Blue Collar StartUp

In this episode of Blue Collar StartUp, your hosts Mike Nelson of Five Towers Media and Derek Foster of Daigle Cleaning Services interview William Day, assistant project manager at Jersen Construction. Tune in as they explore strategies to incentivize careers in the trades for future workers, the ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously, the business development side of a construction company, and much more!

Get in touch with William via email at [email protected]

Want to connect with Blue Collar StartUp? Reach out to us at [email protected]

1:24 Derek is Off Screen Today

1:47 Introducing William Day

3:07 What is Jersen Construction?

4:01 The Nanotech Fabrication Facility

5:40 Concrete Pouring

7:20 Prep Time for a Concrete Pour

9:53 William’s Background

14:32 Military Testing and Boot Camp

19:08 What does a Typical Day Look Like?

21:43 Routines or the Lack Thereof

25:29 The Business Development Side

28:09 Managing Multiple Projects at a Time

29:26 Day-to-day Challenges

32:09 Supply Shortages

34:18 What is Project Management to William?

35:43 Software

37:11 Outlooks on the Current Labour Market

41:28 Supply and Demand

42:28 The Stigma of Construction Trades

45:27 Incentivizing the Trades in the Future

47:50 Everyone Knows Everyone

49:54 What does William do when he’s not Working 

52:53 One Piece of Advice

54:23 Where to Find William and Jersen Construction

55:02 Closing Statements and Thanking Sponsors

In this episode of Blue Collar StartUp, your hosts Mike Nelson of Five Towers Media and Derek Foster of Daigle Cleaning Services interview Shaw DuBourg, owner of Symmetric Electric. Tune in as they discuss the challenges of starting an electric company in a new state, navigating the market, the benefits of being part of a union, the importance of patience when launching a business, and much more!

Want to connect with Blue Collar StartUp? Reach out to us at [email protected]

1:07 Introducing Shaw DuBourg

2:40 The Contrast Between a Big Business and Someone Just Starting

5:50 Shaw’s Background

6:48 Contractors During Katrina

10:15 Moving to New York

12:50 Ending up in Fort Edward

14:50 The Challenges that Come with Opening Up Shop

16:12 Not Putting Pressure on Himself to Get Results

17:37 New York State Taxes and Insurance

18:46 South Dakota Residency

21:29 Finding Business in the Upstate Market

27:04 Accumulating Tools

32:49 Struggles of Constant Repetition

36:17 Looking to the Future

40:42 Starting with Residential Work

42:42 Daily Structure

44:09 The Ivy League Method

46:25 Being in a Union

49:09 Learn While you Earn

52:22 One Piece of Advice Shaw would give

55:11 Where to Find Shaw

56:00 Closing Thoughts

In this episode of Blue Collar StartUp, your hosts Mike Nelson (Five Towers Media) and Derek Foster (Daigle Cleaning Services) interview Matthew and Pete of Rifenburg Construction. Tune in to hear them discuss teamwork in the workplace, connecting with young people to grow the blue collar workforce, large scale project logistics, and much more!

Want to connect with Blue Collar StartUp? Reach out to us at [email protected]

0:16 Opening Statements

1:20 Introducing Pete LaFarr and Matthew Scott

5:32 Rifenburg Company Divisions

7:44 Rebuilding Efforts

9:54 Matthew and Pete's Background before Rifenburg

16:16 Pulling Matthew into the Office

18:51 Union or Non-Union?

21:16 The MVP Process

29:35 Re-enforcing Values

33:00 Looking at the Blue Collar Workforce

39:12 The Logistics of Large Scale Projects

46:42 Planning Time

49:45 70 Years in Business

51:31 Pride

52:35 One Piece of Advice from Pete and Matthew

55:06 Where to Find Rifenburg?

56:40 Thanking our Sponsors

58:02 Closing Thoughts

In this episode of Blue Collar StartUp, your hosts Mike Nelson (Five Towers Media) and Derek Foster (Daigle Cleaning Services) interview Nick and Kayla, owners of Trojan Home Services. Tune in to hear them discuss being self-taught, working full time while starting a new business, balancing out work with your partner, and much more!

0:50 Introducing Nick and Kayla

2:26 Painting and Home Services

3:44 The Journey to Start Trojan Home Services

4:24 Taking the Leap

7:28 First Big Job

9:11 Overnights 

10:21 Drumming up Business

13:58 Google Business Marketing

17:43 Being Self-Taught

18:27 Learning to Paint

20:08 The Power of Networking

23:02 Biggest Challenges

25:02 Balancing Each Other Out

26:26 Making a Logo & Website

30:16 Getting out into the World

35:20 Transitioning into your own Business

41:28 Overcoming Fears

45:37 Looking Forward to the Future

49:49 One Piece of Advice

53:47 Other Podcasts

54:55 Where to Reach Nick and Kayla

55:55 Thanking Sponsors and Closing Thoughts

In this episode of Blue Collar StartUp, your hosts Mike Nelson of Five Towers Media and Derek Foster of Daigle Cleaning Systems, interview CEO of Peak Advisory Jakob Kirschner. Tune in to hear them discuss the importance of having good data in accounting, how the size of a small business can affect their finances, and much more!

We want to showcase your blue collar business! Connect with us at [email protected]

0:16 Opening Introductions

1:16 Introducing Jakob

3:44 Moving to Colorado from Germany

5:51 Being a Fractional CFO

8:00 Budgeting 

9:50 Hiring a CPA in the Future

10:30 The Connection between Business Operations and Finances

13:22 Challenges with Bookkeeping Quality

17:10 Approaching $500k Businesses vs 2M Businesses

21:32 Pushing for ACH 

22:32 Getting the Money Sooner

25:16 Labour Costs

28:41 The Mercedes Factory

30:27 Adapting to Bookkeeping Softwares

31:01 Utilizing AI 

34:00 Having a Plan in Place

35:52 Morning Routines

39:45 A Piece of Advice

40:14 Where to Find Jakob

43:11 Thanks to our Sponsors

44:14 Closing Thoughts

In this episode of Blue Collar StartUp, host Mike Nelson interviews Scott Lawler, Chief Estimator at LeChase Construction. Tune in to hear about why Scott wanted to be an estimator, how school shaped his career path, finding construction opportunities, and more!

Contact Scott at [email protected] with any questions or inquiries you might have.

0:15 Opening Thoughts

0:53 Introducing Scott Lawler

3:44 20 Years with LeChase

5:50 Retention Rates

7:42 Bending the 9-5 Structure

11:26 Construction is Essential

12:55 Estimate Conversations

14:58 Why HVCC?

23:33 Sales and Estimating

32:54 Finding Opportunities

40:08 Northeast Construction Trades Workforce Coalition

44:42 Workforce Retirement and Opportunity

46:22 Where to Find Scott  

47:19 Reaching out to LeChase

In this episode, your hosts Mike Nelson of Five Towers Media and Derek Foster of Daigle Cleaning Systems interview Devon Camenga of Camenga Construction for a second time. Devon goes into depth about his experiences balancing new and old customers, transitioning from the education field, how he takes on apprentices, and more! 

0:18 Reintroducing Devon Camenga

2:21 Handyman vs General Contractor

4:50 All Phases of Construction

5:47 Searching for an Apprentice 

7:52 Devon’s Son

10:51 Educational Routes & Certifications

14:26 Good Contractors are Booked Out

16:39 From Education to Construction

19:11 The Transitional Period

21:46 Devon’s Goals for the Year

24:07 Taking Care of your Customers

26:00 Not Getting Underbid

27:49 One Job at a Time

29:45 Childhood Experiences

31:22 Insurance

35:05 Handling Expenses

40:58 Studying Market Trends

47:30 Making Money as a Business

51:17 Having a Good Work Ethic

52:50 Devon’s Advice

54:38 Where to find Devon?

58:57 Closing Thoughts

In this episode, your hosts Michael Nelson of Five Towers Media and Derek Foster of Daigle Cleaning Systems talk with Kaydance about her experience going to the BOCES program in Saratoga, how she landed her job in South Dakota right out of trade school, her family's collision shop, and more! 

0:42 Introducing Kaydance

1:20 The BOCES Collision Program

3:04 Why choose this path?

3:58 Kaydance’s parent’s shop

5:44 After graduation

7:45 How well were you prepared?

8:43 The cost of trade school 

10:23 Average income

11:12 Long-term plan

12:30 Kaydance’s biggest challenges

12:04 Weekly schedule and utilizing the shop

15:12 Cold weather

16:46 One piece of advice

18:19 Being at school during the pandemic

19:32 Closing thoughts

In this episode, your hosts Michael Nelson of Five Towers Media and Derek Foster of Daigle Cleaning Systems talk about their expectations and goals for the Blue Collar StartUp Podcast in 2025 and talk more about Derek’s experience starting a business from scratch. 

0:15 Excitement for 2025

1:03 Opening thoughts

5:28 Inspiring news from podcast listeners

6:40 First goal of 2025

8:29 More 2025 goals

9:51 Associate General Contractors and Curtis Lumber 

12:10 The size of Daigle Cleaning Systems and how to handle it

19:55 Growing a business

21:47 Being a leader in uncharted territory

24:45 How does Michael approach setting goals

30:09 Derek’s decision to launch his business

33:32 Why cleaning? 

34:58 Closing thoughts

Your hosts Derek Foster from Daigle Cleaning Systems and Michael Nelson from Five Towers Media sit down with Scott McKenna and Stacy Spector from Catamount Consulting. Learn more about Catamount Consulting on their website https://catamountconsultingllc.com