Women in Construction 2024: Hardhats & Heels

In the Fall of 2023, Limbach’s Embrace Forum launched the first annual Embrace on the Road program— an initiative that inspires employees to join together and take action. This episode of Limbach Unlocked details the origins of Embrace on the Road, and explores the community partnerships that define the key Embrace initiative. Host James Swanson sits down with Robert Rhodes, Jr. (GM, Ohio, and Treasurer of Embrace Forum), and EOTR ambassadors Kay McKellar (Marketing & Communications Coordinator), and Stephanie Gonzalez (Energy Engineer) to discuss Embrace and EOTRs impact through two years.(2:15) Embrace on the Road is born (5:32) Kay and the Harper Tampa team visit Tampa Bay Tech, educating students on the career possibilities in our industry.(7:56) Mid-Atlantic teams up with the Maryland Center for Construction Education & Innovation (MCCEI), and Stephanie’s background with GW proves a perfect opportunity.(10:17) “We Care” through Embrace on the Road.(13:30) Kay’s connection to Tampa Bay Tech triggers a strong relationship in the works.(16:42) Learning goes both ways, and the impact mentorship can have on Mid-Atlantic’s newest partnership. (20:25) Embrace and EOTR: It’s all about creating belonging and inclusivity across the board. Interested in joining the EOTR effort at your local branch? Raise your hand! We’re continuously looking to build the initiative. To learn more, visit the Limbach intranet, where you’ll find a link to Embrace, EOTR, and other company resource groups!

Our lives are increasingly intertwined with data and that means they’re intertwined with the unseen engines powering our online experiences: data centers. These colossal structures, housing countless servers and intricate networks, are the backbone of our modern world, and we get to build them. Garrett Hill, Special Projects Manager from Columbus, Ohio, gets to work in these mammoth buildings every day. Listen to how he contends with the challenges of data center work (2:50), leaning on prefabrication (3:45) and collaboration (6:03) to get the job done. His advice for project teams who work on these projects hinges on a key concept: Take a Week to Save a Month. To find out what he means and apply it to your next Data Center job, tune in!

Joined by Sales Manager, Ryan Sharpe, this episode explores Industrial Air’s 60-year business. Listen in as Ryan discusses the solutions and services that define the company’s expertise, and have generated industry success for six decades (3:57). Ryan then gives insight to some of the product offering evolution in recent years, including expansion of filtration systems (5:08). Learn where on the map Industrial Air does business (6:41). As a company we often talk about being a strategic and indispensable partner; what does that mean for Industrial Air (7:40)? How does our wide range of solution offerings differentiate us from competition (8:46)? Tune in as Ryan discusses opportunities for the business to push boundaries in the future (9:39), and what it means to be an Industrial Air employee (10:56).

What do you get with an Accounting degree, a 4th generation legacy in the industry, and a Navy background? No, it's not the beginning of a good joke, but it is the stories of three distinguished Limbach leaders who built their careers in surprising ways. Nick Perras, who initially graduated with an Accounting degree, is now the Vice President of Sales in our New England branch. Jason Ziegler, Ohio’s Operations Manager, began his career in the field as a 4th generation Limbach employee. And Allen Reiner, Western PA’s General Manager, started his career in the Navy before deciding on a career in HVAC. So how did these career paths evolve? You’ll have to tune in to find out their key lessons learned, the experiences they capitalized on, and the skills they started fostering in childhood and young adulthood that have served them well over the years and into their current leadership roles. Whether you’re early in your career, somewhere in the middle, or on the retirement horizon, you’ll want to listen to understand how you can mirror their successes and learn from their stories.

This episode is a continuation of our Day in the Life series! Listen in as host James Swanson is joined by Service Technician Supervisor, Kiefer Sullivan, to discuss the ins and outs of the Service Technician career path. Kiefer kicks us off with a look into his career with Harper and his role today (1:30). Next, let’s understand what kind of work our team of technicians performs on a daily basis (2:25), and the kinds of facilities we work in (3:28). Limbach is focused on being an indispensable partner to our building owners; what does that mean from a service perspective (4:28)? Kiefer explains in detail what kind of first-class service our customers can expect when partnering with us (5:14). If you’re interested in joining our service teams, this next part is for you! Listen as Kiefer explains the backgrounds and skill sets we look for (7:42), and the levels of training and career development at your fingertips as a Service Technician (9:35). Finally, I ask Kiefer what he’s most proud of as a member of the Company’s service team (11:15).

Safety Week is an annual celebration in the Construction Industry, but for us, an emphasis on safety is much more than one week and much more than just physical safety. But that focus has been part of a long journey. Join us as we hear from 2024 Safety Forum Chair, Rob Sudz, to learn about how we’ve shifted mindsets (3:15), actions (6:41), processes (18:00), and our culture to value every voice.

Introducing our Career Mobility episodes, where we explore career path options across the company. This episode provides depth on our special projects and service sectors of the business. If you’re an internal employee wishing to create career mobility for yourself, or an external candidate wanting to learn more about our teams, this episode is for you!Alex Kim, Special Projects Manager (Mid-Atlantic) - :55Connor O’Rourke, Special Projects Manager (EPA) - 10:47Chad Schmidt, Sr. Area Service Manager (Ohio) - 19:37Kristen Terry, Area Service Manager (Mid-Atlantic) - 25:11

In this episode, we celebrate Mike’s one year anniversary as CEO of Limbach! Tune in to hear what Mike is proud of in 2023 (1:15) and his strategic goals for 2024 (11:10). He recaps the company’s vision and strategy for acquisitions (8:30), including the offerings and unique cultural fit of our latest acquisition, Industrial Air (6:10). Mike rounds out the podcast by talking about some of Forbes’ 2024 workforce trends and how Limbach plans to address each one: Sustainable Working Practices (26:21), Future Skills (29:15), Employee & Customer Experience (33:30), Changing Workplace Demographics (37:10), and Digitization and Datafication/Lifelong Learning/Decentralized Workplace (39:00).

Join us as we celebrate Women in Construction with panelists Jehnifer Knott, Orlando Project Manager, Julinda Martin, Orlando Project Engineer, and Victoria Howard, an Apprentice in Local 537. We discuss their career journeys and key experiences that have given them the skills and expertise they believe women need to excel in this industry (3:39), and what they’ve learned from role models and mentors in their life (7:20). We gain insight into best practices for tools and gadgets, time management, organization, even clothing and workwear through a speed-round of some of the things women face on the job and how our panelists handle them (15:00). We close the episode by sharing a vision of the future for Women in Construction (26:00). This episode is for you, women in construction and service, and your allies!

Introducing our ‘Day in the Life’ series! These episodes explore various positions and teams here at Limbach, highlighting the difference-making talent and impact our people have on the communities they serve. This episode focuses on our in-house engineering team, and our very own Kim Murley joins me to discuss what it truly means to be a Limbach engineer. Listen in as Kim details her seven-year journey with the company, beginning as an intern, through her role today as an Engineer II (1:15). Next, Kim gives an overview of what services our engineering group provides, and what sets us apart as a design-build contractor and the engineers of record on a project (4:35). I ask Kim to describe the process and impact our engineers can have on a given job (6:44). Kim shares some great examples of how our engineers can be indispensable partners to building owners from start to finish (8:35). Next we shift focus to Limbach’s ODR business model and the added impact our engineers have during the beginning stages of a project (10:47). As a building owner, what kind of experience can you expect when working with our engineers (14:16)? How do we support an ever-evolving world of mission-critical facilities (16:10)? So you’re thinking about joining Limbach’s engineering team? Kim explains what makes this multi-talented group a great one to be a part of (11:55; 17:45).Kim and I wrap things up by discussing Women in Engineering and Construction, and the support she’s received as a woman in the industry here at Limbach (20:30).