Forty industry professionals walk through your shop and office …

No, it’s not the start of a joke — but it was the setup for The Unified Group’s 2023 Construction Forum. Intech Mechanical, a member contractor in Roseville, California, hosted the annual event, allowing other members to tour the highly respected mechanical company and discuss ways to optimize space, time, and resources. The camaraderie, presentations, and amount of knowledge in one room helped make the event extraordinary.

Member MC, Josh Byler of Blauch Brothers, began the first day of meetings with around-the-room introductions. Handoff from Estimating/Engineering/Pre-Con to VDC held the conversation for most of the morning, followed by an overview of Intech Mechanical. The highlight of day one was the facility tour. Intech employees planned, designed and executed tour groups, while designating expert facilitators to provide a seamless and informative afternoon for all.

“Everything was very well done,” said Nick Andell of Wiegmann Associates. “You can tell how much everyone was dialed in to the Intech group and is part of the team.”

Feeling inspired, attendees came into day two eager to continue learning and sharing. The highest-rated segment was the Project Tracking and Performance Panel, which covered various methods used to measure percent complete and earned values. This piece was facilitated by Byler, and panelists included Jon Castro of B&I Contractors, Inc., Brandon Walker of Gregory-Edwards, Inc., Garrett Alstrup of Legacy Mechanical, Mike Keenan of VHV Company, and Scott Becherer of Wiegmann Associates.

“Seeing how other companies operate is very interesting,” said Ashley Duncan of General Sheet Metal. “There are always nuggets of information you can walk away with, and it makes you start to think about ways to implement different ideas into your own systems.”

The Working with GCs Panel was the favorite topic on the final day of the forum. Gary Myers of Intech facilitated, and panelists included Pansy Romo of Intech Mechanical, Chris Schaff of Air Controls, Scott Krum of Legacy Mechanical, Jason Tjader of Peterson Sheet Metal, and Andell. Panelists covered issues they’ve overcome with GCs and how to best deal with the negative impact of delays. Many GCs work out of sequence, so the full group discussed how they negotiate and work around these issues.

“This group really lowers all barriers and opens the door to real conversations about items we all need to discuss,” Becherer said. “A huge highlight of the group is hearing how others deal with the same issues and help us identify things that we need to improve.”

Overall, The Unified Group’s 2023 Construction Forum was an immense success that received nothing but great feedback. Each conference always provides a platform to learn, share, and grow, and upcoming forums include the Annual Meeting & Owners Forum, Service Management, Technicians, Sales, Leadership, Financial, and more!

If you are interested in attending a conference or want to inquire about membership with The Unified Group, email Janet Kelleher at KelleherJ@TheUnifiedGroup.com to learn more.