Beyond the Skyline

Minnesota Statewide Limited Energy JATC, a nonprofit program that trains men and women to work in the burgeoning low-voltage energy industry, hardly missed a beat after the COVID-19 crisis brought much of the economy to its knees.

The program has its main facility in Fridley, but it trains workers across the state. When the state closed schools in response to the crisis, Limited Energy quickly adapted its program to ensure that training would continue in line with state guidelines.

“We were only down for one week, and it was the definition of a team effort,” says Dave Dressler, who heads the program, which is sponsored by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and the National Electrical Contractors Association.

In the following interview with Reporter Brian Johnson, Dressler talks about his rise through the ranks in the low-voltage sector, the demand for new workers in the field, and the challenge of continuing training amid the worst health crisis in more than 100 years.

From perusing old-fashioned blueprints to dealing with the COVID-19 crisis, Mortenson Construction’s Rich Bistodeau has pretty much done it all on a construction site. Now, after nearly 50 years with the company, he’s calling it a career.

Bistodeau joined Mortenson in 1972 as a carpenter apprentice and rose through the ranks to become a superintendent. During that time, he worked on projects that include the Hennepin County Medical Center expansion in Minneapolis and other notable healthcare jobs.

In the following interview, Bistodeau talks about what led him to a career in construction, how the industry has changed in the past 47 years, the increasing focus on safety, and his plans for retirement.

As managing principal of Leo A Daly’s Minneapolis office, Cindy McCleary has seen the impact of a bonding bill and what it means for the industry and the state as a whole.

Leo A Daly’s project portfolio includes the Fort Snelling Visitor Center, the Second Harvest Heartland headquarters, and the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s facility. All were paid for with help from previous state bonding bills.

Besides playing a role in those impactful projects, McCleary has provided legislative support to groups seeking state money for their construction projects.

McCleary has 20 years of experience in design, planning, and management. She joined Leo A Daly in 2011 as market sector leader for the public and institutional sector and was promoted to managing principal a year ago.

In the following interview, McCleary speaks with Reporter Brian Johnson about the Legislature’s failure to approve a $1.8 billion bill, the state of the building industry during the pandemic, and other topics.

University of Minnesota professor and leading workplace expert Theresa Glomb has some advice for people working from home – and their employers -- amid the COVID-19 crisis.

“I love the phrase, ‘Don't waste a crisis,’” says Glomb, a professor in the Carlson School of Management’s Department of Work and Organizations. “And I think this is very true here because we have an opportunity to really change things and think about how we manage how we work.”

A sought-after speaker, Glomb has conducted extensive research on work environments with help from surveys, interviews and assessments and other methodologies. Participants include thousands of workers and dozens of companies.

Glomb’s research has been published in journals such as the Academy of Management Journal and the Journal of Applied Psychology, and has been cited in media outlets such as the Wall Street Journal, The Economist, and Huffington Post, according to her website.

In the following interview with reporter Brian Johnson, Glomb talks about the pros and cons of working from home, how working from home affects productivity, the workplace of the future and more.

Dagmara Larsen brings a global perspective to the local design community, where she has made a name for herself as a mentor and a designer of award-winning libraries and other projects.

Larsen earned her architecture degree in her native country of Poland. From there, she gained international experience before coming to the U.S. and landing a job with MSR Design in Minneapolis. She was promoted to principal last year.

More recently, Larsen was one of three local architects to receive an American Institute of Architects-Minnesota Young Architects Award. The prestigious honor recognizes individuals who have shown “exceptional leadership and made significant contributions to the profession within the first 10 years of being licensed to practice.”

In addition to her regular practice, Larsen teaches at the University of Minnesota and mentors architecture students at the U of M and Dunwoody College of Technology. She juggles those activities with volunteer work on committees for schools and literary organizations.

Larsen has served for more than five years as chair of the Board for Articulture, a local nonprofit that “drives positive change through the visual arts – aspirations similar to those she envisions for architecture,” according to her Young Architects nomination form.

Larsen earned the award based in part on “her excellence in design and strong voice in library and higher education design, which has a significant impact on communities,” according to AIA Minnesota.

In the following interview, Larsen talks with Reporter Brian Johnson about some of her notable projects and what drew her to the profession.

There’s nothing like starting a new job in the middle of a global pandemic and then hitting the ground running with oversight of a game-changing, $1 billion-plus development at a former auto plant site.

So it is for Maureen Michalski, who joined Minneapolis-based Ryan Cos. US Inc. in mid-March, just when the coronavirus crisis was heating up. As executive in charge of the Ford site redevelopment in St. Paul’s Highland Park neighborhood, she’s putting her talents to use on a project that will create thousands of new homes and other uses on a 122-acre property.

A graduate of Macalester College, Michalski came to Ryan from Schafer Richardson, where she was a project manager and director of development. Previously, she was project manager at Aeon.

Michalski is a board member of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties, Minnesota chapter, and is the chair of the Macalester College High Winds Fund, which aims to “maintain and improve the beauty, serenity, and security of the area surrounding the campus of Macalester College.”

In the following interview, Michalski talks about the Ford site redevelopment, what attracted her to Ryan Cos., and how she got into the commercial real estate business.

As a construction lobbyist for the Associated Builders and Contractors of Minnesota and North Dakota, Adam Hanson is a familiar face at the Minnesota State Capitol.

This spring, Hanson wrapped up his fifth legislative session as ABC’s director of government and public affairs. But before he went to bat for merit shop contractors, Hanson shadowed the likes of Joe Mauer and Torii Hunter as a batboy and clubhouse attendant for the Minnesota Twins.

A graduate of Hamline University and William Mitchell College of Law, Hanson also served as a Minnesota Senate legislative assistant, a law clerk for the Institute of Justice, and communications intern for Gov. Tim Pawlenty, among other jobs.

In the following interview, Hanson talks about his duties with ABC, a potential follow-up to the recent special legislative session, and what it was like to retrieve bats and balls for the hometown team.

From legislative hearings to medical appointments, most everything it seems has gone virtual amid the COVID-19 pandemic – and building inspections are no exception.

With inspectors in short supply because of COVID-19 and broader industry trends, contractors like St. Louis Park-based Knutson Construction are using such technology to meet their clients’ inspection needs.

Knutson, for example, recently conducted a virtual inspection for the Minnesota Department of Health. With help from a 3D video camera and a follow-up virtual meeting, Knutson completed the work with minimal foot traffic on the jobsite.

Katie Montag, a registered architect, has been leading that effort for Knutson. In the following interview, Montag talks about the process and the future of virtual inspection technology.

Enterprise Minnesota, a Minneapolis-based business consulting firm dedicated to helping small and mid-size manufactures compete and grow, bills itself as the voice of Minnesota’s manufacturing field. So it stands to reason that the organization’s CEO, Bob Kill, is to a great extent the name and face of the industry.

A sought-after speaker and industry expert, Kill appeared at the June 10 National Conference of State Legislators, where he shared the results of Enterprise Minnesota’s 2020 State of Manufacturing Survey.

The survey, which was conducted from March 2 to March 23, offered insight into challenges that keep manufacturers awake at night, including the costs of health care coverage, the shortage of qualified workers and economic and global uncertainty.

Prior to leading Enterprise Minnesota, Kill was CEO and chairman of the board of Ciprico Inc., a manufacturer of high performance data and networking systems, according to his company bio. His resume also includes a stint with Burroughs Corp., and senior management positions with Northern Telecom Inc.

A graduate of the University of Minnesota-Morris, Kill has served on a number of industry boards, including the Minnesota Agriculture and Economic Development Board and the Minnesota Center for Engineering and Manufacturing Excellence Advisory Council.

In the following interview, Kill takes a deep dive into the state of Minnesota’s manufacturing industry.

From the deadly Spanish flu pandemic to the current health crisis, the Meritex Co. has survived and thrived through more than 100 years of history.

Harry McNeely, grandfather of the current chairman and CEO Paddy McNeely, founded the Minneapolis-based commercial real estate company with a single warehouse space in 1916 — just a year before the U.S. entered World War I and two years before the Spanish flu pandemic began.

The company, which focuses on light industrial properties, has since grown to include hundreds of tenants throughout the U.S. and a portfolio of more than 10 million square feet.

In the following interview, Paddy McNeely talks about the company’s rich history, keys to the firm’s success, and the state of the industry in the COVID-19 era.