02.320 --> 00:37:05.039
BIM modeling and what you can do with drones and
693
00:37:05.079 --> 00:37:08.239
what you can do with laser scanning and setting up
694
00:37:08.239 --> 00:37:11.960
a building where we could put on virtual goggles, you know,
695
00:37:12.000 --> 00:37:16.320
and essentially walk through this entire building with virtual imaging.
696
00:37:16.599 --> 00:37:16.920
Cool.
697
00:37:17.360 --> 00:37:20.199
Yeah, and we have that downstairs today and we've got
698
00:37:20.199 --> 00:37:23.039
a team that works on that every day and puts
699
00:37:23.079 --> 00:37:25.639
buildings together virtually so that we can share those and
700
00:37:25.679 --> 00:37:28.239
walk through them with our customers. There's some other things
701
00:37:28.239 --> 00:37:31.000
that are out there, you know, with robotics that can
702
00:37:31.039 --> 00:37:34.079
do daily reports, that can walk your job site and
703
00:37:34.119 --> 00:37:38.119
identify safety concerns, whether it's a floor opening or someone
704
00:37:38.119 --> 00:37:42.079
that doesn't have ppe on you can do takeoffs, and
705
00:37:42.119 --> 00:37:44.960
you can do you know, essentially look at a building
706
00:37:44.960 --> 00:37:48.119
and tell you how many how many sheets of drywall
707
00:37:48.159 --> 00:37:48.840
you're gonna need.
708
00:37:49.119 --> 00:37:50.800
So that's definitely helpful.
709
00:37:50.880 --> 00:37:53.400
And we're we're looking into what's the right thing for
710
00:37:53.480 --> 00:37:55.639
us today again, making sure that we're staying on the
711
00:37:55.679 --> 00:37:58.599
leading edge, not the bleeding edge, making sure that we're
712
00:37:58.599 --> 00:38:02.039
getting the right software that meets what we do. We're
713
00:38:02.159 --> 00:38:05.039
very diverse and we have a lot of really smart
714
00:38:05.079 --> 00:38:08.280
people that work here, so there's a lot of great
715
00:38:08.320 --> 00:38:10.599
ideas coming out, and so we have the team that
716
00:38:10.639 --> 00:38:13.320
filters through those and says, this is where we should
717
00:38:13.320 --> 00:38:15.800
focus our time and energy today. This is where we
718
00:38:15.840 --> 00:38:18.320
need to focus our attention this year. And let's make
719
00:38:18.360 --> 00:38:20.920
this part of our strategy for twenty twenty six, twenty
720
00:38:20.960 --> 00:38:24.519
twenty seven, twenty twenty eight and continue to advance but
721
00:38:24.679 --> 00:38:27.679
at the right speed and at the right pace, not
722
00:38:27.800 --> 00:38:29.480
too fast the point that we get out in front
723
00:38:29.519 --> 00:38:32.519
of ourselves, but fast enough that we can stay on
724
00:38:32.559 --> 00:38:33.400
the leading edge of it.
725
00:38:33.679 --> 00:38:39.800
So that's strong. The robotics and all that is so cool.
726
00:38:40.400 --> 00:38:42.559
I think maybe even a nugget for the marketing team
727
00:38:42.639 --> 00:38:46.159
is to go advertise to all those kids that are
728
00:38:46.320 --> 00:38:50.480
playing video games and obsessed with the video games, show
729
00:38:50.519 --> 00:38:53.599
them that technology can be fun to play with at work,
730
00:38:53.719 --> 00:38:57.039
and that's how it's being used today to help build buildings.
731
00:38:57.559 --> 00:38:59.639
It's almost like playing a game of what they're used
732
00:38:59.639 --> 00:39:01.360
to at home, so it makes it a lot of fun.
733
00:39:01.400 --> 00:39:02.239
It's interesting.
734
00:39:02.559 --> 00:39:04.039
Yeah, I think that's a great point, you know, when
735
00:39:04.480 --> 00:39:07.880
we just think about like our military and what's advanced
736
00:39:08.119 --> 00:39:11.599
in how we protect our country and how we protect
737
00:39:12.199 --> 00:39:15.480
our buildings, and some of the smartest people in the
738
00:39:15.480 --> 00:39:21.000
military are not out necessarily in the field. They're running
739
00:39:21.000 --> 00:39:23.760
a remote control in another you know, in another country
740
00:39:24.880 --> 00:39:26.519
from where the drones are flying.
741
00:39:27.480 --> 00:39:27.719
You know.
742
00:39:27.960 --> 00:39:29.679
I think some of our smartest people are still in
743
00:39:29.679 --> 00:39:32.519
the field in construction though, and when I go out there,
744
00:39:32.639 --> 00:39:35.039
I'm just amazed at what our field does every single
745
00:39:35.119 --> 00:39:38.400
day and how they can accomplish what they can accomplish. Again,
746
00:39:38.440 --> 00:39:42.079
it comes back to those relationships, and our most successful
747
00:39:42.119 --> 00:39:45.159
superintendents are those that have the best relationships with our
748
00:39:45.159 --> 00:39:49.119
trade partners and how they coordinate and communicate and work
749
00:39:49.159 --> 00:39:52.000
with each other and really build a team. And it's
750
00:39:52.199 --> 00:39:54.320
it's always amazing to me that you can have a
751
00:39:54.360 --> 00:39:56.920
six month project and how quickly they get that team
752
00:39:56.960 --> 00:40:00.000
built together and they win their Super Bowl by building
753
00:40:00.079 --> 00:40:03.039
an amazing building and turning over to our customer and
754
00:40:03.079 --> 00:40:07.239
our customer loving what they did. So again, technology is great,
755
00:40:07.639 --> 00:40:11.159
and the advancement of AI and robotics is impressive, and
756
00:40:11.159 --> 00:40:13.519
I'm always amazed by it, But it comes back to
757
00:40:13.559 --> 00:40:16.280
the people that are doing the work, particularly the people
758
00:40:16.280 --> 00:40:16.639
that are.
759
00:40:16.519 --> 00:40:17.079
In the field.
760
00:40:17.400 --> 00:40:20.400
So you could go just randomly pick out one of
761
00:40:20.400 --> 00:40:23.039
the supers and say, hey, go coach that little league team.
762
00:40:23.440 --> 00:40:24.760
They'll probably take them really far.
763
00:40:25.000 --> 00:40:27.480
Yeah, absolutely, yeah, you know, And that's really what it
764
00:40:27.559 --> 00:40:31.599
is is they're just have really great leadership and we've
765
00:40:31.639 --> 00:40:34.400
been fortunate to have them be part of our team.
766
00:40:34.960 --> 00:40:40.280
As a construction superintendent. So when you think about the
767
00:40:40.360 --> 00:40:45.159
concept of construction and you take a green field that
768
00:40:46.079 --> 00:40:50.079
maybe has unsuitable soils that is, you know, really muddy
769
00:40:50.800 --> 00:40:53.400
or really rocky, and we say we're going to put
770
00:40:53.760 --> 00:40:55.800
a five story building on there that's not going to
771
00:40:55.840 --> 00:40:56.480
fall over.
772
00:40:56.840 --> 00:40:58.280
It's a pretty interesting concept.
773
00:40:58.920 --> 00:41:03.000
And then you have to take the plans and actually
774
00:41:03.079 --> 00:41:05.320
go to work and use the yellow iron to move
775
00:41:05.360 --> 00:41:09.119
the earth and build the footings and stand the building
776
00:41:09.119 --> 00:41:13.679
and go vertical with it. Someone has to be out there,
777
00:41:13.719 --> 00:41:16.920
and someone has to be taking quality into account and
778
00:41:16.960 --> 00:41:20.039
safety into account and making sure that our trade partners
779
00:41:20.079 --> 00:41:23.440
are showing up and completing their work on time. That
780
00:41:23.480 --> 00:41:26.559
takes someone that's really intelligent, and so we're you know,
781
00:41:26.599 --> 00:41:28.599
we're super fortunate that we have a lot of those
782
00:41:28.639 --> 00:41:31.280
individuals out in the field right now. The other piece
783
00:41:31.320 --> 00:41:34.159
of this is equipment operators. You know, we have a
784
00:41:34.199 --> 00:41:36.199
goal Julia that's just incredibles.
785
00:41:36.280 --> 00:41:38.199
She's one of our best crane operators. WO.
786
00:41:38.480 --> 00:41:41.480
So she's out there at Micron and she's just working
787
00:41:41.519 --> 00:41:44.480
hard every day to support that team. She does more
788
00:41:44.519 --> 00:41:47.039
than just run a crane though. She's leading people and
789
00:41:47.079 --> 00:41:50.400
she's communicating and she has a strong presence about her
790
00:41:50.400 --> 00:41:53.199
even though she's quiet, and how she handles herself. And
791
00:41:53.840 --> 00:41:57.239
so I think those are some great examples of robotics
792
00:41:57.280 --> 00:41:58.559
and AI is important.
793
00:41:58.719 --> 00:42:01.039
We need it, but at the end of the day, it.
794
00:42:01.159 --> 00:42:05.119
Still requires good quality people and people with strong leadership
795
00:42:05.119 --> 00:42:07.239
skills in order for us to do what we do
796
00:42:07.480 --> 00:42:12.039
and take a green, grassy field to an amazing building.
797
00:42:12.719 --> 00:42:16.519
You said it's Julia. Yeah, Well, shout out to Julia.
798
00:42:17.239 --> 00:42:22.360
You know, women in construction. It's needed. It's needed, So
799
00:42:22.440 --> 00:42:24.840
I love to hear that you guys support that. I mean,
800
00:42:24.840 --> 00:42:28.719
you've said so many incredible things about EESI and the
801
00:42:28.719 --> 00:42:31.159
things that you're doing, the way that your culture is built.
802
00:42:32.280 --> 00:42:33.960
Is there anything that you would want to share? I mean,
803
00:42:33.960 --> 00:42:37.800
we have all different kind of listeners. We have, you know,
804
00:42:37.840 --> 00:42:41.920
the younger listeners. You know, we push out. We have
805
00:42:42.360 --> 00:42:46.159
a big survey for she Builds Nation for the women
806
00:42:46.199 --> 00:42:49.800
in construction to help bring things to light for the
807
00:42:49.840 --> 00:42:51.920
women in construction as well. And then also we have
808
00:42:53.559 --> 00:42:56.079
I mean, you might have some potential customers looking at
809
00:42:56.079 --> 00:42:59.320
this podcast. You know, with all these things out there,
810
00:42:59.360 --> 00:43:01.800
is there anything that you feel like you need to
811
00:43:01.840 --> 00:43:05.360
put out there for people to know about ESI outside
812
00:43:05.360 --> 00:43:07.639
of you know, the amazing culture that you guys have built.
813
00:43:08.480 --> 00:43:10.079
And I think the biggest thing is is that we're
814
00:43:10.119 --> 00:43:13.599
built on good people. We're built on a strong foundation
815
00:43:13.960 --> 00:43:16.639
with great leadership that's allowed us to get to where
816
00:43:16.679 --> 00:43:20.639
we are. We're focused on building a legacy. Where we
817
00:43:20.679 --> 00:43:23.760
are didn't just happen by accident over the last fifty
818
00:43:23.760 --> 00:43:27.239
two years. It happened because people were intentional. It happened
819
00:43:27.239 --> 00:43:31.320
because someone believed in someone else, and we passed a
820
00:43:31.360 --> 00:43:34.639
torch to take on a new responsibility. And that's happening
821
00:43:34.760 --> 00:43:38.840
every day here. Whether that's a carpenter that's been out
822
00:43:38.880 --> 00:43:42.039
in the field for a week, or a superintendent that's
823
00:43:42.039 --> 00:43:45.199
been here for twenty years, or an executive leader that's
824
00:43:45.199 --> 00:43:48.280
been here for thirty it's happening every day. And that's
825
00:43:48.320 --> 00:43:52.199
what's really exciting is that we are focused on investing
826
00:43:52.239 --> 00:43:54.119
in people and coming back to what we had talked
827
00:43:54.119 --> 00:43:57.320
about a little bit earlier, is our legacy is as
828
00:43:57.360 --> 00:43:59.920
important as your legacy, and so we want to help
829
00:44:00.159 --> 00:44:02.559
everybody that works here build their legacy. We want them
830
00:44:02.599 --> 00:44:06.280
to feel great about what they do. We want their
831
00:44:06.320 --> 00:44:08.920
friends and family to be excited to know that they
832
00:44:08.920 --> 00:44:11.519
work at SI and when they drive by a building
833
00:44:11.719 --> 00:44:14.760
or our office, they get to say, I'm part of that,
834
00:44:15.000 --> 00:44:17.400
and for people that they're with to say, that's so great.
835
00:44:17.440 --> 00:44:18.280
You get to be part of that.
836
00:44:18.639 --> 00:44:20.880
And it doesn't happen with one person, happens with all
837
00:44:20.920 --> 00:44:24.679
of us. So you know, we're over thirteen hundred people
838
00:44:24.760 --> 00:44:28.360
now as an organization. Wow, So that's a little bit
839
00:44:28.559 --> 00:44:31.519
difficult at times to reach out to everyone and let
840
00:44:31.599 --> 00:44:34.400
them know how much we appreciate them, and so it
841
00:44:34.480 --> 00:44:38.400
really comes down to disseminating that leadership. We really believe
842
00:44:38.440 --> 00:44:43.079
in the extreme ownership concept and the dichotomy of leadership
843
00:44:43.079 --> 00:44:46.840
and making sure that we share the disciplines of success,
844
00:44:47.159 --> 00:44:51.760
and that takes everybody at every level. So again from
845
00:44:51.800 --> 00:44:55.679
the leadership that helps us every day to build this organization,
846
00:44:56.440 --> 00:44:58.679
to see the vision in the future of where we're
847
00:44:58.679 --> 00:45:01.519
going to the superintendent consider in the field building the
848
00:45:01.559 --> 00:45:06.159
buildings right now, to the future of the carpenter that
849
00:45:06.280 --> 00:45:09.199
just started here yesterday. We need we need all of them,
850
00:45:09.320 --> 00:45:12.599
and we need, you know, continued investment in the trade
851
00:45:12.599 --> 00:45:15.039
in the workforce. The workforce is probably one of the
852
00:45:15.079 --> 00:45:17.920
most challenging things. We can talk about AI and robotics
853
00:45:18.320 --> 00:45:22.159
and where that's going. That's advancing quickly. What's not advancing
854
00:45:22.440 --> 00:45:26.239
quickly enough, in our opinion, is people that are educated
855
00:45:26.360 --> 00:45:30.840
and know how to build the buildings that the generation,
856
00:45:31.039 --> 00:45:33.519
the next generation coming up. We got to get them
857
00:45:33.599 --> 00:45:36.280
up to speed faster. We got to get them, you know,
858
00:45:36.679 --> 00:45:40.000
involved in in the trenches per se faster so that
859
00:45:40.039 --> 00:45:43.840
they can take on the next opportunity and the next
860
00:45:43.880 --> 00:45:48.599
responsibility of continuing to build the industry and continue the
861
00:45:48.920 --> 00:45:52.079
industry that we get to be part of, have it
862
00:45:52.199 --> 00:45:54.639
be great, and that's that's important that we have that
863
00:45:55.000 --> 00:45:56.320
investment in the next generation.
864
00:45:56.519 --> 00:46:01.719
So the leadership team does a wonderful jaz of helping
865
00:46:01.800 --> 00:46:07.039
buy in from new potential employees by seeing that career path,
866
00:46:07.719 --> 00:46:09.920
you know, if they have that visual of like, hey,
867
00:46:09.960 --> 00:46:11.800
this could be the journey that I go on and
868
00:46:11.840 --> 00:46:14.559
it looks pretty awesome. Yeah, you know, I feel like
869
00:46:14.639 --> 00:46:17.199
that's super powerful. So I'm glad that you guys actually
870
00:46:17.719 --> 00:46:19.800
take a lot of pride in what you do there.
871
00:46:20.000 --> 00:46:24.000
It's super important, you know everything that you mentioned too.
872
00:46:24.119 --> 00:46:27.360
I mean, I'm heavily involved in trying to help out
873
00:46:27.559 --> 00:46:31.519
with you know, the labor shortage and figuring out ways
874
00:46:31.559 --> 00:46:36.519
to educate that next generation faster so that they can
875
00:46:36.559 --> 00:46:39.960
take on the responsibility of the next people that are
876
00:46:40.000 --> 00:46:43.280
about to retire. You know, there's ways that we there's
877
00:46:43.320 --> 00:46:45.360
things that we have to do to kind of collaborate
878
00:46:45.400 --> 00:46:47.760
together so that we can help that next generation. I
879
00:46:47.800 --> 00:46:50.000
know that we are doing things behind the scenes to
880
00:46:51.079 --> 00:46:54.679
expedite that. But yeah, but I'm glad and I hope
881
00:46:54.679 --> 00:46:58.199
more people look into ESI and what you guys are doing.
882
00:46:58.239 --> 00:47:02.880
If if somebody needs to find ESI. I know you
883
00:47:02.920 --> 00:47:05.920
mentioned the website earlier. If you wouldn't mind repeating that,
884
00:47:05.960 --> 00:47:08.639
and then how can people get a hold of you?
885
00:47:09.079 --> 00:47:10.480
Yeah, I think you know.
886
00:47:10.559 --> 00:47:13.639
Just go to our website www dot e SI Construction
887
00:47:13.800 --> 00:47:17.320
dot com. We're based here in Meridy and Idaho. The
888
00:47:17.360 --> 00:47:19.159
other piece that we didn't talk about, you know, as
889
00:47:19.159 --> 00:47:21.519
far as our offices, we have an office in eastern
890
00:47:21.519 --> 00:47:24.360
Idaho as well. We have an office in northern Idaho.
891
00:47:24.800 --> 00:47:27.920
We have an office in Colorado, Golden Colorado, which is
892
00:47:27.920 --> 00:47:31.360
our design firm. Yeah, we have an office in just
893
00:47:31.400 --> 00:47:35.920
outside of Portland, in the Portland area, So we have
894
00:47:36.000 --> 00:47:43.000
opportunities throughout the country really, and we have traveling superintendent openings,
895
00:47:43.039 --> 00:47:47.679
we have local superintendent openings, and then we have obviously
896
00:47:48.280 --> 00:47:50.800
support staff and office positions that are opened through that
897
00:47:50.840 --> 00:47:52.719
website as well. So if you go to that website,
898
00:47:52.840 --> 00:47:55.199
it has everything you need to know about SI, what
899
00:47:55.239 --> 00:47:58.199
we do, who we are, what we are vision, and
900
00:47:58.239 --> 00:48:01.039
where we're going and then you can ply right there.
901
00:48:01.679 --> 00:48:04.639
I think I'll switch around my comment that I made
902
00:48:04.719 --> 00:48:08.360
earlier about don't move to Idaho. I think if you're
903
00:48:08.400 --> 00:48:10.079
out of state and you want to work for ESI,
904
00:48:10.400 --> 00:48:12.719
then that's an exception. Then you can move to Idaho
905
00:48:12.760 --> 00:48:16.760
as long as you're working for ESI. It's funny. I
906
00:48:16.840 --> 00:48:20.159
was at a conference and we were meeting with students
907
00:48:20.159 --> 00:48:23.519
to talk about an app that we launched, Builder Facts,
908
00:48:23.559 --> 00:48:27.800
about tracking license and certifications, and I asked them, I
909
00:48:27.880 --> 00:48:30.360
asked them point blank, and I was thinking about es
910
00:48:30.440 --> 00:48:32.400
I when I asked him this question. I said, Hey,
911
00:48:33.000 --> 00:48:36.599
if there was an opportunity that came up where you
912
00:48:36.599 --> 00:48:42.280
could work for an amazing construction company and it was
913
00:48:43.360 --> 00:48:48.559
randomly an Idaho, you know, would you relocate and build
914
00:48:48.559 --> 00:48:50.599
a life there? And just so you know, we were
915
00:48:50.639 --> 00:48:54.199
in Atlanta, Georgia at the time, and I asked two
916
00:48:54.239 --> 00:48:59.920
different students this exact same question, and they said, if
917
00:49:00.679 --> 00:49:03.800
that company could see that I was open for work
918
00:49:03.960 --> 00:49:07.079
with the builder FACS app and reach out to me,
919
00:49:07.239 --> 00:49:11.559
knowing that I wasn't working with a contractor today, I
920
00:49:11.559 --> 00:49:14.519
would move there in a heartbeat. Knowing that they're using
921
00:49:14.599 --> 00:49:20.760
technology to attract that next generation talent and bring us in.
922
00:49:20.960 --> 00:49:24.079
It just shows already why wouldn't you go walk a
923
00:49:24.159 --> 00:49:27.880
tour of the location and get familiar with a potential
924
00:49:27.960 --> 00:49:31.000
employer like that? So I really feel like you guys
925
00:49:31.000 --> 00:49:34.039
are on the right track to attract that next talent
926
00:49:34.119 --> 00:49:37.119
of what you're doing kind of behind the scenes, but
927
00:49:37.840 --> 00:49:42.760
the opportunity to move to a wonderful location like Idaho
928
00:49:42.840 --> 00:49:45.440
or even Golden Colorado. I mean, I'm big on snowboarding.
929
00:49:45.480 --> 00:49:48.800
You're not too far from the mountains when you're living
930
00:49:48.840 --> 00:49:52.119
in Golden Colorado. So once you're off of work, playtime
931
00:49:52.239 --> 00:49:55.599
on the weekends is a lot of fun. So yeah,
932
00:49:55.639 --> 00:49:57.599
shout out to everything that you guys are doing and
933
00:49:57.599 --> 00:50:02.480
where you're located before we wrap up. No pressure here.
934
00:50:02.800 --> 00:50:07.960
You can say whatever you need to say. If you
935
00:50:08.119 --> 00:50:12.559
met somebody that was new to construction, maybe they're just
936
00:50:12.559 --> 00:50:17.119
getting into it, what advice would you have for that individual?
937
00:50:19.199 --> 00:50:21.639
If you want to be part of an industry that
938
00:50:22.800 --> 00:50:25.519
you can have a career in and you can grow
939
00:50:25.800 --> 00:50:28.880
and you can whether that's you know, raise a family
940
00:50:29.320 --> 00:50:34.880
or travel around the country. The opportunities are endless in
941
00:50:35.119 --> 00:50:37.719
the industry. And you know, I'm so fortunate that my
942
00:50:37.840 --> 00:50:40.280
dad was in it and got me into it. I'm
943
00:50:40.320 --> 00:50:42.840
so fortunate that, you know, I was surrounded by great
944
00:50:42.840 --> 00:50:46.119
people that encouraged me and inspired me. The best mentors
945
00:50:46.119 --> 00:50:49.000
I've had have been in the industry. So you know,
946
00:50:49.039 --> 00:50:52.679
it's really about the people that are here in the industry.
947
00:50:53.280 --> 00:50:55.800
We mentioned it before, but it's it's a small industry.
948
00:50:56.119 --> 00:50:58.039
It really is a small industry. I was working with
949
00:50:58.079 --> 00:51:02.400
a customer just recently and I'd mentioned, you know, my
950
00:51:02.480 --> 00:51:05.199
name is Jaret Whitescarver, and he he asked me, you're
951
00:51:05.199 --> 00:51:08.400
not related to Steve white Scarver, are you? And you know,
952
00:51:08.440 --> 00:51:12.199
we're two thousand miles away from where my uncle lives
953
00:51:12.239 --> 00:51:16.760
and he ran he ran a rock plant, a batchplant
954
00:51:17.119 --> 00:51:17.599
in Washington.
955
00:51:17.599 --> 00:51:18.679
And say, yeah, that's my uncle.
956
00:51:18.760 --> 00:51:20.800
So you know, that's just an example of really how
957
00:51:20.840 --> 00:51:24.719
small this industry is. And so if you want to
958
00:51:24.719 --> 00:51:26.920
be part of something, you know, and make a splash
959
00:51:27.519 --> 00:51:30.960
in your community and make a difference in where you
960
00:51:31.039 --> 00:51:33.599
live and where you work and where you play, this
961
00:51:33.639 --> 00:51:36.559
is the industry to do it. And there's just there's
962
00:51:36.599 --> 00:51:40.199
just great people. And that's really what excites me to
963
00:51:40.239 --> 00:51:42.159
come to work every day is I get to work
964
00:51:42.199 --> 00:51:42.920
with great people.
965
00:51:43.239 --> 00:51:44.679
And that's what the industry is built on.
966
00:51:45.000 --> 00:51:49.599
So is it safe to say that anybody that's graduating college,
967
00:51:50.159 --> 00:51:54.880
high school, doesn't matter, they should consider construction first.
968
00:51:55.559 --> 00:51:56.639
Absolutely? Yeah.
969
00:51:56.800 --> 00:51:59.079
I mean, you know, in my mind was that a softball,
970
00:52:00.199 --> 00:52:02.400
a little bit of a softball. But yeah, absolutely, I
971
00:52:02.440 --> 00:52:05.480
think you know, if you even if you have an
972
00:52:05.519 --> 00:52:08.239
idea of what you want to do and you've got
973
00:52:08.239 --> 00:52:10.119
a little bit of downtime, you know, with a lot
974
00:52:10.119 --> 00:52:12.599
of these a lot of the students that are graduate
975
00:52:12.639 --> 00:52:14.719
from high school now have these gap years that they're
976
00:52:14.760 --> 00:52:16.039
not really sure if they want to go on to
977
00:52:16.280 --> 00:52:19.199
school or if they want to join the military, which
978
00:52:19.199 --> 00:52:21.360
are our great careers as well and great you know,
979
00:52:21.519 --> 00:52:23.679
I guess the next steps they're the great next steps
980
00:52:23.679 --> 00:52:27.159
in where you're headed. If you have any questions or
981
00:52:27.199 --> 00:52:30.760
you have and I you know, some some downtime, you
982
00:52:30.800 --> 00:52:33.719
should get into construction and come be you know, come
983
00:52:33.800 --> 00:52:36.639
be some some boots on the ground for us or
984
00:52:36.800 --> 00:52:39.639
or somewhere else. But yeah, you should absolutely try it out,
985
00:52:40.000 --> 00:52:42.559
and it'll make you a better person, and it'll surround
986
00:52:42.599 --> 00:52:44.559
you by you know, surround you'll be surrounded by great
987
00:52:44.559 --> 00:52:45.920
people who encourage you and mentor you.
988
00:52:46.400 --> 00:52:49.639
I can attest to that. That was my life changing
989
00:52:49.679 --> 00:52:52.880
moment was when I got in construction. So I definitely
990
00:52:52.880 --> 00:52:55.960
can validate that comment, that's for sure. Yeah, well, Jarrett,
991
00:52:56.599 --> 00:53:00.039
thank you for coming on the show. I really appreciate it,
992
00:53:00.119 --> 00:53:03.760
and everyone that's listening to this, make sure you like,
993
00:53:04.119 --> 00:53:09.320
subscribe and share this with everybody in the construction industry,
994
00:53:09.360 --> 00:53:12.639
and we will see you next time. Thank you, Thanks
995
00:53:12.719 --> 00:53:26.440
Jared Yep, thank you. If you're a construction contractor and
996
00:53:26.480 --> 00:53:28.519
would like to appear as a guest on our podcast,
997
00:53:28.679 --> 00:53:32.760
write us an email. It's Lou at lumberfi dot com.