Dirt Talk Podcast

October 15, 2026

The Conversation Construction Avoids w/ Kristi Ronyak

Kristi Ronyak w/ Construction Angels – DT 487

Kristi Ronyak is the Founder and CEO of Construction Angels, a nonprofit providing immediate financial assistance and grief counseling to families after a construction worker is killed in a work-related accident. Growing up in a third-generation asphalt family, Kristi never really thought about construction fatalities until a woman collecting money for a fallen worker’s family stopped her at World of Asphalt in 2009. On the flight home, she couldn’t stop thinking about why an industry built around taking care of its own didn’t have an organization dedicated to supporting the families left behind.

That question eventually became Construction Angels. Kristi shares what happens in the days after a worker doesn’t come home, why more than half of the fatalities her organization responds to involve workers being struck by traffic, and why the construction industry needs to become more comfortable talking about death instead of only reacting after something goes wrong. She also explains how Construction Angels gets money into families’ hands quickly, provides grief counseling and scholarships, and why her ultimate goal is to one day have no families left to help.

Follow Kristi Ronyak on LinkedIn at:  ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristi-ronyak-construction-angels-inc-national-charity-64a45520⁠

Learn more about Construction Angels at: ⁠https://www.constructionangels.us/⁠

Want to better develop your civil construction workforce and leaders? Check out BuildWitt Improve! ⁠https://buildwitt.com⁠

Questions or feedback? Email us at [email protected]!

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October 12, 2026

2026 Australia Adventure Week Two! (Building BuildWitt #74) 

BuildWitt Update #74– DT 486

Aaron recaps the wins and lessons learned at BuildWitt this week.

Learn more about attending the 2026 Ariat Dirt World Summit by visiting https://events.dirtworld.com/event/summit-2026/summary

Want to better train and develop your teams? Check out BuildWitt Improve! https://buildwitt.com/product

Questions or feedback? Email us at [email protected]!

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October 8, 2026

You Can’t Lead From The Office w/ Luke Minger 

Luke Minger w/ Minger Construction – DT 485

Luke Minger is the President and CEO of Minger Construction, a Minnesota underground utility contractor his parents started more than 40 years ago with a tractor backhoe, a pickup truck, and a ten-speed bicycle. After earning a construction management degree, Luke came home expecting to put it to use—only for his dad to put him at the bottom of a sewer crew. He worked his way from the field into estimating, project management, and eventually leadership, learning along the way why the best construction leaders never get too far removed from the work.

He shares how losing his dad forced him to step fully into leadership, why growing a construction company shouldn't just mean chasing more revenue, and why maintaining culture gets harder with every new employee. Luke also explains why leaders have to keep showing up in the field, how Minger approaches complex underground work, and why developing and keeping good people remains one of the biggest challenges in construction.

Follow Luke Minger on LinkedIn at:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/luke-minger-529b3136

Learn more about Minger Construction at: https://www.mingerconst.com/

Want to better develop your civil construction workforce and leaders? Check out BuildWitt Improve! https://buildwitt.com

Questions or feedback? Email us at [email protected]!

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October 5, 2026

2026 Australia Adventure Week One! (Building BuildWitt #73) DT 484

BuildWitt Update #73– DT 484

Aaron recaps the wins and lessons learned at BuildWitt this week.

Read the full newsletter here:

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/2026-australia-adventure-week-one-aaron-witt-fnvte

Want to better train and develop your teams? Check out BuildWitt Improve! https://buildwitt.com/product

Questions or feedback? Email us at [email protected]!

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October 1, 2026

Building Leaders Underground w/ Jason Miller - DT 483

Jason Miller is the CEO of Midwest Mole, an employee-owned underground construction company specializing in tunneling, boring, and trenchless work. After a year at Indiana University taught him what he didn’t want to do, Jason went to work in the field alongside his dad, expecting it to be temporary. Within weeks, he was hooked on doing the kind of difficult work most people couldn’t—or wouldn’t—do. That curiosity eventually took him from the field to estimating and project management, and into a VP role before he turned 30.

He shares how Midwest Mole’s transition to an ESOP forced the company to rethink growth, equipment, and decades-old ways of doing business, and why fear can quietly keep good companies from changing until they have no choice. He also explains why construction’s biggest workforce challenge may not be finding more laborers and operators, but developing foremen and superintendents who know how to communicate, lead, and put the team ahead of themselves.

Follow Jason Miller on LinkedIn at:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonmiller8

Learn more about Midwest Mole at: https://midwestmole.com/

Want to better develop your civil construction workforce and leaders? Check out BuildWitt Improve! https://buildwitt.com

Questions or feedback? Email us at [email protected]!

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September 28, 2026

Hey ChatGPT, Write Me a Newsletter (Building BuildWitt 72) DT 482

BuildWitt Update #72– DT 482

Aaron recaps the wins and lessons learned at BuildWitt this week.

Learn more about attending the 2026 Ariat Dirt World Summit by visiting https://events.dirtworld.com/event/summit-2026/summary

Want to better train and develop your teams? Check out BuildWitt Improve! https://buildwitt.com/product

Questions or feedback? Email us at [email protected]!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

September 24, 2026

What Happens When Heavy Equipment Starts Driving Itself? w/ Dick Zhang

Dick Zhang is the CEO of Bluelight Machines, a construction autonomy company putting self-driving technology to work on real jobsites. In less than a year, Bluelight’s autonomous fleet has grown from fewer than 100 active machines to nearly 200, expanded from the U.S. to five continents, and surpassed 1.5 billion square feet of material rolled autonomously. 

What started with contractors looking for solutions to workforce challenges grew into a company deploying autonomous heavy equipment around the world. Dick explains why civil construction is a bottom-up business, why technology that operators don’t want to use quickly becomes an expensive paperweight, and why Bluelight’s goal isn’t to replace skilled operators but to multiply what they’re capable of doing. He also shares how the company’s first autonomous roller was built using technology adapted from drones, why balancing safety and production requires constantly learning from what happens in the field, and how transparency around those lessons can make the entire industry better.

Follow Dick on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zhangr/

Learn more about Bluelight Machines  at: https://bluelightmachines.com/

Want to better develop your civil construction workforce and leaders? Check out BuildWitt Improve! https://buildwitt.com

Questions or feedback? Email us at [email protected]!

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September 21, 2026

Why Does 2 Miles Of Concrete Cost $1 Billion?  (Building BuildWitt 71) DT 480

BuildWitt Update #71– DT 480

Aaron recaps the wins and lessons learned at BuildWitt this week.

Learn more about attending the 2026 Ariat Dirt World Summit by visiting https://events.dirtworld.com/event/summit-2026/summary

Want to better train and develop your teams? Check out BuildWitt Improve! https://buildwitt.com/product

Questions or feedback? Email us at [email protected]!

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September 17, 2026

A Skid Steer and a Craigslist Ad w/ Tyler Marks (DT 479)

Tyler Marks is the founder of Marks Clearing and Grading, a North Carolina land clearing and grading contractor he started at 18 with just a skid steer and a Craigslist ad. He grew the company alongside the Raleigh construction boom, buying oversized equipment before he needed it and betting on the market long before he had the projects to justify it.

What started with small grading and clearing jobs grew into an operation supporting roughly 250 families, but Tyler is quick to admit the growth came with plenty of mistakes, bad decisions, and lessons learned the hard way. He explains why owning more equipment doesn’t necessarily mean having a better business, how admitting what he didn’t know helped him earn the trust of experienced operators, and why bringing in leaders more capable than himself became necessary to take the company to the next level. Tyler also shares why he’s focused less on constantly putting out fires and more on “taking the lighters away,” how Marks is developing young employees instead of making them wait years for opportunities, and what it takes to keep growing when the company you started becomes much bigger than you.

Follow Tyler on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tyler-marks-aba499238/

Learn more about Marks Clearing and Grading at: https://marksclearingandgrading.com/

Want to better develop your civil construction workforce and leaders? Check out BuildWitt Improve! https://buildwitt.com

Questions or feedback? Email us at [email protected]!

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September 14, 2026

What You Should Do Won’t Dent The Universe (Building BuildWitt 70) DT 478

BuildWitt Update #70– DT 478

Aaron recaps the wins and lessons learned at BuildWitt this week.

Learn more about attending the 2026 Ariat Dirt World Summit by visiting https://events.dirtworld.com/event/summit-2026/summary

Want to better train and develop your teams? Check out BuildWitt Improve! https://buildwitt.com/product

Questions or feedback? Email us at [email protected]!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices